it would be attributable to the substrate, to the indwelling entity, or to a third entity. The first alternative is invalid, because bodies are alike in essence and in all their necessary concomitants, as explained previously. Thus, if any one of them necessitated Allah’s inhering in it, another would necessitate the same. This would entail the Creator’s inhering in all of them, which would entail either the division of His essence or one entity’s inhering in more than one substrate—both of which are impossible.

The second alternative is also invalid. If His necessitating this inherence were not conditional upon the substrate’s coming into existence, He would inhere in the substrate before it came into existence, which is impossible. If, however, it were conditional upon its coming into existence, then, when many substances came into existence, His inhering in any one of them would be no more warranted than His inhering in another. The impossibility already mentioned would therefore recur.

The third alternative is likewise invalid, for if that third entity were