But those who say that He descends without remaining above the Throne, that He is inside created things, and others like them, may say that their basis is transmitted evidence: what they have understood from the Quran, from authentic or unauthentic hadiths, or from the statements of the early generations. Their error lies in their approach: they confined themselves to what they understood from a single text, such as the hadith concerning His descent. They did not reflect on the passages in the Book and the Sunnah that describe His highness, greatness, and other attributes that preclude anything from being higher or greater than Him.

Nor did they reflect on the implications of the text itself, such as His descent to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains. Night occurs at different times: the night, its midpoint, and its last third occur for people in the east nearly a day before they do for those in the west. Their position would therefore entail that He is continually beneath the Throne, whereas He has stated that He rose over the Throne after creating the heavens and the earth. Their account contradicts His rising over the Throne and entails that He is not above the Throne, as has been explained at length elsewhere.

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“Al-A‘lā” (the Most High) follows the comparative and superlative pattern af‘al, like al-Akram (the Most Generous), al-Akbar (the Greatest), and al-Ajall (the Most Majestic). Hence, “The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, when Abū Sufyān said: