are their causes, that would have been more fitting. Yet this statement does not refute the argument drawn from the verse, for the Quran testifies that Allah created all things for a wise purpose. This, however, is not the place to examine that matter fully and dispel the doubt surrounding it.

Al-Hafīd said: “As for the second proposition, which states that whatever is contingent has a beginning, this is not a self-evident premise, and scholars have disagreed about it. Plato allowed that something contingent could be eternal, whereas Aristotle ruled this out. This is a difficult question whose truth will become clear only