Since permanence is the conjunction of the truth with the world, the rule of combination in existence and in non-existence has not ceased, for it is with the possible in the case of its nonexistence, just as it is with it in the case of its existence. So wherever we are, God is with us. Monotheism is intelligible and does not exist, and the combination exists and is intelligible, and men have a degree over them, and it is only the degree of existence if He wants. Monotheism is what created the world while knowing that if He brought it into being, He would associate it with Him. Then He commanded him to unite it, and nothing came back to Him except His action, for He was and there was nothing with Him that could be characterized by existence. So He was the first to enact polytheism because He associated with Him the world in existence. The world did not open its eyes nor see itself except as a partner in existence. He has no taste in monotheism, so where does he know it? When it wa