7. Muhammad ibn abu ‘Abdallah in a marfu’ manner, has narrated from abu Hashim al-Ja‘fari who has said the following:

“I was in the company of abu Ja’far al-Thani (the 2nd) , when a person asked him, “Inform me about the Lord, Blessed and High. He has Names and Attributes in His Book, and His Names and His Attributes, are they He Himself?” Abu Ja’far replied, “This saying has two aspects. If you say that they are He Himself, meaning that He has plurality and multiplicity, then Allah is far exalted from that. If you mean that these names and attributes always existed, then ‘always existed’ also has two meanings. If you say that these names and attributes have eternally been in the knowledge of Allah and He eternally deserved them, then yes (this is correct). But if you mean that their images, their spellings and their syllables always existed, then we seek refuge in Allah from something else being there with him. Rather, Allah was when there was no creation. Then He created these as a means between Him and His creation, being desperately (dependent) upon Him, and they are worshipping Him, and these are His Mention. And Allah was when there was no Mention. The Mentioned One by Mention is Allah the eternal, who will be there eternally. The Names and Attributes are creations, and the Meaning Meant by these, He is Allah with Whom neither befits the variances nor the combinations, and rather (that) variates and combines, (which is) fragmented.

It cannot be said that Allah is combined, or that He is little or much. Rather His Own-self is eternal, because whatever is besides The Only One is divisible, and Allah is The Only One, not divisible. And He cannot be imagined as little or much. Everything that is divisible or imagined as little or much is created, which proves there is a Creator for it.

So, your saying ‘Allah is Powerful’ informs you that He is not frustrated by anything. Thus, you negate the frustration by the speech and make frustration to be other than Him. The same for your saying ‘(He is) All-Knowing’. You have negated the ignorance by the speech and made ignorance to be other than Him. When Allah will destroy all things, he will destroy the image, the spelling and the syllables, and He does not cease to be, the One who will not cease to be All-Knowing.”

So, the man then said, “So how come we call our Lord All-Hearing?” He (the Imam) said, “Because it is not hidden upon Him whatever is being comprehended by hearing, and we do not ascribe to Him the hearing ability that exists in the head. In the same way, we call Him All-Seeing, because it is not hidden upon him whatever can be seen, like colors or individuals or anything similar, and we do not ascribe to him the vision of the movement of the eye. In the same way, we call Him Subtle, because of His knowledge of subtle things, like the mosquito and things that are even subtler than that.

And the subject of the growth is from these, and intelligence, and desires for reproduction, and compassion for their offspring, and their guarding of each other, and their carrying of food and drink to their offspring in the mountains, wilderness, valleys and desolate places. Thus, we know that their Creator is Subtle, but without a ‘how’. Rather the ‘how’ is for the creation, the one subject to ‘how’.

In the same way, we call our Lord Strong, not because of the violent strength known in creatures. If his strength was the violent strength known in creatures, there would be a similarity, and an increase would be tolerated. And whatever tolerates an increase, would tolerate a decrease; and whatever is deficient would not eternal; and whatever is not eternital would be frustrated.

So our Lord, the Most Holy and Most High, there is neither a resemblance for Him, nor an opposite, nor a match, nor a ‘how’, nor an end-point, nor can He be envisaged by visions. And it is prohibited unto the hearts to conceive something that resembles Him, and upon the imaginations to limit Him, and upon the consciences to form Him. Majestic and Mighty is He from the instruments of His creatures, and the features of His Created beings; and Exalted is He from that, Loftier, Greater.”