than that. Not everyone who possesses power or will is wise, nor is everyone who possesses knowledge wise unless he acts upon his knowledge.

Ibn Qutaybah and others said: Wisdom is knowledge and acting upon it. It is also sound speech. Thus, it encompasses sound speech and upright, righteous action. The Lord Most High is the wisest of judges and the wisest of the wise. The precision evident in His creation is proof of His knowledge. They, along with all the other groups, infer knowledge from this precision. Yet it indicates knowledge only if the agent is wise and acts for a wise purpose. They, however, say that He does not act for a wise purpose, but acts solely by a will that singles out one of two equivalent alternatives without any reason necessitating that choice. This contradicts wisdom; indeed, it is foolishness. He has declared Himself free of this in His words:

“Had We intended to take a pastime, We would have taken it from what is with Us—if We were to do so.

“Rather, We hurl the truth against falsehood, and it crushes it, whereupon it vanishes. And woe to you for what you attribute to Us!”

He has also stated that He created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them only in truth, and that He