the eternal Being whose existence is necessary in itself. That is possible only by denying the existence of these perceptible beings. This is exceedingly clear, rigorous, and precise.

They may then be told: This intention and will entail precisely the same consequences you have mentioned. Whatever answer you give to that serves equally as an answer for those who maintain that the world began to exist. As for the question of a newly arising cause, once it is established that He acts with intention and will and has concern for what He produces, every objection you have pressed against others applies equally to you.

For Ibn Rushd the grandson said, in pressing his objection against the theologians: “Furthermore, the will that precedes the thing willed and is directed towards it for a specified time must develop, at the time the thing willed is brought into existence, a resolve to bring it into existence that was not present before that time. For if, at the time of the act, the one who wills has no additional state beyond the one he was in at the time when the will required