the one who transformed himself from one state to another, for if he had been capable of this in his state of weakness, he would have been even more capable of it when fully developed.

If, when fully developed, he is unable to create another like himself or to create his own organs, then he is even less capable of doing so in his state of weakness. Nor can his parents be the ones who transform him from one state to another, for this does not proceed according to their wishes. Do you not see that they may desire a child, yet none is born, or not want one, yet one is born? They may want a boy, yet the child is a girl, or want a girl, yet the child is a boy. If his parents have no influence over this, then others who have no connection with him are even less able to do so.

It is thus established that the human being has an agent unlike himself, namely Allah Most High.”

He said:

“If it is asked: ‘How, then, does something else point to Allah?’

The answer is: Bodies are necessarily subject to motion or rest, and to combination or separation. These are events that come into being, so a body must have an originator, since it did not precede these events. The proof that bodies come into being is that bodies come into being, and everything that comes into being requires an originator.”

He said:

“This discussion comprises two principles: first, that bodies come into being; and second, that everything that comes into being requires an originator.

As for the first principle, its purpose is to show that substances and bodies come into being and are not eternal. Nor