of them is committed, by what he affirms, to implications graver than those he sought to escape. He has affirmed nothing but this perceptible existent, without any Maker whatsoever. Indeed, the less he affirms, the greater the untenable implications of what he affirms become. For the less he affirms, the fewer attributes of perfection he ascribes to it, and the greater the deficiencies this entails and the implications imagined to entail coming into existence and dependence. He is thus committed to combining these things with their opposites: eternity and necessary existence. Let the believer ponder and understand this great, comprehensive principle, for it is among the greatest means by which Allah Most High guides to the straight path.

They then said, in response to the arguments they had mentioned for disproving purpose: “As for his statement in the second argument for refuting this alternative, ‘Anyone who performs an act for a purpose is inferior to that purpose,’ we reply: propositions based on superiority and inferiority are not demonstrative but merely rhetorical, so scientific principles cannot be founded upon them. Moreover, we