And He, glory be to Him, is the Creator of everything other than Himself, so nothing in existence exerts an influence upon Him, glory be to Him.

This accords with the position of Ahl al-Sunnah, who affirm divine decree and hold that He is the Creator of everything.

As for the Qadariyyah, who say that events occur without His creating or willing them, although they are astray, these philosophers who deny His knowledge are further astray than they are.

They hold two views: some affirm that new states arise in Him, while others deny this. Those who affirm this say to these philosophers—as Abū al-Barakāt said to them—“What proof is there that no state can arise in Him because of these people? Why do you say that this is incompatible with His necessary existence?”

They say that people’s actions give Him a motive to reward and punish.

[The Twelfth Argument]

His statement:

“Just as affirming many actions for the Necessary Existent implies an imperfection in Him, so too does affirming many relations.”

The response is: If by ‘actions’ you mean what has come into existence, then affirming that He brings existing things into being implies no imperfection in Him. How could it, when it is agreed that He brings them into being, whether He produces some of them through an intermediary or without one?

Since He brings them into being in all their detail, He must know them in all their detail. Clearly, if bringing them into being entails no imperfection in Him, then knowing them is even less liable to entail any imperfection. For there is no imperfection in a knower’s knowledge of what he does not do, even if