The existence of an obstacle on his path

Large and small difficult and easy are properties pertaining to finite beings; in the infinite realm of God's essence and attributes there is no question of great and little much and few. Impotence and inability are caused by the finiteness of the energy at the disposal of an agent by the existence of an obstacle on his path or by the absence of means and instruments; they are inconceivable in the case of an infinite power.

The Quran says: "Nothing in the heavens or on earth can induce weakness or impotence in God; indeed God is all-knowing and all-powerful." (35:44) Although God is capable of doing all things He has created the world according to a precise and specific scheme in the framework of which a set role has been assigned to certain phenomena in the origination of others. Those phenomena are completely and unquestioningly subordinate to His command while fulfilling that role and never rebelling against His orders in the slightest.

The Quran says: "The sun the moon and the stars are all at His command. Be aware that creation belongs only to God; it is His penetrating command that in its exalted purity creates the world and all it contains." (7:54)

Strictly speaking no creature in the scheme of the universe can be a manifestation of power or have any share in His will and command for just as God has no partner in His essence so too He has no partner in His agenthood. Just as all creatures in the world lack independence in their essence and are dependent on Him they also lack it in producing acts and effects. Every agent and cause derives the essence of its being from God and also its power to act and produce an effect. Whenever He wills and necessitates it the order that encloses all beings abandons its role for that order is itself subordinate to His will precious and firm though it may be. The Creator Who has assigned a particular effect to every factor and cause is able to neutralize and suspend that effect at any instant. Just as one command brought the order of the universe into existence another command robs phenomena of their customary effect.

Thus the Quran says: "They said 'Burn Abraham and thus us render help unto your gods if you are men of action.' We commanded the fire 'be cool for Abraham and harm him not.' They sought a stratagem against him but We made them the losers." (21:68-69) Although the powerful attraction exerted by the sun and the earth prevails over a vast space both bodies are subordinate to His will. As soon as He gives a little bird the necessary power the bird is able to resist the pull of the earth and take flight. The Quran says: "Do they not look at the birds in the heavens and see how the skies have been subjugated to them? It is God alone Who keeps them aloft and in this there is an evident sign of God's power for the people off faith." (16:79)

Whatever phenomenon may be imagined to exist in the world of being finds its needs for sustenance and life met by the Creator. Therefore whatever power and capacity is found in the scheme of creation must necessarily go back to the infinite power of God. Ali peace be upon him him the Commander of the Faithful says in a sermon reproduced in the Nahj al Balaghah: O God, we cannot penetrate the depths of Your splendor and majesty. We know only that You are living and self-subsistent, that You are exempt from %1% eating and sleeping. No mind can perceive You and no eye can see You. But You see all eyes, You know the life span of all things, and You are all-powerful.

Although we have perceived nothing of Your creation, we are astounded by Your power and praise You mightily. That which is hidden from us and our eyes cannot see and our mind and intelligence cannot attain, which is concealed from us by veils of the unseen, is much greater than what we can see ...

When man decides to build something, for example, a hospital, he assembles the necessary tools and pieces of equipment that do not have any essential relationship with each other, and, then, connects them with each other by means of a series of artificial relationships in order to reach his goal.

In order to create such artificial relationships, he makes use of different forces and object that he finds to be already existing. His work and activity are a part of the system of creation; they are not properly speaking creative activity, but only a form of motion that takes place within existing objects. Divine creation forms a quite different category from the production of artificial relationships between unrelated objects. God originates things with all their properties, forces and energies and characteristics. When we say that God is all-powerful, we must be aware that His power relates only to things that are possible. Things that are rationally impossible are entirely outside the sphere of His power, and to use the word power" or "capacity" in connection with things that are impossible is incorrect and meaningless. Although the power of God is indeed unlimited the receptive capacity of things and their ability to serve as locus for the manifestation of divine power must be taken into consideration. The implementation of God's will is intertwined with the relations between cause and effect with the complex network of reasons and causes. In order for a thing to become the object of the divine will it must not be impossible and must in its essence possess receptive capacity; divine will is accomplished by means of the receptivity of things. It is true that the divine effulgence is infinite and constantly overflowing but the ground destined to receive it may be defective and unable to absorb the infinite share that superabundant source offers it.

The ocean is an immensely abundant source of water but a tanker has only a limited capacity to take on its water; in fact only a minute amount of that water can be loaded onto a tanker. Clearly enough what is finite and limited in this case is the capacity of the tanker not the water in the ocean. Someone once asked Ali the Commander of the Faithful upon whom be peace Is your Lord able to fit the whole world into a hen's egg? He answered: "God Almighty is indeed able to do anything but what you ask is something impossible." So although God's sacred essence is utterly free of all impotence and inability it is meaningless and irrational to ask whether God can do something inherently impossible.