3. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya la-`Attar said: Sa`d ibn `Abd Allah said: Ibrahim in Hashim said on the authority of `Ali ibn Ma`bad, on the authority of al-Husayn ibn Khalid that

A man entered the presence (of Imam Abu al-Hasan `Ali al-Rida) and said: “O son of the Messenger of Allah ! What is the proof that the universe emerged?” He replied, “You did not exist, and yet you came into being. You already know that you have not created yourself, and that you have not been created by someone like you.”