Refutation of the Sects

...the cause of all things that came into being and existence from non-existence and from existence: such as the heavens above and whatever is in the heavens, the visible heavens that are from the waters, the earth, and everything from Him and in Him. From Him is everything, and He is not from anyone. To each order has been given the beginning of the existence of invisible, incorporeal things and visible, corporeal things. He who is sufficient, just as in giving life, so also in bringing one to the knowledge of His own immaculate essence, and in leading His creatures to submission according to their respective natures. It is not only wondrous that He brought the existent things from non-existence into existence and showed the essence from nothing, but that He also keeps the created things immaculate and unshaken. He gave life in the beginning without envy, in order to reveal the display of His own benevolence. For He was not in need of anything, that He might have spared...