 Fârâbî’s general strategy is (1) to argue that anything that is “first” must not have any kind of cause, since any such cause would be prior to it and it would not be first, and that it has no privation or potentiality (either of which would imply dependence on something prior); then (2) to infer that since it has no cause it must be simple, i.e., that it is “one” in the sense of not having any of the different kinds of internal composition (e.g., out of matter and form, genus and differentia, or physically extended parts); then (3) to infer from its simplicity and non-dependence that it has no partner and no contrary, i.e., that it is “one” in the sense of being unique; (4) then to infer from its negative attributes (especially its immateriality) to its being  intelligence[48]  and to the kind of intelligence it is, and then to derive its other positive attributes from its being this kind of intelligence (or simply to reduce the other attributes to its being this kind of intelligence); and finally (5) to infer from its simplicity to the only possible way that it can generate something outside itself. Since we know that there are things other than the First, and since anything other than the First must derive its being directly or indirectly from the First, it will follow that the First does immediately generate at least one thing, a “Second”; and Fârâbî will try to sketch how the First either directly or indirectly causes all the main types of constituents of the world. Fârâbî’s transitions from the First’s simplicity to its uniqueness, from its negative attributes to its being intelligence, and from its intrinsic attributes to its producing something outside it, are all high-risk moments, and will all be challenged by other Arabic thinkers.