Instances of this abound: every created being has a partner and a peer. The Lord alone, glorified be He, has no partner, peer, or equal. Rather, whatever He wills comes to pass, and whatever He does not will does not come to pass. Hence, none other than Him deserves to be called Creator or Lord without qualification, or to bear similar titles, for these imply independently and exclusively bringing about what is made and produced. This belongs to Allah alone.

Thus, although some people have disputed whether a cause can have several attributes, claiming that it can have only one, most people have disagreed with them and said that it may have several attributes. Indeed, it has been said that no cause among created things can have only one attribute, since nothing created can constitute a cause on its own. Every cause among created things must consist of two or more factors. Thus, there is no single created entity from which anything proceeds on its own, let alone grounds for saying, “From one, only one proceeds.” Rather, nothing proceeds from created things except through two or more of them.

As for the One who acts alone, that is none other than Allah. Just as oneness is necessary for Him and inseparable from Him, so shared agency is necessary for created beings and inseparable from them. Oneness entails perfection, and perfection entails oneness. Shared agency entails imperfection, and imperfection entails shared agency. Oneness entails independence of others, self-subsistence, and necessary existence in itself. And these attributes of independence and necessary existence in itself