anything being brought about by Allah Most High, for if anything were to originate from Him, this would, in their view, entail a change in Him and invalidate the fundamental premise of their doctrine.

They may fear events that occur as a consequence of their actions, because the nature of existence necessitates this. Thus, they say that consuming harmful substances causes illness or death. The cause of all events, according to them, is the movement of the celestial sphere, although events do not arise from movement alone, but from movement together with other factors: either because movement brings about a mixture, thereby making the mixed substances ready to receive what emanates upon them from the Active Intellect, or for some other reason.

They are therefore required to explain what necessitates the movement of the celestial sphere and the occurrence of all events. If what necessitates them is a complete cause existing from eternity, none of whose effects can be delayed relative to it, then the movements of contingent beings and the events occurring within them cannot proceed from this cause. That would entail a delay in many of its effects, along with immense diversity among them, which is incompatible with its simplicity—the quality they call unity.

It has already been demonstrated elsewhere that the single, simple being they posit has no existence whatsoever in external reality.

If it is said:

“The receptive entities, which are contingent things produced and brought into being, differed, and their readiness was delayed, even though the agent that produced them has always been and remains in one and the same state,”

the impossibility of this is evident. This is unlike saying:

“The agent Himself possesses diverse attributes and performs diverse acts. He, Most High, has affairs and states; every day He is engaged in an affair. The diversity of the things produced and the occurrence of events thus result from the diversity of the agent’s states, and He brings about such matters as He wills.”