no partner, for the soul possesses two faculties: the intellectual and the practical. Human deeds are voluntary, and a voluntary deed comes about only through the servant’s will. Every person has a will and acts by means of that will, for man is a sentient creature set in motion by volition. For this reason the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said, “The truest of names are al-Ḥārith and Hammām.”

Yet will must have an object. Every object of volition is either sought for its own sake or sought as a means to something else, and whatever is pursued as a means must ultimately terminate in that which is pursued for its own sake. Thus the practical faculty entails that a human being have an ultimate aim, and that aim, desired for its own sake, is the motivating cause that sets the efficient cause in motion. Hence it is said—and the common folk put it this way: