12. `Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn `Imran al-Daqqaq said: Abu al-Qasim al-`Alawi said, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Isma`il al-Barmaki that al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan said: Muhammad ibn `Isa, on the authority of Muhammad ibn `Arafah that I asked al-Rida :

“Did Allah create things through His Omnipotence or without it?” Thus, He replied, You cannot say that Allah created things using His Omnipotence since that would mean that Allah created things by means of His Omnipotence. In so doing, you are saying that His Omnipotence is something other than Him. You are saying that He used His Omnipotence as a tool with which He creates, and that would be polytheism. When you say that Allah has created things using His Omnipotence, it is as if you consider Omnipotence to be separate from Him, and that He obtains His Power over things through it. However, Allah is neither weak nor incapable, nor is He is need of others. Muhammad ibn `Ali, the Compiler of this book says: When we say that Allah is Omnipotent, we negate any inability from Him. We do not affirm that Omnipotence co-exists along with Him, because He, the Mighty and High, is the One and Only. I will explain the difference between the attributes of essence and attributes of action under the chapter, Allah willing.