without the locus itself being described as wise (1), it would likewise be conceivable—right here in the observable realm—for utterances, items of knowledge, and acts of willing to subsist in loci while those loci (2) were not characterized by the composite judgements that such meanings (3) entail. This would confound realities and open the door to sheer ignorance.
Then we say to them: If you permit [certain kinds of temporal events to inhere in His Essence, what prevents you from permitting] (4) the successive inherence of newly originated states (5) in His very Essence? The same mandatory reasoning applies to every sort of event whose inherence in Him you agree with us to be impossible. Among the consequences you must accept is the allowance (6) of a newly originated power and a newly originated knowledge [in His Essence, in accordance with your own principle concerning the created word and will; yet you can find no] (7) distinction (8) between what you have permitted and what you have forbidden.
(1) Location: omitted in al-Irshad.
(2) In the original text: yatasaff. This reading is confirmed in manuscripts S, T, and in al-Irshad.
(3) In al-Irshad the phrase reads: bi-ahkam mujibah ‘an… (“with obligatory rulings on…”).
(4) Text within parentheses is omitted in al-Irshad.
(5) In al-Irshad: al-alwan (colors). The terms al-alwan and al-akwan will recur frequently in the following pages; I have therefore preserved the following passage from Abu al-Ma‘ali al-Juwayni’s al-Irshad (p. 17) to clarify their meaning and that of related terms. He writes: “What they employ, both in linguistic and juridical usage, is al-‘alam (the world), which comprises every existent other than Allah, Exalted is He, and His attribute of Essence. They further divide al-‘alam into jawahir (substances) and a‘rad (accidents). A jawhar (substance) is that which has extension, and everything with extension is a jawhar. An ‘arad (accident) is a reality inhering in a substance—such as al-alwan (colors), al-t‘am (tastes), al-rawa’ih (smells), al-hayah wa-al-mawt (life and death), al-‘ulum (knowledge), al-iradat (volitions), and al-qadar (divine decree)—which inhere in the substances. What they term al-akwan (the existents) is movement and rest, conjunction and separation; and these are all encompassed by whatever situates a substance in a place or ascribes to it a specification of place.”
(6) Text enclosed in quotation marks is an addition in manuscripts S, T, and in al-Irshad.
(7) Text enclosed in quotation marks is an addition in manuscripts S, T, and in al-Irshad.
(8) In the original text: wajazuuhu; the passage reads coherently without the initial waw.