12. My father said: Muhammad ibn Yahya al-`Attar said, on the authority of Muhammad ibn alHusayn ibn Abu al-Khattab, on the authority of Ibn Abu `Umayr, on the authority of Hisham ibn Salim, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Muslim that I heard Abu Ja`far al-Baqir say:

“Allah was there when there was nothing other than Him. He has always been All-Knowing of what He has created. Therefore, His Knowledge of things before their being is exactly the same as His Knowledge of things after their creation.”