Al-Tawḥīd - Content

Chapter: The Meaning of the First and the Last ه الله قال: حدثنا علي بن إبراهي٠عن أبيه، عن ابن أبي ع٠ير، عن ابن أذنية، عن ٠عت أبا عبد الله عليه السلا٠وقد سئل عن قوله عز وجل: هو الأول والآخر، فقال عليه السلاÙ: الأول لا عن أول كان قبله ولا عن بدئ سبقه، والآخر لا عن نهاية ك٠خلوقين، ولكن قدي٠يزل ولا يزال بلا بدء ولا نهاية، لا يقع عليه الحدوث، ولا يحول ٠ن حال إلى حال، خالق كل شئ.

1 - Muhammad ibn Musa al-Mutakallim (rah) reported: Ali ibn Ibrahim narrated to us from his father, from Ibn Abi Umayr, from Ibn Adhniyah, from Muhammad ibn Hakim, from al-Maimun al-Ban, who said: I heard Abu Abdullah al-Sadiq (as) being asked about the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "He is the First and the Last." He said: "The First, not preceded by any first, nor by any beginning that preceded Him, and the Last, not having an end as is understood in the attributes of created beings.

Rather, He is the Eternal, the First, the Last, who has always existed and will continue to exist, without beginning or end. He does not experience change or transition from one state to another, and He is the Creator of all things."