ABSTRACT
It was discovered previously that in the first realm of being (awwal) only one being can be realized from the Necessary Existent. Here in this world, however, we observe a multiplicity of existents Hence, all existents cannot be of the same level (daraja ijakī) and their existences as related to the Necessary Existent cannot be of the same rank (yak manzila) and distinction (daraja). Consequently, there must be priority and posteriority in being, for, of two beings, that which is more complete and more real (ḥaqīqītar) in its existence is closer to the Necessary Existent. 1 If each thing had a single cause, multiple entities would be not of the same rank, since, of two things set in one place, one would otherwise be prior and the other posterior. But the condition of things is not such because a man, a horse, and a cow, for example, are not posterior to one another, nor are a palm tree and a vine plant posterior to one another. In their level of being, blackness and whiteness are equal, and the four elements ( chahār ṭabā’i‘) do not have precedence over each other. It is indeed possible to assert that according to their nature the heavens are logically prior to the four elements, and that the four elements are prior to the composites (i.e. bodily substances). However, not all things are arranged in such a manner. It is, therefore, necessary to know how this state of order in beings can actually be.
