Knowledge

Abu `Ali al-Qassab related to me that I was in the present of Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq (AS), so I said: “All praise be to Allah whose Knowledge has ended.” He (AS) consequently replied: “Do not say that for, verily, there is no end to His Knowledge.”

I wrote to Abu al-Hasan al-Rida (AS) regarding a supplication: “All praise be to Allah whose Knowledge has ended.” Hence, he replied to me: “Do not say that `His Knowledge ended;’ however, you can say that `His Pleasure has ended.’”

“The Knowledge (of Allah) is part of His Perfection.”

knowledge of Allah is not other than Him, and is part of His Essential attributes, because Allah, the Mighty and High, is AllKnowing, All-Hearing, and All-Seeing. On the contrary, our intent in attributing Him with knowledge is to negate ignorance from Him. We do not say: “Knowledge is separate from Him” since “Allah has always been Omniscient.” If we said that His Knowledge is separate from Him, we would be saying that something eternal has always existed alongside Him. Exalted is Allah, the Elevated and Great, from such things!

I asked Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq (AS) “Do you know everything that has happened and everything that will happen until the Day of Judgement? Is it not part of Allah’s knowledge?” He (AS) answered: “It is certainly part of Allah’s Knowledge. He knew everything before He created the Heavens and the Earth.”

I asked Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq (AS): “Is there anything that exists today that was not in the Knowledge of Allah, the Mighty and High?” He (AS) replied: “No, His Knowledge encompassed everything even before He raised the Heavens and the Earth.”

Verily, Allah, the One – may His Names be Blessed and Exalted in His Elevated Essence – united everything in His Unity, then applied it to His Creation. Therefore, He is Alone, the Needless, the Master, and the glorified. Everything serves Him, and everything depends upon Him. Our Lord is beyond our grasp, and our Lord’s Knowledge encompasses everything.

8. `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Walid said: Ahmad ibn al-Fadl ibn al-Mughirah said: Abu Nasr Mansur ibn `Abd Allah ibn Ibrahim al-Isfahani said: `Ali ibn `Abd Allah said: al-Husayn ibn Bashshar, that I asked Abu al-Hasan `Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (AS): “Does Allah know the things which have not occurred that if they did occur how would they be or He does not?” He (AS) said: Verily, Allah, the Exalted be He, is aware of all things even before they come into existence. Allah, the Mighty and High, says: Surely, We wrote what you did,1 and He says to the people going to the Hell: And if they were sent back, they would certainly go back to that which they are forbidden, and most surely the are liars.2 Hence, Allah the Mighty and High, knew that if He sent them back, they would certainly go back to what they were forbidden. And he said to the angels when they said: What! Wilt Thou place in it such as shall make mischief in it and shed blood, and we celebrate Thy praise and extol Thy holiness? He said: Surely, I know what you do not know.3 Therefore, the Knowledge of Allah, the Mighty and High, is eternal, and embraces all things even before they are created. Blessed be our Lord, the Exalted, the Elevated, and the Great, who created things and had knowledge of them prior to their creation. Verily, our Lord has always been All-Knowing, All-Hearing, and All-Seeing.

I asked Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq (AS) about Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He: “Did He have knowledge of location before He created location? Or did He come to know if it when He was creating it or after He had created it?” So he (AS) replied: “Exalted is Allah! Verily, he knew about space before He created space in the same fashion that He knew about if after He brought it into being. His Knowledge of space is the same as His Knowledge of all things.” The Compiler of this book, may Allah be pleased with him, says: Another proof that Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, is Omniscient, is that action, planning, and work, can only be orchestrated by intelligence and not from ignorance, since it most surely requires wisdom. Not only can action, planning, and work not originate from ignorance, they cannot continue to operate without intelligence. Do you not see that one who does not know the art of goldsmithing cannot make an earring, even while placing every tiny essential piece in its position? Neither it is possible for someone who does not know how to write to write a book in which every word is in accordance with the previous. The All-Knowing is More Magnificent in work, and more amazing in establishment, than what we have described. Hence, it is certainly impossible for creation to have originated from a non-knower. The confirmation of this is (to be found in the following tradition):

I heard Al-Rida `Ali ibn Musa (a.s) say in his supplications: Glory be to Him who created the creation by His Power, ascertained what He created by His Wisdom, and placed everything in its place through His Knowledge. Glorified be He who knows stealthy looks, and who knows what breasts conceal. There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.

“Verily, Allah is Knowledge as there is no ignorance in Him. Allah is Life as there is no death in Him. And Allah is Light as there is no darkness in Him.”

I said to Abu al-Hasan al-Rida (AS): “It has been related to us that Allah is Knowledge as there is no ignorance in Him. Allah is life as there is no death in Him. And Allah is Light as there is no darkness in Him.” He (AS) replied: “That is exactly how He is.”

“Verily, Allah is Light as there is no darkness in Him, Allah is Knowledge as there is no ignorance in Him. And Allah is Life as there is no death in Him.”

Verily, for Allah, Exalted be He, there is specific knowledge, and there is common knowledge. As for the specific knowledge, it is the knowledge of which even the Closest Angels and Messengers (AS) are not informed. And as for the common knowledge, it is the knowledge that His Closest Angels and Messengers know, and which has reached us from the Messengers of Allah.”

“Verily, there is knowledge known to Allah alone, and verily there is knowledge which is known to His Closest Angels and Messengers. We also know it.”

The Knowledge of Allah cannot be described in terms of `where,’ nor can the Knowledge of Allah be described in terms of `how.’ Knowledge cannot be separated from Allah, nor can Allah be separated from Knowledge. There is no boundary between Allah and His Knowledge.