They then distinguished between the past and the future as Abū al-Ma‘ālī did. He said:

“Careful investigators offered two examples, one for each case. They said:

‘An illustration of affirming beginningless events, with another event preceding each one, is someone saying to another: “I will not give you a dirham without first giving you a dinar, nor will I give you a dinar without first giving you a dirham.” It is inconceivable that he could give either a dinar or a dirham while observing his condition.

‘An illustration of the case they invoke against us is someone saying: “I will not give you a dinar without giving you a dirham afterward, nor will I give you a dirham without giving you a dinar afterward.” Here, it is conceivable that he could proceed in accordance with the condition.’”

The objectors reply:

“This illustration does not correspond to our question. For the statement, ‘I will not give you until I have given you,’ negates a future act when a past act precedes it. A sound analogy and proper comparison would therefore require saying: ‘I never gave you a dirham without first giving you a dinar, nor did I ever give you a dinar without first giving you a dirham.’ This states that every dirham given in the past was preceded by a dinar, and every dinar by a dirham. It corresponds to past events, each of which was preceded by another event.

“Likewise, the statement, ‘I will not give you a dirham without giving you a dinar afterward, nor a dinar without a dirham afterward,’ corresponds to future events, each of which is followed by another event. Thus, if he can speak truthfully in