the unseen and observable realms is one and the same. For if that were so, they would have to maintain either that the Creator, exalted is He, is like temporally originated things in every respect, or that His existence is additional to His essence; yet they do not accept this claim.

Eighth question: We concede that what you have mentioned shows that existence is the cause of this judgment. Yet there is another argument that precludes this: if existence were what makes substance and accident admit of division, it would follow that substance alone admits of division into substance and accident, which is impossible. It would likewise follow that accident alone admits of division into substance and accident, which is known to be impossible.

If they say, “Every substance and accident can admit of division into these two categories insofar as it exists; this division is precluded only by a separate impediment, namely the particular nature of its essence,” we reply: This concedes that existence being the cause of something’s possibility does not entail that the corresponding judgment applies to everything characterized by existence, since it is possible that