The i element is used for idiomatic text, or text that is separate from the “normal” text content. This could be for italic text, such as scientific terms, or for icons like those provided by FontAwesome:
An absolute position takes the element out of that top-down document flow and allows you to adjust it relative to its container. When an element is manually positioned, you can shift its layout with top, left, right, and bottom:
The z-index property is used to create “layers” for your HTML elements. Elements with a higher z-index value will appear to be layered on top of elements with a lower z-index value: