you rise, and your movements among those who prostrate themselves. Truly, He alone is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.” (al-Shuʿarāʾ 217-220)

The second verse that the author—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—cites in the section on vigilance is the Almighty’s saying, “And He is with you wherever you may be” (al-Ḥadīd 4). The pronoun “He” refers to Allah; that is, Allah, exalted and glorified, is with His servants wherever they happen to be—on land or sea, in the air, in darkness or in light. In every circumstance He is with you wherever you are. This affirms His perfect encompassing of us in knowledge, power, dominion, management, and all else.

We do not, however, mean that He—exalted is He—is with us in the very place we occupy, for Allah is above all things, as He says: “The Most Merciful rose over the Throne” (Tā Hā 5); “He is the All-Compelling above His servants” (al-Anʿām 18); “Do you feel secure regarding the One who is in the heaven?” (al-Mulk 16); “He is the Most High, the Most Great” (al-Baqarah 255); and “Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High” (al-Aʿlā 1). Many other verses likewise demonstrate that He is above everything.

Yet nothing resembles Him in any of His qualities or attributes; He is near despite His exaltedness, close while being on high—glorious and sublime—as He, the Most High, says: “When My servants ask you about Me, I am indeed near; I answer the call of the caller whenever he calls upon Me” (al-Baqarah 186).

We must therefore understand that He is not on the earth; to imagine otherwise would negate the loftiness of Allah—glorified be He. Moreover, none of His created things can contain Him: “His Footstool encompasses the heavens and the earth” (al-Baqarah 255).

The Footstool surrounds the entirety of the heavens and the earth, and it is the place of the Most Merciful’s Feet, while the Throne is far greater—indeed, incomparably greater—as stated in the hadith: “The seven heavens and the seven earths, in comparison to the Footstool, are like a ring cast into—”