through that generation. Their argument rests on the claim that it is impossible for Him to originate anything or bring it into being anew, because that would entail a determination without a determining factor. This analogy and the likeness they have drawn for Allah resemble their other contradictory and invalid comparisons.

We have already explained that Allah must not be placed on an equal footing with anything else, whether through analogical reasoning or a syllogism involving a universal proposition. Rather, only reasoning from the lesser to the greater is applicable to Him: whatever merits praise and commendation in a created being belongs more fittingly to Him; and whatever fault or deficiency a created being is above, the Creator is all the more exalted above it.

The implication of their analogy is that they describe Allah as incapable of acting, and action as impossible for Him, when the act is not generated from Him—just as other generated entities whose effects follow necessarily from their very essence cannot originate or restore what proceeds from them. Thus they liken Him, glorified and exalted be He, to one who is powerless and compelled, incapable of acting or bringing anything into being. This amounts to drawing