[^4] A man entered the presence of Imam Abu al-’Ali al-Rida (as) and said...

[^4] A man entered the presence of Imam Abu al-’Ali al-Rida (as) and said: O son of the Messenger of Allah (S)! What is the proof that the universe emerged? He (as) replied: You did not exist, and yet you came into being. You already know that you have not created yourself, and that you have not been created by someone like you. [^5] Abu Shakir al-Daysani asked Imam al-Sadiq (as): How can you prove that you have a Creator?

Consequently, he (as) responded: I found myself not free from one of two possibilities: either I have created myself, or someone else has created me. If I have created myself, then I am not free from one of two meanings: either I created myself while I was already existent, or I created myself while I was nonexistent. Hence, if I created myself, and I already existed, then I was self-sufficient of giving existence to myself.

And if I was nonexistent, then you know that the nonexistent cannot bring about a thing. Therefore, the third meaning is proven that I have a Creator and that is Allah, the Lord of the Universe. [^6] A thing that did not exist and then came into being has either brought itself into being, or someone else has brought it into being. If it brought itself into being then it must have brought itself into being when it was either already existent or it was nonexistent.

If it was already existent, then that necessitates creating something which already exists, which is impossible. And if it was nonexistent then that necessitates a nonexistent to be the cause of an existent, which is also impossible. If someone else brought Him into being, and if that other being was similar to Him in that it was nonexistent first then became existent, then the same ruling will apply to that thing, without any difference.

This is why the intellect requires that anything which did not exist and then came into existence, must have a Creator, who does not have any nonexistence. Therefore, it becomes apparent that all beings of the universe and their alteration are proof over the existence of their Creator, Who does not have a creator. All created beings are proof over the existence of a Creator, Who is not created.

Second Way Suppose someone discovers a paper in the desert which contains all the letters of the alphabet in order from a to z. Then the conscience of every man will bear witness that the writing of those letters and their sequence is the result of understanding and perception.