The Almighty, Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, the Mighty, the Forgiving. And the created being only acts by acquiring what is divinely bestowed upon him, perfect in creation. And a definition of acquisition has also been transmitted from him; but we have not been able to ascertain those words due to damage to some of its letters in the manuscript of the commentary. However, we will attempt to infer those words, relying on our understanding. The commentator said: "The infallible, may God be pleased with him, said, revealing the reality of acquisition: As for the meaning of acquisition, it is that God Almighty created for the servant [damaged word, perhaps: many] movements, and created with one of them [damaged words, perhaps: choice, and that] choice is what is called acquisition. And if what we have conjectured about the obscured words is correct, then Ibn Tumart's view on human ability to act becomes close to the Ash'arite view in their saying that God creates the ability in man, and creates the action in him, and their conjunction is acquisition. However, Ibn Tumart expressed ability by choice, which is consistent with his previous analysis of ability, as he made choice an element of its elements. Reward and Punishment: Obligation entails reward and punishment. After the argument is established against man by the appearance of clear miracles confirming the prophets, he becomes responsible for the consequences of his actions by virtue of the choice he is capable of. The Mahdi says: 'If the evidence for the truthfulness of the Messenger appears, then whoever turns away thereafter deserves punishment, and whoever answers and obeys deserves reward.' However, what man receives of reward is not a product of the acts of obedience he performs, but rather a product of pure divine favor. And God Almighty can punish the obedient and the disobedient alike, and that would be pure justice from Him. For every blessing from Him is favor, and every punishment from Him is justice. He is not questioned about what He does, but they are questioned." [Unknown] Sharh A'azz Ma Yutlab (57) Same source and page. (58) Ibn Tumart, Risala fi al-'Ibadah (59) Ibn Tumart, al-'Aqidah (60) See also: al-Tansī, al-Anwar al-Mubayyinah, 2/1.