Mīzān al-Ḥikma

The Extent to Which One is Allowed to Describe Allah

Volume 1 6 narrations
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Divine Transcendence 6

In this chapter filtered by Divine Transcendence

hadith 1870
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.
الإمامُ عليٌ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): مَن وَصَفَهُ فَقَد حَدَّهُ ، ومَن حَدَّهُ فَقَد عَدَّهُ ، ومَن عَدَّهُ فَقَد أبطَلَ أزَلَهُ ، ومَن قالَ: «كَيفَ ؟» فقَدِ استَوصَفَهُ ، ومَن قالَ: «أينَ ؟» فقَد حَيَّزَهُ.
Tags Divine Transcendence
hadith 1871
Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘So blessed be the One Whom the highest ambitions cannot reach and Whom the conjecture of intelligent minds cannot grasp.
الإمامُ عليٌ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): فتَبارَكَ اللّهُ الّذي لا يَبلُغُهُ بُعدُ الهِمَمِ ، ولا يَنالُهُ حَدسُ الفِطَنِ.
Tags Divine Transcendence
hadith 1872
Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘[He is] One, but not by enumeration. He is everlasting without extremity. He exists without any support.
الإمامُ عليٌ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): واحِدٌ لا بِعَدَدٍ ، ودائمٌ لا بِأمَدٍ، وقائمٌ لا بِعَمَدٍ .
Tags Divine Transcendence
hadith 1873
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.
الإمامِ الصّادقِ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): قالَ رجلٌ عندهُ: اللّهُ أكبَرُ، فقالَ: اللّهُ أكبَرُ مِن أيِّ شَيءٍ ؟ فقالَ: مِن كُلِّ شَيءٍ ، فقالَ أبو عَبدِ اللّهِ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): حَدَّدتَهُ، فقالَ الرَّجُلُ: كَيفَ أقولُ ؟ قالَ: قُل: اللّهُ أكبَرُ مِن أن يُوصَفَ .
Tags Divine Transcendence
hadith 1874
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.
الإمامُ الكاظمُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): إنَّ اللّهَ أعلى وأجَلُّ وأعظَمُ مِن أن يُبلَغَ كُنهُ صِفَتِهِ ، فَصِفُوهُ بِما وَصَفَ بِهِ نَفسَهُ ، وكُفّوا عَمّا سِوى ذلكَ .
Tags Divine Transcendence
hadith 1875
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.
الإمامُ الهاديُّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): إنّ الخالِقَ لا يُوصَفُ إلّا بِما وَصَفَ بِهِ نَفسَهُ ، وأنّى يُوصَفُ الخالِقُ الّذي تَعجُزُ الحَواسُّ أن تُدرِكَهُ، والأوهامُ أن تَنالَهُ ، والخَطَراتُ أن تَحُدَّهُ ، والأبصارُ عَنِ الإحاطَةِ بِهِ؟! جلَّ عَمّا يَصِفُهُ الواصِفونَ ، وتَعالى عَمّا يَنعَتُهُ الناعِتونَ.
Tags Divine Transcendence