Thus, the exaltedness with which He describes Himself in His Book includes His transcendence above partners and children, which are unbefitting of Him: there is nothing like Him. This entails that the attributes of perfection belong to Him alone, and that no other resembles Him in any attribute of perfection. Rather, He is far exalted above anything resembling Him. It also includes His being above everything else, subduing it, having power over it, and exercising His will within it; and His being above all things, over His Throne. These, then, are three meanings contained in His name “the Most High.”

Affirming His exaltedness—His being above everything else, His power over it, and His subjugation of it—entails His lordship over it and His having created it; this, in turn, necessarily entails His perfection. His transcendence above equals entails that none is like Him in His attributes of perfection. Together, these encompass everything affirmed and negated concerning Him. In affirmation, He is described with attributes of perfection; in negation, He is declared free of deficiencies incompatible with perfection, and free of having any equal in His attributes of perfection. Both are indicated by Sūrat al-Ikhlās:

“Say, ‘He is Allah, One.’”

“Allah, the Eternal Refuge.”

His transcendence above partners entails that He alone is divine, and that none deserves