The Sufficient (Vol 1) · Hadith 227 (#Ḥadīth #2)

2ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ خَالِدٍ عَنْ بَعْضِ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ عُقْبَةَ بْنِ قَيْسِ بْنِ سِمْعَانَ بْنِ أَبِي رُبَيْحَةَ مَوْلَى رَسُولِ الله ﷺ قَالَ سُئِلَ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ بِمَ عَرَفْتَ رَبَّكَ قَالَ بِمَا عَرَّفَنِي نَفْسَهُ قِيلَ وَكَيْفَ عَرَّفَكَ نَفْسَهُ قَالَ لا يُشْبِهُهُ صُورَةٌ وَلا يُحَسُّ بِالْحَوَاسِّ وَلا يُقَاسُ بِالنَّاسِ قَرِيبٌ فِي بُعْدِهِ بَعِيدٌ فِي قُرْبِهِ فَوْقَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَلا يُقَالُ شَيْءٌ فَوْقَهُ أَمَامَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَلا يُقَالُ لَهُ أَمَامٌ دَاخِلٌ فِي الاشْيَاءِ لا كَشَيْءٍ دَاخِلٍ فِي شَيْءٍ وَخَارِجٌ مِنَ الاشْيَاءِ لا كَشَيْءٍ خَارِجٍ مِنْ شَيْءٍ سُبْحَانَ مَنْ هُوَ هَكَذَا وَلا هَكَذَا غَيْرُهُ وَلِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُبْتَدَأٌ.

2. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from some of our people from Ali ibn Ali ibn ‘Uqbaa ibn Qays ibn Sam‘an ibn abu Rabi‘ah Mawla of the Messenger of Allah who has said the following. “A certain person asked Imam Ali saying, ‘By what means do you acknowledge the existence of your Lord?’” The Imam replied, “I acknowledge His existence by what He has made me to acknowledge His Own-Self.” He was asked, “How that has happened?” The Imam then replied, “He is not similar to any form and is not felt and comprehended through any of the senses and can not be analogized with the people. He is near in that He is far and He is far in that He is near. He is above every thing but one can not say that certain things are above Him. He is before every thing but one can not say that something is before Him. He is inside all things but not the way things are inside other things. He is outside every thing but not the way things are outside other things. Glory belongs to the One Who is as such and nothing else other than Him is as such and for every thing there is a beginner.”

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