Reflections on Divine Immutability

Imam Reza (as) is reported to have stated :
”ولم يتغير مع المتغيرين، ولم يتبدل مع المتبدلين“
translation : “And He never changes along with the things that change, and never alters along with things that alter” [Al-Kafi,kitab-ul-tawhid,hadith#338]

Change [تغير] is defined as a transition [انتقال] of a thing from potentiality [قوۃ] towards actuality [فعليۃ], with the potential to change residing within an underlying substrate known as matter [مادۃ], therefore that which undergoes change or alteration is a composite [مرکب] of potentiality and actuality, where the potentiality for receiving a new form [صورۃ] is denoted by its matter, and the aspect of actuality is denoted by some prior existing form, and every composite is necessary through another [واجب بغيرہ] and is subsistent through another [قايم بالغير], being therefore something dependent [محتاج], but that which is dependent for its subsistence [قوام] upon another such as matter and form, is not subsistent in itself [قايم بالذات] and that which is not subsistent in itself is essentially-contingent [ممکن بالذات] and hence cannot be Necessary in Itself [واجب بالذات].

Moreover if this change is from a state of imperfection [نقص] and privation towards a state of perfection [کمال] and the possession of some good [خير] that was prior to the change non-existent [معدوم] or absent in the recipient of change, so the subject of the change or motion will be something imperfect prior to this change, but since the Necessary Being is Absolute-Good [خير مطلق] and Absolute-Perfection [کمال مطلق] where goodness and perfection are not accidental and additional [زايد بر ذات] to His Essence but are integral and identical to His Essence [عين ذات], such that He is not some entity to which goodness and perfection occur, but is the very Reality of Goodness & Perfection itself, it is therefore not possible for Absolute Perfection to be lacking a certain good or perfection, and to assert the same is contradictory. Now if the change is from a state of perfection and abundance in goodness and perfection towards a state of imperfection and privation, so God will become imperfect post change, but this is also impossible since nothing imperfect can be Necessary from all aspects [واجب من جميع الجھات] whereas a Necessary Being must be Necessary from all aspects.

Secondly, everything which moves [متحرک] is in need of a mover [محرک] for imparting motion [حرکت] to it because since motion is a transition of a thing from potentiality towards actuality, that which is potential cannot actualize itself, because a thing cannot give to itself or to some other what it does not possess itself, and is therefore in need of an external mover for imparting to it the said actuality, but anything dependent for its perfection or actuality upon another is only possible in essence and not Necessary in Itself. Everything that undergoes change is either a substance [جوھر] or an accident [عرض], where substance is a quiddity [ماھيۃ] which is needless of a subject [موضوع] in concrete reality, and an accident is a quiddity that is dependent upon a subject for its subsistence, but God being Pure-Existence [وجود محض] does not have a quidity ; therefore God cannot be something changeable and is an immutable reality [ثابت].