… قَالَ الْمَأمُونُ: وَكَيْفَ لاَ تَدُلُّ عَلَى غَيْرِ أنْفُسِهَا؟

… Al-Ma’mun asked: “How come they do not indicate anything other than themselves?”

قَالَ الرِّضَا عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ: لأَنَّ اللهَ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالى لاَ يَجْمَعُ مِنْهَا شَيْئاً لِغَيْرِ مَعْنىً أبَداً؛ فَإذَا ألَّفَ مِنْهَا أحْرُفاً أرْبَعَةً أوْ خَمْسَةً أوْ سِتَّةً أوْ أكْثَرَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ أوْ أقَلَّ لَمْ يُؤَلِّفْهَا بِغَيْرِ مَعْنى وَلَمْ يَكُنْ إلاَّ لِمَعْنى مُحْدَثٍ لَمْ يَكُنْ قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ شَيءٌ

Imam Al-Ridha answered: “Surely, the Blessed the Sublime God never combines any of them together unless to mean something. When He combines several letters together, say four, five, and six or more, He uses them to originate a new meaning which did not exist before.”

قَالَ عِمْرَانُ: فَكَيْفَ لَنَا بِمَعْرِفَةِ ذَلِكَ؟

Imran asked: “How can we understand this better?”

قَالَ الرِّضَا عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ: أمَّا الْمَعْرِفَةُ فَوَجْهُ ذَلِكَ وَبَيَانُهُ أنَّكَ تَذْكُرُ الْحُرُوفَ إذَا لَمْ تُرِدْ بِهَا غَيْرَ نَفْسِهَا ذَكَرْتَهَا فَرْداً فَقُلْتَ: (ألف) (باء) (تاء) (ثاء) (جيم) (حاء) (خاء)… حِتّى تَأتِيَ عَلَى آخِرِهَا فَلَمْ تَجِدْ لَهَا مَعْنَىً غَيْرَ أنْفُسِهَا، وَإذَا ألَّفْتَهَا وَجَمَعْتَ مِنْهَا أحْرُفاً وَجَعَلْتَها اسْماً وَصِفَةً لِمَعْنىً ما طَلَبْتَ وَوَجْهٍ مَا عَنَيْتَ، كَانَتْ دَلِيلَهُ عَلَى مَعَانِيهَا دَاعِيَةً إلى الْمَوْصُوفِ بِهَا. أفَهِمْتَهُ؟

Imam Al-Ridha replied: “This is how it can be understood. When you only want to refer to the letters and not anything else, you mention them one by one and say, a b c d e f g etc. Here you find no meaning in them other than themselves. But when you put several letters together you construct names and attributes for a meaning which you have in mind. They will now demonstrate the meaning for which they were intended. Do you understand this?”

قَالَ: نَعَمْ

Imran said: “Yes, I do.”

قَالَ الرِّضَا عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ: وَاعْلَمْ أنَّهُ لاَ يَكُونُ صِفَةٌ لِغَيْرِ مَوْصُوفٍ وَلا اسْمٌ لِغَيْرِ مَعْنى وَلا حَدٌّ لِغَيْرِ مَحْدُودٍ

Imam Al-Ridha continued: “Know that an attribute cannot be without what it describes. Also a name cannot be without a meaning. A limit cannot be without a limited.

وَالصِّفَاتُ وَالأسْمَاءُ كُلُّهَا تَدُلُّ عَلَى الْكَمَالِ وَالوُجُودِ، وَلا تَدُلُّ عَلَى الإحَاطَةِ كَمَا تَدُلُّ الحُدُودُ الَّتِي هِيَ التَّرْبِيعُ وَالتَّثْلِيثُ وَالتَّسْدِيسُ، لأنَّ اللهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ تُدْرَكُ مَعْرِفَتُهُ بِالصِّفَاتِ وَالأسْمَاءِ ولاَ تُدْرَكُ بِالتَّحْدِيدِ بِالطُّولِ وَالعَرْضِ وِالقِلَّةِ وَالكَثْرَةِ وَاللَّوْنِ وَالوَزْنِ وَمَا أشْبَهَ ذَلِكَ

All attributes and names indicate perfection and existence. They do not indicate encompassment, as the limits do. Limits make squares, make triangles, and make hexagons. Indeed, recognition of God is perceived by attributes and names, not by limits such as length, width, smallness, largeness, color, weight and the like.

وَلَيْسَ يَحِلُّ باللهِ تَقَدَّسَ شَيءٌ مِنْ ذَلِكَ حَتّى يَعْرِفَهُ خَلْقُهُ بِمَعْرِفَتِهِمْ أنْفُسَهُمْ بِالضَّرُورَةِ الَّتِي ذَكَرْنَا، وَلَكِنْ يُدَلُّ عَلَى اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ بِصِفَاتِهِ وَيُدْرَكُ بِأسْمَائِهِ وَيُسْتَدَلُّ عَلَيْهِ بِخَلْقِهِ

No such limits are applicable to God, so that His creatures could recognize Him by recognizing themselves. This is certain as I said, but the Honorable the Exalted God’s attributes prove Him. He can be understood through His Names. We can argue about His Existence by referring to the existence of His creatures.

