one possessed of power is one who acts if he wills and refrains if he wills. He is not one for whom, if he resolutely wills the act while possessing complete power to perform it, the act remains (1) merely possible and contingent—neither inevitable and necessary nor impossible and inconceivable.

Rather, we know that when a freely choosing agent possessed of power resolutely wills an act and has complete power to perform it, the act must occur and becomes necessary through another, not in itself. As the Muslims say:

“Whatever Allah wills comes to pass, and whatever He does not will does not come to pass.”

Whatever He wills (2)—glorified is He—He has power to bring about. Thus, when He wills something, it comes to pass as something He willed and is within His power; and so (3) it must exist. Whatever He does not will does not come to pass, for so long as He does not will it, even if He has power over it, the complete determining factor for its existence is absent, and therefore it cannot exist.

They said:

“With complete power and resolute will, the act’s nonoccurrence is impossible. Its nonoccurrence can only be conceived as resulting from power not being complete or will not being complete. This is something a person recognizes within himself, and it is established by certain proofs. The act of a freely choosing agent depends solely upon his power and will. He may have power but not will the act, in which case he does not perform it; or he may will the act but be incapable of it, in which case he does not perform it. But (4) when his power and will are complete, the act depends on nothing else. Complete power and resolute will constitute the complete determining factor for a possible act; when both are present, that act must occur.”

The Lord Most High possesses power and freely chooses. He acts by His will, and none compels Him. Nor is He one who necessitates—