This is further borne out by his citing, in the introduction to this noble science, the words of Aristotle, the master of the Peripatetic eternalists, as evidence. He had no reports from the prophets and messengers to which he gave precedence over the words of the eternalists. He also cited as evidence what he transmitted from Abū Maʿshar al-Balkhī, the astrologer—who was a follower of the Sabians; indeed, at one point he belonged to the polytheists who worshipped the sun and moon. He worshipped the moon for a time, as he himself related, and authored the works he did on that subject.

And the response to the eternalists: that He is prior to the world and the time it contains; and their statement:

“And it is self-evident that this priority can only be through time and duration.”