Hadith from Amir-ul-Mu’minin (AS) On the Almighty’s...

Hadith from Amir-ul-Mu’minin (AS) On the Almighty’s attributes Imam Ali peace be upon him states: “He cannot be conceived of by the imagination and He cannot be determined by comprehension. He cannot be perceived by the senses and He cannot be compared with any person. He is One but not numerable and He is Eternal without end. He is the One who supports without being supported.” Imam Ali (AS) also said: ‘He is Allah, the Clear Truth, truer and clearer than the eyes perceive.

The intellects cannot reach Him by any definition, since that would be to compare Him; and the imagination cannot reach Him by any evaluation; since that would be to give Him a likeness. There is no beginning to His primacy and there is no end to His eternity. He is the First and the Eternal, and He is the Everlasting without end. Foreheads bow down before Him and lips declare His Oneness.

He gave all things limitations when He created them, so as to make it clear that He is not like them.’ Amir-ul-Mu’minin (AS) also said: ‘Time never changes for Him so as to cause a change in His state, and He is never in any particular place so as to entail His moving to another place.

He knows of the secrets in the minds of the secretive, and the intimate meetings of those who meet behind closed doors, and the thoughts and opinions of those who speculate.’ Amir-ul-Mu’minin, Imam Ali (AS) also said: ‘The eyes cannot perceive Him with the sense of sight, but the heart can perceive Him through the realities of trust. He is close to all things without being associated with them. He is remote from them without being distanced from them. He speaks yet without speech.

He wills yet without wanting. He creates yet without physical means. He is Subtle yet obscurity cannot be attributed to Him. He is Great yet aloofness cannot be attributed to Him. He is Seeing yet sensory perception cannot be attributed to Him. He is Compassionate but sentimentality cannot be attributed to Him.’ Imam Ali (AS) also said: ‘The first part of the deen is knowledge of Him. The perfection of knowledge of Him is affirmation of Him.

The perfection of affirmation of Him is affirming His Oneness. The perfection of affirming His Oneness is being sincere towards Him. He who makes a comparison to Him has set up a second with Him. He who sets a second with Him has divided Him. He who divides Him is ignorant of Him.