This view has been put forth by Ṣadr al-Muta’allihīn and...

This view has been put forth by Ṣadr al-Muta’allihīn and accepted by all followers of the Transcendental School of Philosophy ( ḥikmat al-muta’āliyah ), and it is the best interpretation ever presented to explain God’s eternal knowledge of the creatures. Traditions ( aḥādith ) also confirm this view. For instance, it is thus stated in some traditions: عِلمُهُ بِهِ قَبْلَ كَوْنِهِ كَعِلْمِهِ بِهِ بَعْدَ كَوْنِهِ.

“His knowledge of it prior to its existence is like His knowledge of it after its existence.”[^4] Ayyūb ibn Nūḥ asked Imām al-Ḥādī ( ‘a ) in a letter, thus: “Was God knowledgeable of the creatures prior to their creation, or not?” The Imām ( ‘a ) thus wrote in reply to him: “God was knowledgeable of the creatures before creating them, just as He has knowledge of them after their creation.”[^5] As such, God’s knowledge of the creatures in the realm of essence prior to their creation necessitates God’s knowledge of His Essence, just as the existence of the creatures depends on the existence of the Divine Essence:[^6] فَكانَ عِ

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