16. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al-Farisi Abu Al-Husayn said: Abu Sa`id Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Nasawi said: Abu Nasr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn `Abd Allah al-Sughadi said in Marw that Muhammad ibn Ya`qub ibn al-Hakam al-`Askari and his brother Mu`adh ibn Ya`qub both said: Muhammad ibn Sinan al-Hanzali said: `Abd Allah ibn `Asim said: `Abd alRahman ibn Qays said, on the authority of Abu Hashim al-Rummani, on the authority of Zadhan, that Salman al-Farisi (may Allah have mercy on him) related

the coming of the Catholicos [al-jathiliq] to Medina with one hundred Christians after the death of the Prophet , and the questions he asked Abu Bakr, and which he was unable to answer. The Catholicos was then sent to the Commander of the Faithful `Ali ibn Abu Talib and asked him about them; therefore, he answered him. Among the questions he asked him was: “Inform me about the face [wajh] of the Lord, the Blessed and Exalted.” Hence, `Ali called for some fire and dry wood and then set fire to it. When it blazed, `Ali asked, “Where is the face of this fire?” The Christian replied, “It has a face from all sides.” `Ali responded, “This fire is supervised and produced yet its face is not know, while its Creator does not resemble it. And Allah’s is the East and the West, therefore, whither you turn, thither is the Face of Allah. No secret is hidden from our Lord.” The Compiler of this book says: The tradition is detailed; we have extracted from it the required passage.