الهيثم بن عبد الله

Everything in this book that is narrated from Al-Asbagh ibn Nubatah has been transmitted by me from Muhammad ibn Ali Majilawayh - may Allah (swt) be pleased with him - from his father, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid, from Al-Haytham ibn Abdullah Al-Nahdi, from Al-Husayn ibn Alwan, from Amr ibn Thabit, from Sad ibn Tarif, from Al-Asbagh ibn Nubatah.

The Messenger of Allah (s) said to `Ali (as): You are my inheritor.

Manliness is (separated into) two (dimensions of) manlinesses: the manliness of civility and the manliness of travel. As for the manliness of civility, it is to recite the Qur’an, attending mosques, accompanying the people of goodness and contemplation into knowledge. As for the manliness of travel, it is to spend the excess, joking with other than what angers Allah, little dispute with the one who accompanies you and abandoning the narrating of them when you depart from them.

“The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) said,He created the creatures with His Ability.Some are generous and some are miserlyBut the generous ones are in comfortBut the miserly has long misery.”

Imam abu ‘Abdallah has said the following. “Allah created us and made it well. He gave us our form and formed it well. He made us His eyes among His servants and His speaking tongue in His creatures. He made us His open hands over His servants with kindness and mercy. He has made us his face through which He is approached and his door that shows the way leading to Him. He made us His treasurers in the heavens and on earth. Through us the trees give fruit and the fruits ripen and the canals flow. Through us the skies send rain and plants grow on earth. Through our worship Allah is worshipped and were we not there Allah would not have been worshipped.”

Verily, Allah the Mighty and High, made us the best of creation, and moulded us from the best of moulds. He made us His Eye though which He sees His Servants. He made us the Tongue with which He speaks to His Creation. He made us the Outspread Hand of Mercy over His Servants. He made us the Face through which He bestows His Bounties.1 He made us the Gate that leads to Him. And He made us His Treasure in the Heaven and on His Earth. It is due to us2 that trees bear fruits, that fruit ripens, that rivers flow, that clouds shower down rain, and that the Earth grows grass. It is through our service [`ibadah], Allah is served. If it were not for us, Allah would not have been worshipped.3

It is because he followed (the ways) of Rasulullah (sw) who left jihad against the mushrikeen (polytheists) in Mecca for 13 years after his Prophethood, and in Medina for 19 months. That was due to the small number of supporters that he had, and Ali (as) also left jihad against his enemies due to the small number of supporters that he had. So if the Prophethood of Rasulullah (sw) is not void if he left jihad for 13 years and 19 months, then the Imamat of Ali (as) is not void if he left jihad for 25 years. That is because the reason that prevented them from doing jihad was the same."

“where?” Nothing is similar to Him so He cannot be described through similarity [kayfiyya]. Neither is anything absent from His Knowledge so that He may know it through distinction. He is Dissimilar to the attributes which He has brought about. He cannot be comprehended by what He has created. He is beyond behavioral states due to His Magnificence and Exalted Nature. Limits are forbidden to Him in the brilliant acute mind’s proficiencies. Enquiring minds cannot comprehend His Nature. Intellectual explorers cannot conceive His Shape. Due to His Greatness, He cannot be confined to space. Due to His Majesty, He is beyond measure. Due to His Magnificence, He cannot be divided. Imaginations cannot grasp Him entirely. He cannot be comprehended by minds nor can He be compared. The most eager of intellects cannot hope to comprehend Him through inference. Oceans of Knowledge have dried up attempting to fathom Him. The sharpest minds of the opponents have shriveled attempting to describe His Omnipotence. He is One but not numbers; Everlasting, but not with an extent; and Existing, but without support. He is neither a genus so that the species may be compared to Him, nor a shape so that the shapes may be compared to Him; nor like other things so that descriptions may apply to Him. Intellects have floated away in the waves of His Perception. Imaginations are astonished when contemplating His Eternity. Intellects are prevented from understanding His Omnipotence. The minds have drowned in the depths of the orbit of His Realm which possesses power over the bestowal of blessings, and which forbids with magnificence. He is Sovereign over all thins. He never declines nor is encompassed by an attribute. The obstinate fixed stars surrender to Him through their orbit. The firm causes submit to Him in the utmost heights of their section as a witness from all species over His Lordship. The inability of beings bears witness to His Omnipotence. The coming into being of beings bear witness that He is without a beginning. And the death of beings bears witness that He is Everlasting. Thus, there is no refuge for them from His Reach; there is no fleeing His Encirclement; there is no hiding from His Decree; and there is no avoiding His Omnipotence. The composition of nature is proof. Creation out of nothing is proof that He has no beginning. The creative power is sufficient as an admonition. Thus, there is no limit connected to Him, no likeness of Him, and there is nothing hidden from Him. Exalted is He, the Most High, from the attributes of created things! I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, with faith in His Lordship, and in contrast to those who deny Him. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, the Inhabitant of the Best Resting Place, the Fruit of the Most Noble Lions and Purified Wombs, the Product of the Most Dignified Lineage and Best Birth place which is inaccessible to others and which has the most honorable foundation. He was chosen by Allah as His trustworthy Friend from the Tree of Prophethood. The tree possesses fine wood, an upright trunk, high branches, blooming twigs, ripened fruits, and a precious interior. In nobility was the tree planted, and in sanctity it grew, branching off, and producing honorable fruits. Hence, the tree was given prestige, and was made lofty by the Prophet Muhammad (SA). Eventually, Allah, the Mighty and High, honored him with the Trusted Spirit [al-Ruh alAmin], the Open Light [al-Nur al-Mubin], and the Evident Book [al-Kitab al-Mustabin]. He made Alboarak [buraq] subservient to Muhammad (SA) and the Angels greeted him. The devils were frightened of him. Through him, Allah destroyed the idols, and the gods that were served other than Him. His practice [Sunnah] is sensible, his conduct [sirah] is just, and his judgment is true. He complied with what his Lord ordered him, and fulfilled his responsibilities. He clearly preached Divine Unity, and made known to creation that there is no god but Allah, the One, the Only, who has not associates. Eventually, he purified the concept of Diving Unity, attributing all Lordship to Him. Through Divine Unity, He made apparent his proof, and with Islam elevated his status. Allah, the Mighty and High, chose for His Prophet (SA) the spirit, the status, and the expedition. May Allah bless him, and his Purified Progeny, as He has blessed all of the Prophets who preceded him!

