the entities capable of motion is nobler than one incapable of it; whatever is capable of intrinsic motion is superior to what is incapable of accidental motion; and whatever moves of its own accord is more perfect than lifeless matter whose motion comes from something else.

This has been discussed at length elsewhere.

[Section]

We shall discuss this argument—the argument from perfection and deficiency—in general terms, without limiting ourselves to al-Rāzī’s formulation. Someone might say, “I formulate it differently from al-Rāzī.” We therefore say:

Know that the various Muslim groups hold four positions, branching into six, on this foundational issue upon which the question of voluntary acts subsisting in the essence of Allah Most High rests.

They disagree over whether acts and other things connected with His will and power subsist in His essence. There are two well-known positions on this.

They also disagree over newly arising things that come into existence: can they form an unending succession and continue throughout both the past and the future, or throughout the future but not the past, or must they be finite and terminate in both the past and the future? There are three recognized positions on this.

Thus, there are four positions:

One group says that what is connected with His will and power subsists in Him. Then should it be said