independently. For one who possesses power must be able, on his own, to produce an effect in which no other shares. If he cannot do so without another’s assistance, he does not possess power independently; rather, his power is made complete by the one assisting him.

It is impossible for each of the two to possess power only through the other’s assistance. For this one would have no power without the other’s assistance, and the other would have no power without this one’s assistance. Neither, therefore, would possess power independently. Whoever does not possess power independently cannot endow another with power. Indeed, if an agent does not possess power independently, it is all the more impossible for him to endow another with power. Thus, if there were no being who possessed power independently—meaning that he could act independently, acting alone without partner or helper—nothing could ever come into being, since nothing can come into being without one who possesses power independently.

The things we observe coming into being demonstrate the existence of one who possesses power independently. Yet it is impossible for there to be two beings capable of acting independently, such that each acts entirely on his own. For, supposing this were the case, while one performs an act, the other cannot have the power to perform that very same act and be its sole agent. If one performs it alone, he has no partner in it, let alone another who also performs it independently. Thus, it is clear that while a thing lies within the power of an independently acting agent, or is brought about by an independently acting agent, it cannot lie within the power of, or be brought about by, another independent agent.

It is therefore clear that whatever an independently acting agent has the power to do and does cannot be within another’s power or be done by another. Rather, one would be incapable of what the other does, and would not possess power