—that only He can enumerate. We have observed that the desired result almost never materialises when this innovated supplication is present; and on the rare occasion that we do notice (1) something occur while that innovated supplication has been offered, it is far more reasonable to ascribe the event to one of the countless causes known only to Allah than to link it to something whose causal power has never been proven.

As for mere concomitance: if it were evidence of causation, its repeated failure would be evidence of the opposite.

At this point people split into three groups: those who have incurred wrath, those who are astray, and those upon whom Allah has bestowed favour.

Those under wrath disparage almost every cause, whether sanctioned by the Law or not. They say, “A lawful supplication may produce an effect, or it may (2) not,” and from there they go on to question the evidential force of the signs that verify the prophets, peace be upon them.

The misguided, on the other hand, imagine anything they can fancy to be a cause, even when it belongs to the religions of the Jews, Christians, Magians, and others.

The self-styled clever ones (3) among the philosophers reduce everything to celestial configurations, psychic forces, and natural causes; they circle endlessly around these notions and will not depart from them.

As for the rightly guided, they do not deny what Allah (4) has created of forces and natural properties in all bodies and souls—for all of them are Allah’s creation—yet they also believe in what lies beyond these