and between what promotes welfare and what causes harm. Nor can a believer deny that his faith affirms that the revealed Law brings truth and veracity in matters of belief, and benefit and welfare in actions, which include beliefs.

Thus, people have not disputed that, when goodness and badness mean benefit and harm, what is agreeable or disagreeable to man, or pleasure and pain, these qualities in actions can be known through reason. The same applies when something’s goodness is understood in terms of its existence, or when the perfection of an existing thing is described as goodness. Examples include the words of Allah Most High:

“To Allah belong the most beautiful names.”

And His words:

“Who perfected everything He created.”

Just as we know that a living being is more perfect in its existence than a dead one, that a knowledgeable person is more perfect than an ignorant one, and that a truthful person is more perfect than a liar, this too can be known through reason. They differed only over whether reason takes benefit and harm into account, and whether “the basis for judging goodness” is the same for the Creator and the created.

The first two aspects, however, are established in themselves, and some instances of each can be known through reason. The first concerns truth as that which is sought; the second concerns truth as that which exists. The first relates to the heart’s love and hatred, its willing and aversion, and its discourse involving commands and prohibitions. The second relates to its acceptance and rejection of claims as true, its affirmation and negation, and its declarative discourse involving negation and affirmation.

The terms “truth” and “falsehood” encompass both categories. “Truth” may mean that which exists and is established, and “falsehood” that which is nonexistent and absent. “Truth” may also denote what ought to be intended, sought, and done—namely, what is beneficial. “Falsehood,” by contrast, denotes what ought neither to be intended, nor sought, nor done