existence, while each is distinguished from the other by its particular existence. Whoever fails to affirm both what these two existents have in common and what distinguishes them must hold either that all existing things are beginningless and necessarily existent in themselves, or that they are all originated, contingent, and dependent on something else. Both conclusions are self-evidently false. It is therefore necessary to affirm commonality in one respect and distinction in another.

We know that what distinguishes the existent Creator from all other existing things is far greater than what distinguishes those other things from one another. Thus, if the “king” and the “mosquito” share in the meanings of existence and being alive despite the disparity between them, then the Creator—glory be to Him—is all the more distinct from created beings, even though there is commonality in some names and attributes.