because that would entail favoring one of two identical things over the other without a determining factor, which is impossible. If it is said that the determining factor is power and will, the reply is that power and will stand in the same relation to all identical things, so neither alone can account for favoring one over another. The determining factor must therefore be Allah Most High’s wisdom in the matter. Wisdom entails that the wise agent knows that one of the two alternatives is preferable to the other, and that the preferable alternative is more beloved to him than the other.

This, in turn, entails distinctions among the things known and willed, which rules out their equality—and that is what was to be established.

This discussion concerns Allah’s wisdom in His creation and His commands, a subject treated at length elsewhere.

Those who deny this have no stronger argument than their claim that it entails His dependence on something other than Himself: whoever does something to attain an intended end depends on that end and derives perfection from it; and whoever derives perfection from something other than himself is deficient in himself.

This argument is as invalid as their argument for denying the divine attributes. The expression “something other than Himself” is ambiguous. If they mean that He depends on something distinct and separate from Him, this is not conceded. He Himself brings about all His works and all that He wills, and in none of these does He need anything other than Himself. If they mean that He depends on something within His power and brought about by Him, this really amounts to saying that He depends on Himself or on what necessarily belongs to Him.

It is well known that He, glorified be He, exists through Himself and does not depend on anything other than Him and distinct