ABSTRACT
ANOTHER MATTER THA.T EMERGES from what we said on previous occasions is that the ba in Bismillah ("In the Name of God") is not a causative ba, as the grammarians would put it. There can be no question of cause and effect with respect to God's action. God's action is best described in terms of manifestation, for that is the term tbe Qur'an itself uses in the verse: "His Lord manifested Himself to the mountain" (7: 143), and implies in the verse: "He
. is the First and the Last, and the Outward and the Inward" (57:3). Manifestation implies a relationship of a different mode than that of cause and effect, which would presuppose an inclination on the part of the Divine Essence toward creation.
