Thus, nothing is before Him or after Him, above Him or nearer than Him, as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, declared in praising his Lord. Otherwise, if He were supposed to be beneath any created thing, that would be an imperfection, and that thing would be higher than Him.

And if it were said that He is neither within the world nor outside it, that would amount to denying Him. He is exalted above this. This is what it means for Him to be the Most High, the Highest. Moreover, when used without qualification, the expressions “the Most High” and “highness” are used in the Quran only in this sense, which necessarily entails the other two senses. They are not used to signify mere power or mere superiority.

The term “highness” conveys being above. Other verbs, too, indicate being above when construed with the preposition denoting elevation, as in His statement:

“Then He rose over the Throne.”

This indicates His being high above the Throne. The early generations explained “rising” in terms that convey ascending above the Throne, as al-Bukhārī records in his Sahīh from Abū al-Āliyah concerning His words, “Then He rose”: he said, “He ascended.”

Ibn Abī Hātim and others likewise transmitted this through their chains of narration. He transmitted it through Ādam ibn Abī Iyās, from Abū Ja‘far, from Abū al-Rabī‘, from Abū al-Āliyah: concerning “Then He rose,” he said, “He ascended.”