8. `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Walid said: Ahmad ibn al-Fadl ibn al-Mughirah said: Abu Nasr Mansur ibn `Abd Allah ibn Ibrahim al-Isfahani said: `Ali ibn `Abd Allah said: al-Husayn ibn Bashshar, that I asked Abu al-Hasan `Ali ibn Musa al-Rida عليه السلام: “Does Allah know the things which have not occurred that if they did occur how would they be or He does not?” He عليه السلام said: Verily, Allah, the Exalted be He, is aware of all things even before they come into existence. Allah, the Mighty and High, says: Surely, We wrote what you did,1 and He says to the people going to the Hell: And if they were sent back, they would certainly go back to that which they are forbidden, and most surely the are liars.2 Hence, Allah the Mighty and High, knew that if He sent them back, they would certainly go back to what they were forbidden. And he said to the angels when they said: What! Wilt Thou place in it such as shall make mischief in it and shed blood, and we celebrate Thy praise and extol Thy holiness? He said: Surely, I know what you do not know.3 Therefore, the Knowledge of Allah, the Mighty and High, is eternal, and embraces all things even before they are created. Blessed be our Lord, the Exalted, the Elevated, and the Great, who created things and had knowledge of them prior to their creation. Verily, our Lord has always been All-Knowing, All-Hearing, and All-Seeing.
