can be everlasting. Aristotle, however, says that whatever comes into being after not existing must have an end; thus, what is contingent cannot be everlasting. This statement of Aristotle’s is what Ibn Rushd previously expressed by saying, “Everything that comes into being is necessarily perishable.” This, then, is the position of Aristotle, the master of his school. It is also the position of some who affirm that the world had a beginning, such as Jahm ibn Safwān and those who maintain that things which come into being must perish.

What he reports from Plato, however, is the position of the religious communities: Allah creates some things to endure and others to perish, as He wills. Nevertheless, they report that Aristotle holds rational souls to have a beginning, which would make them contingent, yet they are everlasting and enduring.