سالم

“Does Allah destroy other than what exists? And does He establish other than that which was nonexistent?”

“Allah, the Mighty and High, has not been revered with anything like the Appearance.”

I asked Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq (AS) to interpret: The nature made by Allah is which He has made men. He (AS) replied, “It is Divine Unity.”

“There is nothing which causes fear or which causes delight [qabd wa bast] in which Allah has not placed a favor and a trial (for His Servants).”

“How did you recognize your Lord?’ He (AS) replied, “Through abolishment of decision and invalidation of ambition. My decision was abolished, and when I had an ambition it was invalidated.”

“Verily, Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, has forbidden Hellfire to the bodies of the monotheists.”

“Apprehension and delight do not occur from a servant unless he has been granted the ability for apprehension and delight.”

“Verily, this Ummah will not be ruined until they stat discussing (the nature of) their Lord.”

I heard Abu Ja`far al-Baqir (AS) say: “Allah was there when there was nothing other than Him. He has always been All-Knowing of what He has created. Therefore, His Knowledge of things before their being is exactly the same as His Knowledge of things after their creation.”

“He who says, `there is no god but Allah’ one hundred times will be the best of the people in deeds on that day, unless someone says it more often than he does.”

“Allah, the Mighty and High, has not sent a Prophet [nabi] until He made a covenant with him regarding these things: that he would serve no god but Allah, that he would reject idols, and that Allah can hasten His decree or delay His Decree.”

Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, is more Honorable than obliging people to do what they do not have the strength to do. And Allah is Mightier than allowing something to exist in His Rule that He does not intend.

I wrote to Abu al-Hasan al-Kadhim (AS) asking hm about what Hisham ibn al-Hakam said about the body of Allah, and what Hisham ibn Salim had said about the image of Allah. So he (AS) replied to me: “Leave the confusion of the baffled, and take refuge in Allah from Satan. Things are not as the two Hishams claim.

“Whoever is offered the means to perform the pilgrimage, even if it means riding on the back of a mutilated, mangled tailed donkey has the means of performing the pilgrimage, even if he refuses the offer.”

“Whoever recites the chapter: Say: He, Allah is One, once, it is as if he has recited one third of the Qur`an, one third of the Torah, one third of the Bible, and one third of the Psalms (of David).”

I asked Abu Abd Allah Ja`far al-Sadiq (as) about the Word of Allah, the Mighty and High: And they shall continue to differ, except those on whom your Lord has mercy; and for this did He create them. He replied, “He created them to do what makes them deserve His Mercy so that He may have mercy on them.”

“Verily, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, cannot be described in terms of space, motion, translocation or stillness. Rather, He is the Creator of time, space, motion and stillness. Exalted is Allah from what they say, the Elevated, the Great.

Allah does not oblige His Servants to complete an action, nor does He forbid them form anything, without giving them the ability to do so. Then, and only then, He commands them to complete certain actions or to refrain from certain actins. Therefore, a servant (of Allah) cannot obey or disobey unless he has been given the ability to do so. The ability to act or to desist from action precedes the command, the action, apprehension, and delight.

“O son of the Messenger of Allah! What do you say about the Qur’an?” Hence, he responded, “It is the Word of Allah, His Speech, His Book, the Revelation He revealed. It is the Honorable Book, which falsehood shall not come to it from before it not from behind it; a revelation from the Wise, the Praised One.”

Verily, it is stated in the Torah: O Musa! Verily, I have created you, chosen you, strengthened you, commanded you for My Obedience, and prohibited you from disobeying Me. Therefore, if you obey Me I will help you to obey Me and if you disobey Me, I will not help you to disobey me. O Musa! I have favored you in your obedience to Me, and I have evidence over you in your disobedience of Me.