It has been related that on the day of the Battle of the Camel7 a bedouin came before the Commander of the Faithful and said, "O Commander of the Faithful! Sayest thou that God is one?" The people attacked him and said, "O bedouin! Doest thou not see how the Commander of the Faithful's heart is divided (with cares)?"
The Commander of the Faithful said, "Leave him, for surely what the bedouin wishes (i.e., knowledge of God) is what
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1. Since He already knows their needs, or since He is the "All-Hearing" in His Essence.
2. Majlisi comments: He is not described by pairs, "i.e. by likes, or by opposites; or by the attributes of pairs; or there is no composition in Him as the result of the marriage of any two things ..." (p. 3I6).
3. 'Ilaj. If He did, it would suggest that there is something upon which He works or to which He applies Himself. Rather, "He but says to it 'Be', and it is" (Quran II, II7; III, 47, etc.).
4. See Quran IV, I64.
5. Cf. Quran XX, 23.
6. Literally, "uvulae", lahawat.
7. The famous Battle of the Camel occurred in the year 36/656 between the followers of 'Ali and those of Talhah and Zubayr. See the Encyclopaedia of Islam (new edition), "Djamal", vol. II, pp. 4I4-I6.
we wish for the people." Then he said, "O bedouin! To say that God is one (wahid) has four (possible) meanings, two of which are not permissible concerning God, the Mighty and Majestic, and two of which are established concerning Him."
"As for the two which are not permissible concerning Him, (the first is) the saying of him who says 'one' and has in mind the category of numbers. Now this is not permissible, for that which has no second does not enter into the category of numbers. Hast thou not seen that he who says that He is 'the third of three'1 is of the unbelievers? And (the second is like) the saying of him who says (concerning a man), 'He is one of mankind', meaning that he is one kind within the species.2 This is not permissible because it is a comparison, and our Lord is greater than that and high above it."
"As for the two meanings which are established concerning Him, (the first is) the saying of him who says, 'He is one, there is no likeness (shabah) unto Him among things.' Such is our Lord. And (the second is) the saying of him who says, 'Surely He, the Mighty and Majestic, is single in meaning (ahadi al-mana), intending by that that He is not divided by existence, the power of reason, or imagination.3 Such is our Lord, the Mighty and Majestic."4
