علي بن أحمد بن محمد بن عمران

The friend of any individual is his mind and his enemy is his ignorance.”

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

I said to Abu Ja’far, peace be upon him: May I be sacrificed for you, what is al-Samad? He said: The Master to which one remains firm, during the less and the more (fortunate).

I asked Abu Ja`far al-Baqir (AS): “May I be your ransom! What is the meaning of the Needless [al-Samad]?” He (AS) answered: “He is the Master on whom all depend in major and minor.”

“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.”

“Is it permissible to say that Allah is a Thing? Hence, he (AS) answered: “Yes, to the extent that it removes Him from the two extremes: annulment [ta`til] and anthropomorphism [tashbih].”

“That is My power”

“If people knew what reward there is in speaking about the Appearance they would never cease speaking about it.”

I said to Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq (AS): “Verily, I debated with a group of people and said to them, `Verily, Allah is far above being recognized through His Creation. In fact, the servants are those who are recognized through Allah.” He replied, “May Allah have mercy on you!”

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-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.

“On the Day when there shall be a severe affliction.” He (AS) replied: “A veil of light will be revealed. At that time, the Believes shall prostrate themselves, while the backbones of hypocrites will be twisted tightly preventing them from prostrating.”

I wrote to Abu al-Hasan al-Naqi (AS), informing him that some of his following have differences on the subject of Divine Unity. Some of them say that He has a body, while others say that He has an image. So He (AS) wrote to me the following in his own handwriting: “Glory be to Him who has no limit and who cannot be described! There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him; He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.” He (AS) may have said: “the All-Seeing.”

Whoever visits me despite the far distance to my tomb, I will come to save him on the Resurrection Day on three occasions until I liberate him from his terrors: 1- When the Letters of Deeds are handed to his right and to his left hands, 2- At the moment of crossing the Bridge over Hell, and 3- At the time when the Scale of Deeds (measuring the amount of good vs. bad deeds) is set up.”

“Ali ibn Musa Al-Ridha (s) said the following regarding the Words of the Sublime God, ‘Some faces, that Day, will beam (in brightness and beauty) looking towards their Lord.’ This means that these faces will be shining awaiting the reward of their Lord.”

“There is no determinism and thee is no relinquishment. Rather, the decree is between the two.” The reporter says: I asked, “What is the decree between the two?” He (AS) replied, “The example of that is of a man who was about to commit a sin. You saw him, and you told him not to do it. However, he did not stop. Then you left him, and he committed the sin. You abandoned him to his sin because he did not heed your warning. This does not mean that you encouraged him to sin.”

Musa ibn Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (as) used to call his son Ali (as) "al-Rida." He would say, "Call my son al-Rida for me," "I said to my son al-Rida," and "My son al-Rida said to me." And when he addressed him, he would say, "O Aba al-Hasan."

I asked Al-Ridha about the Unity. The Imam (s) said, ‘Whoever recites (the Quranic verse) ‘Say, He is Allah, the One and Only’ and believes in it has recognized Unity.’ Then I asked, ‘How should we recite it?’ The Imam (s) said, ‘ Recite it as the people recite it.’ The Imam (s) also added, ‘Kathaleka Rabbi. Kathaleka Rabbi’ (This is how my Lord is. This is how my Lord is)’ for three times.’”

I asked Abu Ja`far ibn al-Rida (AS) about: Vision comprehends Him not, and He comprehends (all) vision. Hence, he replied: O Abu Hashim! The imagination of mind is more precise than the vision of the eyes. You may imagine Sind, India, the towns which you have not visited, and which you have not seen with your eyes. Thus, if imagination cannot comprehend Him, how can the eyes?”

I asked al-Rida (AS) about Diving Unity; hence, he replied, “All those who read: Say: He Allah is One, and believe in it, have professed their faith in Divine Unity.” I asked, “How should one read it?” He (AS) responded, “The same way that the people read it, adding `such is my Lord’ three times.”