The reverence they accord him rests solely on the belief that he is the Lord of all worlds, the Necessary Existent, and so forth—attributes whose perfection is self-evident. Yet from this other, purely negative angle, every existent being is more perfect than he. When they thus combine attributing to him such perfection with a deficiency that renders every creature superior to him, their own words betray their contradiction and the unsoundness of their doctrine. What truth they have spoken remains true, and what falsehood they have uttered remains false. The detailed discussion of these theological matters is found in their proper place.

Refutation of the claim that analogical reasoning yields only conjecture

Our concern here is with logic, the proofs they adduce, and their habit of exalting universal syllogism (qiyās al-shumūl) while belittling analogical inference (qiyās al-tamthīl). They allege that the latter produces only conjecture and that certain knowledge is attainable solely through the former. This is not the case. In reality the two belong to the same species, and a sound analogical inference is better suited to deliver the desired conclusion—whether certainty or probability—than a mere universal syllogism. For this reason, people of sound intellect employ analogy far more frequently than they employ universal syllogisms; indeed, a universal syllogism concerning a general matter is not valid unless an analogical inference mediates it. Whatever can be cited to establish the validity of a universal syllogism in a given instance can equally be cited to establish the validity of analogy in that same instance. We illustrated this with their maxim, “From the One only one proceeds,” one of their most famous but fallacious theological claims.

The same holds for correct statements as well. A universal syllogism, by their own admission, requires a positive universal proposition; no conclusion follows from two negatives or from two particulars. Now, a universal is universal only in the mind. Once the existence of some of its instances in the external world is ascertained, this helps confirm that it is indeed a positive universal. When a person perceives certain concrete instances—especially when they are numerous—he abstracts from them a universal attribute. Knowledge of the presence of this shared attribute in reality is the very foundation of knowing the universal proposition; hence analogical inference is fundamental.