The Source of Traditions on Imam al-Riḍā (Vol 1) · Hadith 131 (#Ḥadīth #23)

23 - حَدَّثَنا مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَلِى ماجِيلوَيْه رَضِىَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قالَ: حَدَّثَنا عَلِىِّ بْنِ إِبراهِيمِ بْنِ هاشِم، عَنِ الُمخْتار بن مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الُمخْتار الهَمْدانِيَّ، عَنِ الفَتحِ بْنِ يَزِيدِ الجُرجانِيّ، عَنْ أَبي الحَسَن a.sُ قالَ: سَمِعْتُهُ يَقُولُ فِي اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: هُوَاللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ الْوَاحِدُ الأَحَدُ الصَّمَدُ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُواً أَحَدٌ، مُنْشِىُ الأَشْيَاءِ وَمُجَسِّمُ الأَجْسَامِ وَمُصَوِّرُ الصُّوَرِ لَوْ كَانَ كَمَا يَقُولُونَ، لَمْ يُعْرَفِ الْخَالِقُ مِنَ الَْمخْلُوقِ وَلا الْمُنْشِىُ، مِنَ الْمُنْشَإِ فَرْقٌ بَيْنَ مَنْ جَسَّمَهُ وَصَوَّرَهُ وَأَنْشَأَهُ إِذْ كَانَ لا يُشْبِهُهُ شَيْءٌ وَلا يُشْبِهُ هُوَشَيْئاً.قُلْتُ أَجَلْ، جَعَلَنِيَ اللَّهُ فِدَاكَ، لَكِنَّكَ قُلْتَ: الأَحَدُ الصَّمَدُ، وَقُلْتَ لا يُشْبِهُ شَيْئاً وَاللَّهُ وَاحِدٌ، وَالإِنْسَانُ وَاحِدٌ أَلَيْسَ قَدْ تَشَابَهَتِ الْوَحْدَانِيَّةُ؟ قَالَ: يَا فَتْحُ أَحَلْتَ ثَبَّتَكَ اللَّهُ إِنَّمَا التَّشْبِيهُ فِي الْمَعَانِي فَأَمَّا فِي الأَسْمَاءِ فَهِيَ وَاحِدَةٌ وَهِيَ دَلالَةٌ عَلَى الْمُسَمَّى، وَذَلِكَ أَنَّ الإِنْسَانَ وَإِنْ قِيلَ وَاحِدٌ فَإِنَّمَا يُخْبَرُ أَنَّهُ جُثَّةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ، وَلَيْسَ بِاثْنَيْنِ، فَالإِنْسَانُ نَفْسُهُ لَيْسَ بِوَاحِدٍ، لأَنَّ أَعْضَاءَهُ مُخْتَلِفَةٌ وَأَلْوَانَهُ مُخْتَلِفَةٌ كَثِيرَةٌ غَيْرُ وَاحِدَةٍ وَهُوَأَجْزَاءٌ مُجَزَّأٌ لَيْسَتْ بِسَوَاءٍ دَمُهُ غَيْرُ لَحْمِهِ وَلَحْمُهُ غَيْرُ دَمِهِ وَعَصَبُهُ غَيْرُ عُرُوقِهِ وَشَعْرُهُ غَيْرُ بَشَرِهِ وَسَوَادُهُ غَيْرُ بَيَاضِهِ وَكَذَلِكَ سَائِرُ الْخَلْقِ فَالإِنْسَانُ وَاحِدٌ فِي الاسْمِ لا وَاحِدٌ فِي الْمَعْنَى وَاللَّهُ جَلَّ جَلالُهُ وَاحِدٌ لا وَاحِدَ غَيْرُهُ لا اخْتِلافَ فِيهِ، وَلا تَفَاوُتَ وَلا زِيَـادَةَ وَ[لا] نُقْصَـانَ فَأَمَّـا الإِنْسَـانُالَْمخْلُوقُ الْمَصْنُوعُ الْمُؤَلَّفُ مِنْ أَجْزَاءٍ مُخْتَلِفَةٍ وَجَوَاهِرَ شَتَّى غَيْرَ أَنَّهُ بِالاجْتَِماعِ شَيْءٌ وَاحِدٌ.قُلْتُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ فَرَّجْتَ عَنِّي فَرَّجَ اللَّهُ عَنْكَ، فَقَوْلُكَ: اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ، فَسِّرْهُ لِي كَمَا فَسَّرْتَ الْوَاحِدَ، فَإِنِّي أَعْلَمُ أَنَّ لُطْفَهُ عَلَى خِلافِ لُطْفِ خَلْقِهِ لِلْفَصْلِ غَيْرَ أَنِّي أُحِبُّ أَنْ تَشْرَحَ ذَلِكَ لِي فَقَالَ يَا فَتْحُ إِنَّمَا قُلْنَا اللَّطِيفُ لِلْخَلْقِ اللَّطِيفِ وَلِعِلْمِهِ بِالشَّيْءِ اللَّطِيفِ وَغَيْرِ اللَّطِيفِ، وَفِي الْخَلْقِ اللَّطِيفِ مِنَ الْحَيَوَانِ الصِّغَارِ مِنَ الْبَعُوضِ وَالْجِرْجِسِ وَمَا هُوَأَصْغَرُ مِنْهُمَا مَا لا يَكَادُ تَسْتَبِينُهُ الْعُيُونُ، بَلْ لا يَكَادُ يُسْتَبَانُ لِصِغَرِهِ الذَّكَرُ مِنَ الأُنْثَى وَالْحَدَثُ الْمَوْلُودُ مِنَ الْقَدِيمِ، فَلَمَّا رَأَيْنَا صِغَرَ ذَلِكَ فِي لُطْفِهِ وَاهْتِدَاءَهُ لِلسِّفَادِ وَالْهَرَبَ [الْهَرَبِ] مِنَ الْمَوْتِ وَالْجَمْعَ [الْجَمْعِ] لِمَا يُصْلِحُهُ مِمَّا فِي لُجَجِ الْبِحَارِ وَمَا فِي لِحَاءِ الأَشْجَارِ وَالْمَفَاوِزِ وَالْقِفَارِ، وَفَهْمَ [فَهْمِ] بَعْضِهَا عَنْ بَعْضٍ مَنْطِقَهَا وَمَا يَفْهَمُ بِهِ أَوْلادُهَا عَنْهَا وَنَقْلَهَا [نَقْلِهَا] الْغِذَاءَ إِلَيْهَا ثُمَّ تَأْلِيفَ أَلْوَانِهَا حُمْرَةً مَعَ صُفْرَةٍ وَبَيَاضاً مَعَ خُضْرَةٍ، وَمَا لا تَكَادُ عُيُونُنَا تَسْتَبِينُهُ بِتََمامِ خَلْقِهَا وَلا تَرَاهُ عُيُونُنَا وَلا تَلْمِسُهُ أَيْدِينَا، عَلِمْنَا أَنَّ خَالِقَ هَذَا الْخَلْقِ لَطِيفٌ لَطُفَ فِي خَلْقِ مَا سَمَّيْنَاهُ بِلا عِلاجٍ وَلا أَدَاةٍ وَلا آلَةٍ وَأَنَّ كُلَّ صَانِعِ شَيْءٍ فَمِنْ شَيْءٍ صَنَعَ وَاللَّهُ الْخَالِقُ اللَّطِيفُ الْجَلِيلُ خَلَقَ وَصَنَعَ لا مِنْ شَيْءٍ.

