this earth.” It is therefore all the more fitting to say of what proceeds voluntarily from a living being (1), “This is from him.” Yet it is from Allah in the sense that He created it as something inhering in another, and made it that being’s deed, acquisition, and attribute (2). He created it by His own will and power, by means of His creation of the servant’s will and power (3), just as He creates effects through their causes: He creates clouds by means of the wind, [rain by means of clouds] (4), and vegetation by means of rain.

Occurrences are attributed to their Creator in one respect and to their causes in another. They are from Allah, created by Him as inhering in another, just as all the movements and attributes of created beings are from Him. At the same time, an occurrence is from the servant as an attribute inhering in him, just as motion is from the moving thing characterized by it, even if that thing is inanimate—how much more so when it is a living creature (5)?

Accordingly, there is no partnership between the Lord and the servant (6), because the respects in which the occurrence is attributed to each are different. Likewise, [we] (7) introduce no contradiction between the two statements when we say, “This child is from this (8) woman,” meaning that she gave birth to him, “and is from Allah,” meaning that He created him (9). Nor is there any contradiction when we say, “This fruit comes from (10) the tree, and this crop from the earth,” meaning that each came into being therein, “and is from Allah,” meaning that He created it from that source (11).