If that power derives from the two of them together, it follows that neither of them is able to act except by the other empowering him; such circular dependence is impossible, so neither would truly possess power. If, on the other hand, their power comes from something beyond them, then they can neither will nor act unless One above them grants them that ability. This necessitates that above the celestial spheres there exists One who endows them with capacity and action—He is their Lord. Thus it is established that the spheres are themselves ruled, and their alleged pre-eternity is consequently impossible, as noted earlier.
Should the possibility of their disagreement be allowed, mutual obstruction would result; such obstruction entails the impotence of each, for the deed of either would be contingent upon the other’s permission. One who is impotent cannot originate events; rather, above him there must be One who is capable and who administers. Hence no occurrence in the world could proceed from the two of them. In every case, then, it is proven that the spheres are not themselves the producers of contingencies. The claim of those who make them the agents of the world’s happenings and regard them as lords or gods is therefore invalid.
Moreover, every created thing possesses a unity particular to it—one individual human, one horse, one tree—and it is impossible for its originator to be two or more, whether acting independently or in concert.
The first alternative, independent operation, is intrinsically self-contradictory, for the independence of one agent negates the participation of the other, let alone his own independence.
As for the second—collaboration—those who share in bodily tasks are distinguishable, each person’s work being separate from the other’s, whereas the production of a single entity cannot be divided between two agents. Do you not see that masons, tailors, weavers, scribes, farmers, or two men carrying a beam—any pair who cooperate—each one’s act is necessarily distinct from the act of the other? Allah, Exalted is He, says:
“Then each god would have taken away what he created” (Sūrat al-Mu’minūn 23:91).