Is it permissible to say: "Nothing remains in the universe except Allah"? And what is the meaning of the universe (al-kawn), and is it created, or a general term like existence (al-wujud), and what is the difference between it and place (al-makan)?

Whoever utters the phrase: "Only God remains in the universe," means by it "Only God remains in existence," and applying the term 'universe' to 'existence' is correct. Allah, Exalted and Glorified, is transcendent above place in the sense of something that encompasses a thing or that which the contingent needs. 'Place' is also used to mean that which a thing is above, and Allah Almighty is above His Throne.