And if that is so, then, on this assumption, the cause of seeing—which is more specific than existence—either encompasses necessary existence or does not. If the cause of the possibility of seeing encompasses necessary existence, then it follows that this cause is something shared by necessary existence and other visible things. This is precisely what was to be established. If, however, this more specific cause does not encompass necessary existence, it must be confined to what lies outside that existence.

This holds whether that cause is contingency, temporal origination, or something more specific than contingency and temporal origination, such as occupying space or being opposite the observer, according to those who maintain that this is the cause of seeing and that it does not apply to Allah; or something subject to the eight conditions mentioned by the Mu'tazilah; or anything else. And all these things, if they are said to be absent from