People of all persuasions very frequently draw inferences from the wisdom and blessings they witness in the world, demonstrating the Lord’s wisdom and mercy, His will to bestow blessings and kindness upon His servants, and His care for them.

The point here is simply that the philosophers explicitly affirm this, and they are among those who most closely examine the wisdom underlying existing things. They have acknowledged, as noted above, that it is self-evident that this harmony comes from an agent who intends and wills it, since such harmony cannot arise by chance. It is therefore clear that their subsequent denial that He acts by choice contradicts their own position.

Moreover, even if they did not contradict themselves, this evidence, together with the evidence from specification, would both establish will. Specification indicates a will concerning the effect itself, while this evidence indicates a will directed toward both the effect and the wisdom underlying it. These, then, are three approaches.

Ibn Sīnā and philosophers like him sought to defend their position on this point. In al-Ishārāt (Pointers), after presenting his arguments against action by intention and choice, he said:

“An indication: If you seek a way out, you will find none except to say that, from the representation of the universal order in prior knowledge, together with its necessary and appropriate time, that order emanates in its sequence and details, its emanation being intellectually apprehended; and this