11-23 Muhammad ibn Ali Majiluwayh - may God be pleased with him -narrated that Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Hashem quoted on the authority of al-Mokhtar ibn Muhammad al-Mokhtar al-Hamadani, on the authority of al-Fath ibn Yazid al-Gorgani that he had heard Abul Hassan Al-Ridha (s) say the following regarding the Honorable the Exalted God, “He is Subtle, All-Aware, All-Hearing, All-Seeing, the Only One, the Independent who begetteth not, nor is He begotten, High is He Exalted above having an equal with which to be compared. He has created the objects. He has formed the bodies. He has depicted the images. If it were the case as they say, then the Creator and the created could not be distinguished from each other. The Maker could not be distinguished from the made. However, He is the Maker. There is a difference between Him and what He made, formed and created since nothing is similar to God, and God is not similar to anything.”Al-Fath ibn Yazid al-Gorgani added, “I said, ‘Yes. May I be your ransom! However, you said He is the Only, the Independent. You also said that there is nothing like Him. God is One and man is also one. Is it not the case then that they are alike in being one?’Imam Al-Ridha (s) replied, ‘O Fath! You are saying the impossible. May the Sublime God make you firm! That is a similitude in meanings. The names used for everything are the same. They denote the named. When we say man is one, we mean that he has one body, not two. However, man is not really one since he contains various organs and is of various colors. Man consists of a set of different parts. His meat is different from his blood. His blood is different from his meat. His nerves are different from his veins. His hair is different from his skin. His blackness is different from his whiteness. Other creatures are the same. Therefore, as far as the name goes, man is one. But in reality man is not one. However, God - the Exalted the Magnificent - is One. There is no other one but Him. There are no differences in Him or within Him. There are noexcesses in Him, nor are there any deficiencies in Him. However, man is a created creature which consists of many different parts. Although he is united as one, he has differences within himself. He has excesses and deficiencies.’I said, ‘May I be your ransom! You have relieved me. May God grant you relief. Please explain for me ‘the Subtle’ and ‘the All-Aware” just as you explained ‘the Only.’ I do know that God’s subtleness is different from the subtleness of His creatures. However, I would like you to describe that for me.’The Imam (s) said, ‘O Fath! The reason we call Him ‘the Subtle’ is that He is very subtle in creating. He is aware of delicate objects as well as indelicate ones. Don’t you see the effect of His Creation in delicate and rough plants, and in the Creation of creatures - small ones like mosquitoes and tiny mosquitoes, and even smaller ones which can hardly be seen by the eyes - so tiny that one cannot distinguish between the male, female, young or old? When we see their smallness yet their degree of being delicate, and consider their own ways of generation, the way they escape from death, the way they fulfill their needs from the depths of the sea, the bark of the tree, the surface of the valleys and the deserts, the way they speak and make others understand them, the way the younger ones understand their elders, the way the parents feed the children, the way they are colored in red and yellow, or white and green, and what our eyes can hardly see and our hands cannot touch, then we realize that the creator of these creatures is Subtle, and has carried out the Creation of the creatures as described before in a delicate manner and without using any tools. Any creator creates what he creates using something else, but the Mighty the Subtle God is the Creator who creates without using anything.’”

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