The Book of Divine Unity · Hadith 50 (#Ḥadīth #14)

14 - حدثنا علي بن أحمد بن محمد بن عمران الدقاق رحمه الله، قال: حدثنا محمد بن أبي عبد الله الكوفي، قال: حدثنا محمد بن إسماعيل البرمكي، قال: حدثني علي بن العباس، قال: حدثني جعفر بن محمد الأشعري، عن فتح بن يزيد الجرجاني، قال: كتبت إلى أبي الحسن الرضا عليه السلام أسأله عن شئ من التوحيد فكتب إلي بخطه - قال جعفر: وإن فتحا أخرج إلى الكتاب فقرأته بخط أبي - الحسن عليه السلام: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله الملهم عباده الحمد، وفاطرهم على معرفة ربوبيته، الدال على وجوده بخلقه، وبحدوث خلقه على أزله، وبأشباههم على أن لا شبه له، المستشهد آياته على قدرته، الممتنع من الصفات ذاته ومن الأبصار رؤيته، ومن الأوهام الإحاطة به لا أمد لكونه ولا غاية لبقائه لا يشمله المشاعر و لا يحجبه الحجاب فالحجاب بينه وبين خلقه لامتناعه مما يمكن في ذواتهم ولا مكان ذواتهم مما يمتنع منه ذاته، ولافتراق الصانع والمصنوع والرب والمربوب، والحاد والمحدود، أحد لا بتأويل عدد، الخالق لا بمعنى حركة السميع لا بأداة، البصير لا بتفريق آلة، الشاهد لا بمماسة، البائن لا ببراح مسافة الباطن لابا جتنان، الظاهر لا بمحاذ، الذي قد حسرت دون كنهه نواقد الأبصار وامتنع وجوده جوائل الأوهام . أول الديانة معرفته، وكمال المعرفة توحيده، وكمال التوحيد نفي الصفات عنه، لشهادة كل صفة أنها غير الموصوف، وشهادة الموصوف أنه غير الصفة، و شهادتهما جميعا على أنفسهما بالبينة الممتنع منها الأزل فمن وصف الله فقد حده ومن حده فقد عده، ومن عده فقد أبطل أزله، ومن قال: كيف فقد استوصفه، و من قال: على م فقد حمله، ومن قال: أين فقد أخلى منه، ومن قال: إلى م فقد وقته، عالم إذ لا معلوم، وخالق إذ لا مخلوق، ورب إذ لا مربوب، وإله إذ لا مألوه وكذلك يوصف ربنا، وهو فوق ما يصفه الواصفون.

14. `Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn `Imran al-Daqqaq (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Muhammad ibn Abu `Abd Allah al-Kufi said: Muhammad ibn Isma`il al-Barmaki said: `Ali ibn al- `Abbas related to me that Ja`far ibn Muhammad al-Ash`ari related to me, on the authority of Fath ibn Yazid al-Jurjani that I wrote to Abu Al-Hasan (`Ali) al-Rida asking him about Divine Unity. Therefore, he replied to me in his own writing. Ja`far says: Verily, Fath took out the letter for me so I read it myself in Abu al-Hasan’s writing: In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. All praise be to Allah, who gave human beings a natural predisposition to recognize their Lord and to praise Him. Allah guides humankind towards Himself through His Creation, and who proves that He is Eternal by bringing creatures into existence. He has made them resemble each other to prove that there is nothing that resembles Him. He has made His Signs as witnesses to His Might. His Essence is independent from His Attributes. Eyes are prevented from seeing Him. Imagination is incapable of encompassing Him. There is no duration for His Being, nor is there any limit for His Continuation. Human senses do not encompass Him. No screen (of non-understandability) can conceive Him. The only screen between the Creator and the created is creation itself. The reason why the created have been screened from the Creator is to prevent the created from conceiving of their Creator in terms which are unworthy. This is because the adjectives which apply to the created are not suitable for the Creator. The other reason (that Allah cannot be understood) is that there is a world of difference between the Creator and the created, the Sustainer and the sustained (the Ruler and the ruled), and the Confiner and the confined. He is One, but not in a numerical sense. He is the Creator, but not in the sense of movement or action. He is the All-Hearing, but not through any auditory organ. And He is the All-Seeing, but not by visual means. He is a Witness, but without mutual contact. He is Manifest, but not in the sense of being distant. He is Hidden, but not in the sense of being behind a curtain. He is Apparent, but not in the sense of being in front of anything. Penetrating eyes have called miserable trying to perceive the truth about Him. His Existence dwarfs and cripples the imagination (in its attempt to grasp Him). The first step in accepting faith is acknowledging the existence of Allah. And the most perfect way of acknowledging Him lies in recognizing His Unity. And the peak of His Unity lies in negating that His Attributes are part of His Essence, since attributes are separate from the entity they describe in the same way that the entity is independent of and separate from the attributes which describe it. If united, the entity and its attributes produce plurality (as opposed to unity). Plurality nullifies eternity. Hence, whoever ascribes attributes to Allah has actually measure Him. And whoever measures Him has actually nullified His Eternity. Whoever asks how He is, seeks to describe and explain Him. Whoever asks what He is, actually induces Him. Whoever asks where He is, actually vacates Him (from other places). Whoever asks how long He will exist, actually confines Him (to a limited time). He was the Knower before there was anything to know. He was the Creator when there was no creation. He was the Lord when there was nothing over which to rule. He was the One God when there was nothing to serve. Such is a description of our Lord. And He is far above what the narrators have said about Him.

Gradings are classical jarḥ-wa-taʿdīl, name-matched to a rijāl index (not individually re-verified).