Section

Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Rāzī said:

“The second premise: Know that not every existing thing must have a counterpart or likeness, and that denying a counterpart or likeness does not entail denying the existence of the thing itself.”

He supported this with three arguments, then said:

“Thus, the claim of those who say, ‘We cannot conceive of anything existing that is neither connected to the world nor separate from it unless we find a counterpart to it,’ has been shown to be false. For, in our view, none but Allah—glorified and exalted is He—is characterized in this way. We have explained that the absence of a counterpart or likeness does not entail the nonexistence of the thing itself. It is therefore established that this argument is entirely untenable.”

I say: Denying any counterpart, likeness, equal, namesake, or the like to