Moreover, what (1) they cite as an analogy—fire producing heat and water producing coolness—is invalid. Such effects proceed only from two things: an agent and a receptive subject. As for the First—exalted is He—everything other than Him proceeds from Him, while no receptive subject already exists.

If they say, “The fixed essences existing in external reality, which are independent of any agent, are the receptive subject,” this is false for several reasons.

One is that this rests on their corrupt principle of affirming essences that exist in external reality yet are distinct from existent individual entities. This is categorically false. Their claim that the triangle (2) can be conceived before its existence is known does not demonstrate the external existence (3) of the triangle (4); it demonstrates only its existence in the mind. There is undoubtedly a distinction between what exists in the mind and what exists in external reality. This is the source of many of their errors: they conceived certain things in their minds and then supposed that they existed in external reality, such as the intellects, universal essences, prime matter, and the like.

Another is that essences correspond to whatever exists: everything that exists has, according to them, an essence. This is likewise maintained by those among the Mu'tazilites and Shiites who say, “The nonexistent is a thing.” It is therefore not permissible (5) to restrict the class of existents to particular things merely on the supposition (6) that no other essence can receive existence.