[The Fifth Argument]

Al-Āmidī said that if He were a substance like other substances, He could not confer existence upon other substances, since no substance has greater entitlement than another to be a cause. It would follow that either no substance is an effect, or every substance is an effect of another. Both alternatives are impossible.

If it is objected:

“Although substances are alike in being substances, they are distinguished by features that necessarily make each distinct from the others. There is therefore nothing to prevent some from possessing particular features and properties absent from others. This would be by virtue of what makes them distinct, not what they have in common.”

We reply:

“The same argument applies to each substance’s possession of what makes it distinct as applies in the original case, resulting in an impossible infinite regress. The only remaining possibility is that each of these otherwise similar substances possesses its distinguishing features through an external determinant. But this is impossible with respect to Allah.”