affirm the existence of created beings and claim that they affirm the existence of the Creator.

If they say, “We say that He is high in power or rank,” the reply is: This presupposes that His very existence has been established. Yet you have not established an existent being whose existence can be known, let alone one who is powerful or of exalted rank.

If they say, “Allah existed before places and created beings were created, and He remains as He was, unchanged. He was not then above anything or high over anything, and so He is now,” the reply is: This is mistaken. Its invalidity becomes apparent first through a counterargument, and then through an analysis explaining its flaws.

As for the first approach, their position entails that He is not now high in power or rank, just as He was not in eternity past. For if His existence alone is supposed, there is no existent being over which He exercises power, dominance, or mastery, nor any existent being whose rank He surpasses. If, as they claim, no elevation over created beings arose for Him when they came into existence, then it follows that after their creation He has no power or mastery over anything, does not dominate His servants, and is no greater in rank than they are.

If they, along with all rational people, say that, when created beings exist, He is described in relational terms that do not apply to Him