Chapter II: Foundation of Belief
(2) Second basic principle. It is that God being the Creator of the power of men, does not prevent them from doing voluntary actions by way of acquisition, for God created power and Lhe container of power, choice as well as the container of choice.
Power is an attribute of a man though it is the creation of God and not acquired by man. Motion is also the creation of God and an attribute of man acquired on the strength of power, because the power with which he was created is his attribute, but motion is connected with the attribute of power and for this reason of connection, it has been named power of motion. The power of motion is not the result of compulsior on any man as he can move according to his will and knows the difference between compulsion and volition. How can this motion be his creation when he does not know the different parts of acquired actions and their numbers? When these two matters are disproved, namely the matter that actions are the result of compulsion and the matter that they are the result of volition, there remains the middle position which is this that actions are voluntary in a fixed manner through power of God by invention and through the power of a man by acquisition. God has no necessity of keeping connection with the container of power in the matter of creation because the power of God is eternal and its connection with the world is eternal.
(3) Third basic principle. It is the knowledge that though the actions of man are his acquisitions, they are nevertheless not outside the will of God. Neither a twinkling of an eye, nor a sudden rise of thought in mind in the visible and invisible world occurs except through His order, power and will. Good or evil, benefit or loss, belief or infidelity, knowledge or ignorance, success or failure, guidance or misguidance, sin or virtue, Shirk' or Iman come from Him. There is none to reject His command, none to disobey his decree, He guides whom He wishes and misguides whom He whishes. There is none to question Him of what He does, but the people will be questioned (21 : 33). All say :
What He' wills occur and what he does not will does not occur.
1 14 THE BOOK OF WORSHIP Vol-I