[42] VERSE 2 اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ {2} Allah, (there is) no god but He, the Living, the Eternal [3:2] عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ مُرْسَلًا عَنْ أَبِي الْحَسَنِ الرِّضَا ( عليه السلام ) قَالَ قَالَ اعْلَمْ عَلَّمَكَ اللَّهُ الْخَيْرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ تَبَارَكَ وَ تَعَالَى قَدِيمٌ وَ الْقِدَمُ صِفَتُهُ الَّتِي دَلَّتِ الْعَاقِلَ عَلَى أَنَّهُ لَا شَيْءَ قَبْلَهُ وَ لَا شَيْءَ مَعَهُ فِي دَيْمُومِيَّتِهِ فَقَدْ بَانَ لَنَا بِإِقْرَارِ الْعَامَّةِ مُعْجِزَةُ الصِّفَةِ أَنَّهُ لَا شَيْءَ قَبْلَ اللَّهِ وَ لَا شَيْءَ مَعَ اللَّهِ فِي بَقَائِهِ وَ بَطَلَ قَوْلُ مَنْ زَعَمَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ قَبْلَهُ أَوْ كَانَ مَعَهُ شَيْءٌ Ali Bin Muhammad, with an unbroken chain, (It has been narrated) from Abu Al-Hassan Al-Reza -asws having said: ‘Learn!
May Allah -azwj Teach you the good. Allah -azwj Blessed and High is eternal, and the eternality is His -azwj Attribute which Indicates the intellectual upon that there was nothing before Him -azwj , nor was there a thing with Him -azwj in His -azwj eternality.
So it is clear for us with the acknowledgement with the general Muslims of the miraculous-ness of the Attribute that there was nothing before Allah -azwj , nor is there anything with Him -azwj during His -azwj remaining, and the invalidation of the words of the one who alleges that there was something before Him -azwj , or there is something with Him -azwj .
وَ ذَلِكَ أَنَّهُ لَوْ كَانَ مَعَهُ شَيْءٌ فِي بَقَائِهِ لَمْ يَجُزْ أَنْ يَكُونَ خَالِقاً لَهُ لِأَنَّهُ لَمْ يَزَلْ مَعَهُ فَكَيْفَ يَكُونُ خَالِقاً لِمَنْ لَمْ يَزَلْ مَعَهُ وَ لَوْ كَانَ قَبْلَهُ شَيْءٌ كَانَ الْأَوَّلَ ذَلِكَ الشَّيْءُ لَا هَذَا وَ كَانَ الْأَوَّلُ أَوْلَى بِأَنْ يَكُونَ خَالِقاً لِلْأَوَّلِ And that is because, had there been something with Him -azwj during His -azwj remaining, it would not be allowed that He -azwj would happen to be a Creator of it, because it would have been eternally with Him -azwj .
So how could He -azwj be a Creator of the one who existed eternally with Him -azwj . And had there been something before Him -azwj , that thing would be first not this, and the first one would be closer of it being a Creator due to it being the first.