Praise belongs to God, who did not originate from anything, nor did He bring what exists into being from anything. His Beginninglessness is attested to by the temporality (huduth) of things. His Power is attested to by the weakness with which He has branded them (His creatures), and His Ever-Lastingness (dawam) is attested to by the annihilation (fana) which He has subjected them to. No place is empty of Him that He might be perceived by localization (ayniyyah), no object is like Him that He might be described by a quality (kayfiyya), nor is He absent from anywhere that He might be known by a place (haythiyya). His attributes differ from all the attributes that He has originated. He is inaccessible to perception because of the changing essence of the things He has created. No created thing having grandeur and tremendousness can dominate (tasarruf) Him.It is forbidden to delimit (tahdid) Him to the penetrating acumen of the sages. It is also forbidden to describe (takyeef) Him to the piercing profundities of thought and represent (taswir) Him to the searching probes of insight. Because of His Tremendousness, places encompass Him not; and because of His Majesty measures gauge Him not; and because of His Grandeur standards cannot judge Him. Impossible it is for imaginations to fathom Him, understandings to comprehend Him or minds to imagine Him. Powers of reasoning with lofty aspiration despair of contriving to comprehend Him. Oceans of knowledge run dry without referring to Him in depth; and the subtleties of the disputers fall from loftiness to pettiness in describing His Power. He is One not in terms of number. He is Everlasting (da’im) without duration, and Standing (qa’im) without supports. He is not of a kind that (other) kinds should be equal to Him. He is not an object that objects should be similar to Him. He is not like things that attributes should apply to Him. Powers of reasoning go astray in the waves of the current of perceiving Him. Imaginations are unable to perceive His Beginninglessness. Understandings are held back from becoming conscious of the description of His Power, and minds are drowned in the depths of the heavens of His kingdom (malakut). He is Master over (giving) bounties. He is Inaccessible through Grandeur, and is Sovereign over all things. Time (dahr) does not age Him, nor does description encompass Him. Humbled before Him are the most stubborn in their utmost stubbornness, and submitted to Him are the strongest cords in their utmost realm of strength.All kinds of creatures witness to His Lordship (rubobiyya). The incapacity of all kinds of creature witness to His Power. The createdness (futur) of all kinds of creatures witness to His eternity (qidmah). The extinction (zawal) of all kinds of creatures witness to His permanence (baqa’). So they possess no place of refuge from His grasp (idrak). There is no exit from His encompassing (ihatah) them. They have no way of hiding themselves from His enumeration (ihsa’). They have no way of avoiding His Power over them. It is sufficient that He has perfectly made them as a sign (ayah). He has put their natural constitution as a Proof. He has established the temporal origin (huduth) of their natures as (a reason for His) Eternity. He has also decreed the Laws of Creation governing over them as a lesson.No limit is attributed to Him, no similitude is struck for Him and nothing is hidden from Him. High indeed is He exalted above the striking of similitude and above created attributes!And I testify that there is no god but He, having faith in His Lordship and opposing whoever denies Him. I testify that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger, residing in the best lodging-place, having passed from the noblest of loins and immaculate wombs, extracted in lineage from the noblest of treasures and in origin from the noblest of plantations, and (derived) from the most inaccessible of summits and the most glorious roots, from the tree from which God fashioned His Prophets and chose His trusted ones: (a tree) of excellent wood, harmonious stature, lofty branches, flourishing limbs, ripened fruit, (and) noble interior, implanted in generosity and cultivated in a sacred precinct. There it put forth branches and fruit, became strong and unassailable, and then made him (the Prophet Muhammad) tall and eminent, until the Sublime God honored him with the Holy Spirit, the Illuminating Light, and the Manifest Book. Moreover, He subjected Al-Boraq to him and the angels greeted him.By means of him (the Prophet) He terrified the devils, overthrew the idols and gods (which were being) worshipped besides Him. His Prophet’s Tradition (Sunna) is integrity (rushd); his conduct (seera) is justice and his decision is the truth. He proclaimed that which was commanded by his Lord, and he delivered that with which he was charged until he made plain his mission through the profession of Unity and made manifest among the creatures that There is no god but God alone and that there are no partners for Him; until His Unity became certain and His Lordship became purified. God made manifest his argument through the profession of His Unity and raised his rank with submission (Islam). And the Honorable the Exalted God chose for His Prophet what was with Him of repose, rank and means - may God’s Blessings be upon him and his pure Household.’”