times are singled out for events to occur in them, without a determining factor that necessitates this and without a newly occurring cause that necessitates their occurrence.

“Besides being patently invalid according to sound reason, this also invalidates the argument they used to establish the Maker’s existence. Events must therefore have a newly occurring cause; hence every event is preceded by another event.

“This entails that, if Allah speaks by His will and power, it is possible that He has always spoken by His will and power. He cannot have begun to speak after never having spoken at all, for that would entail an event coming into being without a newly occurring cause, which is impossible. It would also entail His newly acquiring attributes of perfection that He could have possessed from eternity, which is likewise impossible. This is because the attributes of perfection that the Lord can possess cannot depend upon anything other than Him. Otherwise, that other would be the one who bestows attributes of perfection upon Him, and whoever bestows attributes of perfection upon another is more entitled to be the Lord Most High. Yet the Lord of the worlds—the Creator of everything besides Him, upon which He bestows attributes of perfection—cannot have anyone else as His lord in any respect. Glorified and exalted is He above that. Thus, the attribute of speaking whenever He wills must belong to Him eternally, without beginning or end.”

These people said:

“This principle invalidates the argument of the eternalist philosophers that