For if no effect is ascribed to the servant’s power, then the only distinction between what occurs within the locus of that power and what occurs outside it is a mere difference of location, without the power having any influence at all. To describe the first as “within his capability” and the second as “beyond it” is pure arbitrariness—a baseless attempt to differentiate between two identical cases.

Hence some have said, “The three curiosities of speculative theology that have no reality are: al-Nazzām’s ‘leap,’ Abū Hāshim’s ‘modes,’ and al-Ashʿarī’s ‘acquisition.’” When these theologians are told, “The ‘acquisition’ you posit is unintelligible,” they reply, “Acquisition is whatever comes into existence in the locus of the newly created power, concurrent with it, without that power exerting any influence.” It is then said to them, “There is no difference between this acquisition and any other event that arises outside that locus and without such concurrence, for the mere coincidence of two things in time and place does not entail that one possesses any power over the other—just as two accidents may coexist without either affecting the other.”