Have you not understood and comprehended the tradition we...

Have you not understood and comprehended the tradition we related from Abu ‘Abdillah, peace be upon him, "When Allah will collect or (assemble) men (creation) on the Day of Resurrection, He will ask them concerning what He had enjoined on them and will not question them concerning what He had des- tined for them?" Moreover, the Qur’an declares emphatically that men are responsible for their actions, so if their actions were decreed from Allah, then He never would ask them about it, which demonstrates that the eternal decree means the 'creation of their things', and what this entails is that Allah the Almighty will ask them only concerning what He enjoined on them in commanding them to do good deeds and to abstain from evil.

Thus, according to this reasoning the tradition mentioned above is an illustration supporting the foregoing explanation of qada’ and qadar which is comprehensible. [^1]: N reads: la yasluhu bihi akharun. [^2]: * * Not found in N. [^3]: * * Not found in N. [^4]: Zurarah ibn A‘yan ash-Shaybani (d. 150 AH): It is said that his real name was ‘Abdu Rabbih, whereas Zurarah was his laqab. His kunyah wasAbu '1-Hasan.

He was one of the earliest distinguished Shi‘ah divines and a remarkable theologian, jurist and traditionist. His father, Sunsun, is said to have been a Roman slave who was freed for his knowledge of the Qur’an, and his grandfather is said to have become a Christian Monk. He was highly honoured by Imam Ja‘far as-Sadiq (a.s.), who said of him: "Had it not been for Zurarah, the traditions of my father would have been forgotten".

The biographers ascribe to him, among other works, a theologi- cal tract called al Jabr wa 'l-istita‘ah. See Ibnu 'n-Nadim, al-Fihrist, p.220; at-Tusi, Rijali 'sh-Shi‘ah, p.123; al-Kishshi, ar-Rijal, p.88; an-Najashi, al- Fihrist, p.125, adh-Dhahabi, Mizanu 'l-i‘tidal, vol.2, p.69, no.2853; al- Mamaqani, Tanqihu 'l-maqal, vol.l, p.438, no.4213. Previous…