لاَ يَحْتَاجُ فِي ذَلِكَ الطَّالِبُ الْمُرْتَادُ إلى رُؤيَةِ عَيْنٍ وَلا اسْتِماعِ أُذُنٍ وَلا لَمْسِ كَفٍّ وَلا إحَاطَةٍ بِقَلْبٍ؛ وَلَوْ كَانَتْ صِفَاتُهُ جَلَّ ثَنَاؤهُ لاَ تَدِلُّ عَلَيْهِ وَأسْمَاؤهُ لا تَدْعُو إلَيْهِ وَالْمَعْلَمَةُ مِنَ الخَلْقِ لاَ تُدْرِكُهُ لِمَعْنَاهُ، كَانَتِ العِبَادَةُ مِنَ الخَلْقِ لأسْمَائِهِ وَصِفَاتِهِ دُونَ مَعْنَاهُ

A true seeker does not need to see Him with his own eyes, or hear Him with his own ears, or touch Him with his own hands, or encompass Him with his own heart. Were it not the case that His attributes proved Him – Exalted is His Praise – and His Names denoted Him, it was not possible for the taught knowledge of the creatures to perceive Him. Then the creatures would have worshipped His Names and Attributes instead of His Meaning

فَلَوْلا أنَّ ذَلِكَ كَذَلِكَ لَكَانَ الْمَعْبُودُ الْمُوَحَّدُ غَيْرَ اللهِ، لأنَّ صَفَاتِهِ وَأسْمَائَهُ غَيْرُهُ. أفَهِمْتَ؟

Were it any different, the Only Worshipped One would have been other than God since God’s Names and Attributes are other than Him. Imran! Do you understand?”

قَالَ: نَعَمْ يَا سَيِّدِي، زِدْنِي

Imran said, “Yes, I do. Please tell me more.”

قَالَ الرِّضَا عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ: إيَّاكَ وَقَوْلَ الجُهَّالِ مِنْ أهْلِ العَمَى وَالضَّلالِ الَّذِينَ يَزْعُمُونَ أنَّ اللهَ جَلَّ وَتَقَدَّسَ مَوْجُودٌ فِي الآخِرَةِ لِلْحِسَابِ فِي الثَّوَابِ وَالعِقَابِ، وَلَيْسَ بِمَوْجُودٍ فِي الدُّنْيَا لِلطَّاعَةِ وَالرَّجَاءِ

Imam Al-Ridha said: “Beware of the sayings of the ignorant people from among those whose hearts are blind and are at a loss – those who claim that God is present in the Hereafter for reckoning rewards and punishments, but He is not present in this world for the acts of obedience and hope.

وَلَوْ كَانَ فِي الوُجُودِ للهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ نَقْصٌ وَاهْتِضَامٌ لَمْ يُوجَدْ فِي الآخِرَةِ أبَداً. وَلكِنَّ القَوْمَ تَاهوا وَعَمُوا وَصَمُّوا عَنِ الحَقِّ مِنْ حَيْثُ لا يَعْلَمُونَ

If it were that God’s presence was a source of His being defective in this world, He would not be present in the Hereafter either. However, these people have gone astray, have become blind, and deaf toward the truth regarding what they do not know.

وَقَوْلُهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَمَنْ كَانَ فِي هَذِهِ أعْمَى فَهُوَ فِي الآخِرَةِ أعْمَى وَأضَلُّ سَبِيلاً) يَعْني أعْمَى عَنِ الحَقَائِقِ الْمَوْجُودَةِ

That is according to the Words of God, ‘But those who were blind in this world, will be blind in the Hereafter, and most astray from the Path.’ What is meant by blindness here is blindness regarding existing realities.

وَقَدْ عَلِمَ ذَوو الألْبَابِ أنَّ الاسْتِدْلالَ عَلَى مَا هُنَاكَ لاَ يَكُونُ إلاَّ بِمَا هَا هُنَا، وَمَنْ أخَذَ عِلْمَ ذَلِكَ بِرَأيِهِ وَطَلَبَ وُجُودَهُ وَإدْراكَهُ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ دُونَ غَيْرِهَا لَمْ يَزْدَدْ مِنْ عِلْمِ ذَلِكَ إلاَّ بُعْداً، لأنَّ اللهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ جَعَلَ عِلْمَ ذَلِكَ خَاصَّةً عِنْدَ قَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ وَيَعْلَمُونَ وَيَفْهَمُونَ

Intellectuals know that reasoning about what exists in the Hereafter is only possible through what exists in this world. Whoever tries to adopt knowledge of that world based upon his own personal views, and seek its existence or tries to perceive it through his own soul, and not through anything else would only get more distant from the facts about that world. That is because God has entrusted the knowledge of that world to an especial group of people who think, know and understand.”