[Ibn Sīnā’s Discussion in al-Ishārāt]

Ibn Sīnā said:

“Some of them agreed that the Necessary Existent is one, but then differed among themselves. One group said:

‘He has always existed, with nothing existing from Him; then something began to exist from Him. Were this not so, an infinite number of newly arising states of various kinds would have actually existed in the past. For each of them has existed, so the whole has existed. Thus, infinitely many successive things would constitute a totality encompassed within existence.’

They said:

‘That is impossible. Even if this is not a totality embracing all its parts simultaneously, it amounts to the same thing. How could any one of these states be described as occurring only after an infinite number of them? It would then depend on an infinity, and an infinity would have to be traversed to reach it. Moreover, with every new moment, the number of those states increases. How can an infinite number increase?’

Some of these people said:

‘The world came into existence when it was most fitting for it to exist.’

Others said:

‘It could not have existed except when it did.’

Still others said:

‘Its existence depends neither on a particular time nor on anything else, but on the agent, and one does not ask why.’

So much for this group.

Opposed to them is another group who affirm the oneness of the First and say: