A group of the most astute among these (1) speculative thinkers recognized this point, including Athīr al-Abharī (2), who said:

“It is possible for Him to bring all of that into being through a will subsisting in Him (3), even if it is preceded by another will, ad infinitum.”

It may also be said to them:

Why may the heavens and the earth themselves not be preceded (4) by one matter (5) after another, ad infinitum, while everything other than Allah is created and temporally originated—coming into being after not having existed—even if every temporally originated thing is preceded by another temporally originated thing? This is just as some of them maintain regarding acts of will or other things subsisting in His essence. If an infinite and perpetual succession of temporally originated events is possible, then this is possible as well; but if it is impossible, the eternity of the celestial sphere must likewise be impossible. On either supposition, therefore, the eternity of the celestial sphere does not necessarily follow, nor do you possess any proof of its eternity. Moreover, the messengers have declared that it is created. What, then, necessitates [contradicting] (6) that upon which the messengers, the adherents of the revealed religions, and the leading ancient philosophers all agreed, when absolutely no rational proof has been established for contradicting it?

For the utmost that their arguments establish is the eternity of action as a kind, not of any particular act. Indeed, none of the arguments advanced by those who maintain the eternity of the world establishes (7) the eternity of anything in particular within