The Extent to Which One is Allowed to Describe Allah

Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘He who [undertakes to] describe Him has defined Him, and he who defines Him has numbered Him, and he who numbers Him has nullified His eternity. He who asks ‘How? [about Allah] has indeed sought to describe Him, and he who asks ‘Where? has indeed confined Him.

Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘So blessed be the One Whom the highest ambitions cannot reach and Whom the conjecture of intelligent minds cannot grasp.

Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘[He is] One, but not by enumeration. He is everlasting without extremity. He exists without any support.

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) asked a man who said ‘Allah is Greater (Allahu Akbar), ‘Greater than what? So the man replied, ‘Greater than everything, to which Imam (AS) retorted, ‘Then you have defined Him. The man then asked him, ‘So what should I say? Imam replied, ‘Say: Allah is too great for description.

Imam al-Kazim (AS) said, ‘Verily Allah is too High and too Exalted and too Great for the reality of His description to ever be possible, so describe Him as He Himself has described Himself, and desist from anything other than that.

Imam al-Hadi (AS) said, ‘Verily the Creator can only be described by that which He Himself has described Himself, and how can the Creator ever be described anyway, Whom the senses are incapable of perceiving and the imaginations unable to grasp and the ideas unable to confine and the sights unable to contain?! He is too exalted for the description of those who undertake to describe, and too high to be attributed by those who seek to attach attributes to Him.