It was related from Muhammad ibn 'Abdallah al-Khurasani, the servant of al-Rida-upon whom be peace-that a man from among the unbelievers (zanadiqah)1 entered the presence of the Imam, with whom was a group of people. Abu-l-Hasan (the Imam) said to him, "Dost thou see that if the correct view is your view-and it is not your view-then are we not equal ? All that we have prayed, fasted, given of the alms and declared of our convictions will not harm us."
The unbeliever remained silent. Then Abu-l-Hasan said, "If the correct view is our view-and it is our view-then have not you perished and we gained salvation?"
He said, "God's mercy be upon thee. Then let me know, how is He and where is He ?"
Abu-l-Hasan answered, "Woe upon thee, surely the opinion thou hast adopted is mistaken!. He determined the 'where', and He was, when there was no where; and He fashioned the 'how', and He was, when there was no 'how'. So He is not known through 'howness' or 'whereness' or through any form of sense perception, nor can He be gauged by anything."
The man said, "So then surely He is nothing (la shay') if He cannot be perceived by any of the senses."
Abu-l-Hasan said, "Woe upon thee! When thy senses fail to perceive Him, thou deniest His lordship. But when our senses fail to perceive Him, we know for certain that He is our Lord and that He is something different from other things (shay' bi-khilaf al-asha).2
The man said, "Then tell me, when was He?"
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1. The zanadiqah (sing.: zindiq) are identified specifically in Islamic history with the Manichaeans, but the word is also used more generally, as here, to mean umbeliever and heretic.
2. Concerning the use of the term "thing" to refer to God, see above, note 92.
Abu-l-Hasan said, "Tell when He was not, and then I will tell you when He was."1
The man said, "Then what is the proof of Him?"
Abu-l-Hasan said, "Surely when I contemplate my body and it is impossible for me to increase or decrease its breadth and height, or to keep unpleasant things away from it or draw benefits to it, then I know that this structure has a maker and I acknowledge (iqrar) Him-even though that which I had seen of the rotation of the celestial sphere through His power; the producing of clouds;2 the turning about of the winds;3 the procession of the sun, the moon and the stars; and others of His wondrous and perfectly created signs (ayat), had (already) made me know that (all) this has a Determiner (muqaddir) and Producer (munshi')."
The man said, "Then why has He veiled Himself (from men)?"
Abu-l-Hasan replied, " Surely the veil is upon creatures because of the abundance of their sins. As for Him, no secret is hidden from Him during the day or the night."4
The man said, "Then why does the sense of sight perceive Him not?"
Abu-l-Hasan answered, "Because of the difference between Him and His creatures, who are perceived by the vision of the eyes, whether their own or others. Then He is greater than that sight should perceive Him, imagination encompass Him, or the power of reason delineate Him."
The man said, "Then define His limits (hadd) for me."
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1. Majlisi comments on the unbeliever's question and the Imam's answer as follows (p. 38): "The apparent meaning is that he is asking about the beginning of God's being and existence. But it is also possible that the question concerns the principle of time for His existence. According to the first (possibility), the gist of his answer is that beginning in time pertains to that which is temporal, to that which had been nonexistent and then became existent. But as for God, nonexistence is impossible (so He cannot have a beginning in time).
"According to the second (possibility), the meaning is that the existent in time would be so through transformation in essence and attributes, for time is the relationship of the changing (al-mutaghayyir) to the changing. So in one moment of time it has a state which it does not have in another. But God transcends change in essence and attributes."
2. Cf. Quran XIII, I2.
3. Cf. Quran II, I64.
4. I.e., He is not veiled, for He sees all things. It is men who have veiled themselves from Him.
He answered, "He has no limits."
The man asked, "Why?"
He answered, "Because every limited thing (makdud) ends at a limit. If limitation (tahdid) is possible, then increase is possible. If increase is possible; then decrease is possible. So He is unlimited. He neither increases nor decreases. Nor is He capable of being divided or imagined."
The man said, "Then tell me about your saying that He is Subtle, Hearing, Seeing, Knowing and Wise.1 Can He be the Hearing without ears, the Seeing without eyes, the Subtle without working with the hands and the Wise without workmanship (sanah)?"2
Abu-l-Hasan said, "Surely a person among us is subtle in accordance with (his) skill in workmanship. Hast thou not seen the man who undertakes a task and is subtle in his handling of it, so that it is said, 'How subtle is so and so!' Then how should it not be said of the Majestic Creator that He is Subtle, when He creates a subtle and majestic3 creation, places in its living creatures their souls, creates every kind different in form from its own kind, and none resembles another ? Each possesses in the composition of its form a subtlety from the Subtle and Aware Creator."
"Then we looked upon the trees and their bearing of delicate things, whether edible or inedible, and we said at that, 'Surely our Creator is Subtle, (but) not like the subtlety of His creatures in their workmanship.' And we said, 'Surely He is Hearing, for no hidden from Him are the sounds of His creatures between the Throne and the earth, from a mote to what is larger than it, and in the land and the sea. And their words are not confused by Him.' At that we said, 'Surely He is Hearing, but not through ears.'"
"Then we said, 'Surely He is Seeing, but not through eyes, for He sees the trace of a black speck on a dark night
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1. These are all divine names which occur in the Quran. It should be noted, however, that the name latif ("Subtle") is particularly difficult to render into English in a manner which would do justice to its various shades of meaning, as will be apparent from the passage. Nevertheless it seemed better to maintain the one word in English than to try to change it according to context and lose the point which the Imam wishes to make. In another, hadith Imam Rida explains the meaning of the divine name al-latif as follows: God is "Latif, not because of being scanty, slender or small, but because of penetrating into things and being impossible of comprehension .... God is too subtle to be grasped within a definition or limited by a description, whereas, 'subtlety' for us is in smallness of size and quantity" (al-Tawhid, p. I89).
2. "Wisdom" (al-hikmah) is defined as "knowledge which puts everything in its place", and therefore implies application and "workmanship".
3. Here subtle and majestic, latif and jalil, are meant to be two contrasting attributes, referring to the very small and the very large, etc.
on a black stone.1 He sees the tracks of an ant on a pitch-black night. He sees what is harmful for it and what beneficial, and the result of its cohabitation, and its young and descendents.' And at that we said, 'Surely He is Seeing, but not like the sight of His creatures."
"The man did not leave until he had embraced Islam. The Imam said other things as well.
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1. Cf. Quran VI, 59: "With Him are the keys of the Unseen; none knows them but He. He knows what is in land and sea; not a leaf falls, but He knows it. Not a gram in the earth's shadows, not a thing, fresh or withered, but it is in a Book Manifest."
