Maʿānī al-ʾAkhbār

أبي - رحمه الله - قال: حدثنا علي بن إبراهيم بن هاشم، عن أبيه، عن العباس بن عمرو الفقيمي، عن هشام بن الحكم، عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام أنه قال للزنديق - حين سأله عن الله ما هو؟ - قال: هو شئ بخلاف الأشياء ارجع بقولي شئ إلى إثبات معنى وأنه شئ بحقيقة الشيئية غير أنه لا جسم ولا صورة.

1. My father, may Allah grant him mercy, said: We were told by Ali bin Ibrahim bin Hashim, from his father, from Abbas bin Amru al-Fuqaymi, from Hisham bin Hakam, from Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, that he said to the heretic when he asked him about what Allah is: He is a Thing different to all things. With my saying «a thing» I indicate to confirm a meaning, and that He is a Thing by the truth of Thingness, except that He is not a matter nor an image.

أبي - رحمه الله - قال: حدثنا سعد بن عبد الله قال: حدثنا أحمد بن محمد بن خالد عن محمد بن عيسى، عمن ذكره، رفعه إلى أبي جعفر عليه السلام أنه سئل أيجوز أن يقال: إن الله شئ؟ قال: نعم، يخرجه من الحدين: حد التعطيل، وحد التشبيه.

2. My father, may Allah grant him mercy, said: We were told by Sa’d bin Abdullah, that he said: We were told by Ahmad bin Muhammed bin Khalid, from Muhammed bin ‘Isa, from those he mentioned, that he ascribed to Abu Ja’far, peace be upon him, peace be upon him, that he was asked: Is it permissible to say that Allah is a thing? He said: Yes, as long as one excludes Him from the two limitations; the limitation of incapacitation and the limitation of anthropomorphism.