The proof that things are given existence out of nothing (al-dalîl al-ikhtirâ'î), which is alluded to by the verse "who has created you and those [who lived] before you (alladhî khalaqakum wa alladhîna min qablikum)," is this: Allâh the Most High gave every species and all the members of each, a particular being which is the source of its particular works and the perfections of which it is worthy. For since all species [and realms of beings] are contingent, as are the never ending chains of causes, none can go back in unbroken succession to pre-eternity. Also, since there is [constant] change in the world, it proves [the world's] createdness, sometimes through observation and sometimes through rational necessity. It has also been demonstrated by biology and botany that there are more than two hundred thousand sorts of species and that each has a progenitor and forefather. Contingency and createdness prove therefore that necessarily these progenitors and forefathers emerged without intermediary from the hand of divine power. Moreover, [causes] cannot be imagined [at the first creation] as they are imagined in the chains of causes. Furthermore, the delusion of the splitting off of some species from others is invalid. For [since either the offspring are barren or the line becomes extinct,] an intervening species mostly does not become the start of new chains through reproduction. It is most likely therefore that since the origins and beginnings are thus, the successive members will also be thus. How can it be imagined that simple, lifeless natural causes, which are devoid of intelligence and will, should be capable of bringing into existence these chains [of beings] which astound the mind, and of creating (ikhtirâ') the individual beings, each of which is a marvel of art and miracle of divine power? Hence, all beings and the chains of which they are parts testify decisively through the tongues of their createdness and contingency to the necessary existence of their Creator, may His glory be exalted.