It is well known that the intellects and celestial spheres depend on the intrinsically Necessary Existent far more than the things beneath them depend on them. How, then, can it be said in this case, “It exists only through it,” and in that case, “It exists only by receiving the command”?

It is also well known that the observable influence of the celestial spheres on the earth affects only certain conditions on it, as he mentioned concerning the effects of the sun’s proximity and remoteness, and of night and day.

Sense perception makes it clear that this alone cannot independently bring into existence what is on earth. Rather, it is merely one of the causes through which this is accomplished. Animals and plants likewise need wind—and their need for it is greater than their need for the sun—just as they need the earth, soil, and other causes.

In short, the approach these thinkers have followed rests on three premises: that the celestial spheres cannot subsist without motion; that motion cannot subsist without a separate commander, or a separate object of love which they desire to resemble; and that the celestial spheres therefore cannot subsist without that.

If, then, they cannot subsist without that, it follows that all their individual beings and attributes proceed from it. Yet they have not acknowledged this.

This has been discussed at length elsewhere, but it can be established as follows: if their subsistence depends on their motion, and their motion subsists through it, then they subsist through it; and if their subsistence