Saīd ibn Kullāb, al-Hārith al-Muhāsibī, and others. They explained (1) that He—Glorified is He—existed before He created the heavens and the earth. When He created them (2), either (3) He had entered them (4) or they had entered Him. Both alternatives are impossible; it necessarily follows, therefore, that He is distinct from them (5). They established this by explaining that He must be either distinct from His creation or within it.

The negators claim that there can exist a being that is neither distinct from anything else (6) nor within it (7). This is impossible according to the most elementary dictates of reason, yet they claim that deeming it impossible is a judgment of imagination, not of reason.

They then contradicted themselves, saying, “If He were above the Throne, He would be a body, for that which lies toward one side would necessarily be distinguishable from that which lies toward the other.”

Those who affirm replied, “It is known by rational necessity that affirming a being above the world who is not a body is more readily acceptable to reason than affirming a self-subsisting being that is neither distinct from the world nor within it. If the latter may be affirmed, then the former is even more deserving of affirmation. If you say, ‘Denying the latter is a judgment of false imagination,’ it will be said to you: (8) ‘Then denying the former is even more appropriately deemed a judgment of false imagination.’