But no analogy drawn from a created being can correspond in every respect to an act of the Lord, for there is nothing like Him—whether in His essence, His attributes, or His acts. One of the scholars was asked about questions of this kind(1) and recited:

What I deem ugly when it comes from another,
You do—and, coming from You, it is fair.

But the point is that, even among created beings, a person may command someone to do something while not intending(2) to assist the person commanded in doing it; and he may forbid someone from doing something that he—the one issuing the prohibition—intends to do for his own benefit](3).

It is therefore clear that this Qadarite and those like him have spoken in ambiguous terms. When they say, “Whoever commands what he does not will is foolish,” they lead people to suppose that he has commanded something while not wanting the person commanded to do it. Allah has not commanded His servants to do anything that He did not approve for them to do, [did not love for them to do](4), or did not will them to do in this sense. Rather, He commanded some of them to do something that He Himself did not will to create for them through His volition and [did not] cause them to perform(5). It is well known that one who gives a command is not obliged to make the person commanded perform what was commanded; indeed, this(6) is impossible according to the Qadarites.

Others hold that He is capable of doing so, but that He may either do it or refrain. Thus, according to one who affirms divine volition without teleological wisdom, the answer is: “This is like all(7) other possible things: