7. `Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn `Imran al-Daqqaq (may Allah be pleased with them) said: Muhammad ibn Abu `Abd Allah al-Kufi said: Muhammad ibn Isma`il al-Barmaki said: on the authority of al-Husan ibn al-Hasan, and al-Husayn ibn `Ali, on the authority of Salih ibn Abu Hammad, on the authority of Bakr ibn Salih, on the authority of Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Sa`id, on the authority of `Abd Allah in al-Mughayrah, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Ziyad said: I heard Yunus ibn Zabyan say I entered in the presence of Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq and told him: Hisham ibn al-Hakam made a long statement. I will simply summarize it: He considers Allah to be a body because things are of two types: bodies or actions of bodies. Hence, if it is not possible for the creator to be an action, it is only possible that He be a Doer. Then Abu `Abd Allah replied: “Woe to him! Does he not know that a body is extremely limited, and an image is absolutely limited? Hence, if a limit is possible then increase and decrease are possible, and if increase and decrease are possible, then He is created. I asked: “Then what should I say? He answered: He has neither body nor image for He is the creator of bodies and images. He is devoid of parts and limits. He does not increase, nor does He decrease. If He were as he (Hisham) says then there would be no difference between the Creator and the created, or between the Inventor and the invented. However, He is the Inventor. The Creator of Bodies and Images does not resemble anything nor does anything resemble Him.