in it without this being necessary. As for his statement, “This is impossible, because if it were so, the existence of that particular determination could only be favoured through an agent who brings it about and a determiner who specifies it. In that case, the agent precedes it, so Allah’s essence being in a spatial region could not be eternal, since whatever is posterior to another cannot be eternal,” the reply is: What requires an agent to bring it about is His being in one spatial region rather than another. Being in a spatial region as such, however, is inseparable from His essence, as are power and action. His power over all things is inseparable from His essence, whereas His singling out particular objects of that power depends on His will and choice.

Accordingly, we say that His being in one particular spatial region rather than another is by His will and choice, for this is precisely action, activity and movement. Just as they say that He has always spoken when He wills, they likewise say that He has always acted in His own person when He wills. On this basis, the presence of His essence from eternity is eternal, since it is inseparable from His essence; but the determination of one spatial region rather than another depends on His will and choice. This is because spatial regions are not entities