from one state to another. A person is affected by voluntary acts but not by involuntary acts: the former impart character traits and inner states to him. This holds in any event, even according to those who describe all his acts as compelled, for he knows with certainty that voluntary acts affect his soul, unlike involuntary acts—except insofar as involuntary acts may bring about something within his soul, in which case that involves choice.
Know, moreover, that compulsion affects only his body, not his heart, whether through the action of Allah Most High, as with illnesses and ailments, or through the actions of His servants, as with shackling and imprisonment. As for the acts of the spirit breathed into him, when it moves his hands, they are all voluntary. Yet, from a perspective we have already explained, they are all necessitated. Thus, its necessity is identical to … (1), and its choice occurs only by necessity. The reality of necessity is that the necessity of … (2). It may love in one respect and dislike in another. None of this precludes being subject to religious obligations or deserving reward and punishment.
This is what I have been able to write at present:
“Allah speaks the truth, and He guides to the right path.”
All praise belongs to Allah alone.