Greek metaphysical notions that were to characterise later kalām. According to Peters, the Mu‘tazilite debt to Greek philosophy is best seen in their belief in the autonomy of human reason and in their metaphysical atomism.7 With regard to the first, they maintained that man could come to know God through reason alone, unaided by revelation. With regard to the second, the Mu‘tazilites adopted the metaphysics of substance and accidents, but with an atomist twist, for they identified substance with