Page:The philosophy and theology of Averroes.djvu/284

 institution of God, to which He hath created man kindly disposed;" and, "when thy Lord drew forth their posterity from the lions of the sons of Adam." A Tradition of the Prophet says, "Every child is born according to the divine constitution."

These being contradictions in this problem we should try to reconcile them so that they may agree with reason. The verse, "Verily, God will cause to err whom He pleaseth, and will direct whom He pleaseth." refers to the prearranged divine will, with which all things have been endowed. They have been created erring, that is, prepared to go astray by their very nature, and led to it by inner and outer causes. The meaning of the verse, "If We had pleased, We have given unto every soul its direction," is that He thought of not creating people ready to err, by their nature, or by the outer causes or by both, He could have done so. But as the dispositions of men are different