thing whose existence is more perfect has a greater claim to being seen, then the Creator—glorified be He—has a greater claim to being seen than any other existing thing. If inability to see something may sometimes result from weak eyesight, and if some independently subsisting things are sometimes beyond our sight because of its weakness in this world, then our sight in this world is all the more inadequate to see Him.

The purpose here is not to discuss particular questions, but to explain what is meant by reasoning, whether analogical or syllogistic. Although it may yield knowledge of matters of great importance, it does not yield everything one seeks to know, nor does it apply universally.

There are three means of acquiring knowledge:

The first is internal and external sensory perception, through which particular existing things are known.

The second is inference through reflection and logical reasoning. Knowledge through this means is obtained only after sensory knowledge. What the senses convey as a particular, reason and logical reasoning convey in universal, unrestricted terms. Such reasoning does not, by itself, provide knowledge of any particular thing; rather, it makes the specific general and the particular unrestricted. For universals are known only through reason, just as particulars are known only through sensory perception.

The third is reports. Reports encompass universals and particulars, what is present and what is absent. They are therefore more general and comprehensive, but sensory perception and direct observation are more complete and perfect.