23. My father said: Sa`d ibn `Abd Allah said: Abu al-Khayr Slih ibn Abu Hammad said: Abu Khalid al-Sajistani related to me, on the authority of `Ali ibn Yaqtin, on the authority of Abu Ibrahim that

The Commander of the Faithful passed by a group in Kufah while they were arguing about the Divine Decree. Thus, he asked their speaker, “Are you able to act because of Allah, with Allah or without Allah?” The person did not know how to answer. So the Commander of the Faithful said: Verily, if you claim that you are able to act because of Allah, then you are not in trouble. However, if you claim that you are able to act with Allah, then you have claimed to be an associate with Him in His sovereignty and if you claim that you are able to act without Him, then you have testified to a god other than Allah, the Mighty and High. He replied, “No, O Commander of the Faithful! I am able to act because of Allah.” So the Imam said: “If you had said something else, I would have hit your neck.”