Mādda-i illā (the first matter)... In reality, it is more accurate to describe it as that which is first diffused or spread out among created things. However, it has been named according to the attribute that Allah created for matter. It is not illogical to name something by the attribute possessed by its ṣāḥib (possessor).
The reason it is called the first matter is as follows: Allah, exalted is He, created two types of matter. The first is that which He created without any cause, and which He made to be the cause for the creation of other things.
The correct view on this matter is as follows: Allah creates things not by means of causes, but in the presence of causes. However, those who oppose the true madhhab (school of thought) have argued the contrary. In truth, the first existent was created without a cause, and then it became the cause and matter for something else. The creation of that thing, as is customary, occurred in dependence upon what was created before it—just as satiety depends on eating, the quenching of thirst on drinking, and, rationally, knowledge on the scholar, and life on the living being. (Tadbīrāt, 122)