with an obligatory deed, except after giving him the help to perform it or refrain from it. If what they said were as they claimed, then entreating God for help in His obedience would be rendered meaningless, since—according to their view, along with the existence of command, prohibition, and obligation—giving the servant help for it would be a binding right owed by God to the servant, whether His servant asked Him for it or refrained from asking. Indeed, withholding that help from him would, according to them, be injustice on His part. If the matter were as they claimed, then one who says: "(You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help)" would merely be asking his Lord not to act unjustly.

And in the consensus of all the people of Islam on endorsing the statement of one who says: "O God, we seek Your help," and on deeming erroneous the statement of one who says: "O God, do not act unjustly toward us," lies a clear proof of the error in what those whose view I described have said, since the interpretation of one's saying: "O God, we seek Your help" would mean, according to them: O God, do not withhold from us Your help, the withholding of which would be injustice from You.

If someone were to say: How was it said: "(You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help)," where the statement about worship was placed first, and asking for help in it was placed second after it, whereas worship occurs only through help, so asking for help was more deserving of being placed before the action helped therewith and the worship performed through it?

It is said: Since it was known that there is no way for the servant to worship except with help from God, majestic is His praise, and it was impossible for the servant to be a worshipper unless he is helped in worshipping, and to be helped in it unless he is performing it—placing whichever of the two was put first before its counterpart was equivalent. Just as it is equivalent when you say to a man who fulfilled your need and treated you well in fulfilling it: "You fulfilled my need and treated me well," placing first the mention of his fulfilling your need; or you say: "You treated me well and fulfilled my need," placing first the mention of good treatment over the mention of fulfilling the need—because he cannot be fulfilling your need unless he is treating you well, nor treating you well unless he is fulfilling your need. Likewise, the saying of one who says: "O God, You alone we worship, so help us in worshipping You," and his saying: "O God, help us in worshipping You, for You alone we worship," are equivalent.