5. Ahmad ibn Idris has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbar from Safwan ibn Yahya from Fudayl ibn ‘Uthman from ibn Abi Ya‘fur who has said the following:

“I asked abu ‘Abdallah , about the words of Allah, The Mighty and Glorious, ‘He (Allah) is the first and the last.’ (57:3) As for him being the first, we have understood that, but explain for us the meaning of Him being the last.” He (the Imam) said, “Nothing exists except that it is subject to annihilation, alteration, change, decay, transition from one color to another, from one shape to another and from one quality to another, from increase to decrease, and from decrease to increase, except for the Lord of the worlds. He alone is always existed and will always exist in one state. He is the first, before every thing, and the last, eternally. His attributes and names do not change as they do in the case of others, such as man , who at one time is dust, at another time flesh and blood, at another time decaying bones and finally becomes dust. A piece of date at one time is raw, at another time ripe, mature and then it dries up. With every change, the names and attributes also change. Allah, the Mighty and Glorious is different from all such things.”