Tahafut_al-Tahafut-transl-Engl-van-den-Bergh

sophistical arguments is dishonest, for it may be supposed that he is not a
man to have overlooked the points mentioned. What he said, he said only
to flatter the masses of his times, but how far removed is such an attitude
from the character of those who seek to set forth the truth! But perhaps
the man may be forgiven on account of the time and place in which he
lived; and indeed he only proceeded in his books in a tentative way.
And as these arguments carry no evidence whatsoever, Ghazali says:
We want to show by all this that the philosophers cannot
shake the conviction of their adversaries that the eternal Will
is connected with temporal creation, by claiming its absurdity
by the necessity of thought, and that therefore they do not
distinguish themselves from the theologians, who make the
same claim against the philosophical doctrines opposed to
theirs. And out of this there is no issue.
I say:
When someone denies a truth of which it is absolutely certain that it is
such-and-such, there exists no argument by which we can come to an
understanding with him; for every argument is based on known premisses
about which both adversaries agree. When each point advanced is denied
by the adversary, discussion with him becomes impossible, but such
people stand outside the pale of humanity and have to be educated. But
for him who denies an evident truth, t because of a difficulty which
presents itself to him there is a remedy, i.e. the solution of this difficulty.
He who does not understand evident truth, because he is lacking in
intelligence, cannot be taught anything, nor can he be educated. It is like
trying to make the blind imagine colours or know their existence.
Ghazali says:
The philosophers may object: This argument (that the
present has been preceded by an infinite past) can be turned
against you, for God before the creation of the world was
able to create it, say, one year or two years before He did,
and there is no limit to His power; but He seemed to have
patience and did not create. Then He created. Now, the
duration of His inactivity is either finite or infinite. If you say
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