Al-Kafi · Hadith 3

The Book on Oneness of Allah (God) · Chapter On Will Power (IRADAH) it is of the Attributes of Action (SIFAT al-FI‘L) and the Rest of the Attributes of Action · Volume 1, book 3, chapter 14, Hadith 3

Original Arabic text

3ـ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ إِدْرِيسَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْجَبَّارِ عَنْ صَفْوَانَ بْنِ يَحْيَى قَالَ قُلْتُ لابِي الْحَسَنِ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) أَخْبِرْنِي عَنِ الارَادَةِ مِنَ الله وَمِنَ الْخَلْقِ قَالَ فَقَالَ الارَادَةُ مِنَ الْخَلْقِ الضَّمِيرُ وَمَا يَبْدُو لَهُمْ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ مِنَ الْفِعْلِ وَأَمَّا مِنَ الله تَعَالَى فَإِرَادَتُهُ إِحْدَاثُهُ لا غَيْرُ ذَلِكَ لانَّهُ لا يُرَوِّي وَلا يَهُمُّ وَلا يَتَفَكَّرُ وَهَذِهِ الصِّفَاتُ مَنْفِيَّةٌ عَنْهُ وَهِيَ صِفَاتُ الْخَلْقِ فَإِرَادَةُ الله الْفِعْلُ لا غَيْرُ ذَلِكَ يَقُولُ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ بِلا لَفْظٍ وَلا نُطْقٍ بِلِسَانٍ وَلا هِمَّةٍ وَلا تَفَكُّرٍ وَلا كَيْفَ لِذَلِكَ كَمَا أَنَّهُ لا كَيْفَ لَهُ.

Published English translation

3. Ahmad ibn Idris has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbar from Safwan ibn Yahya who has said the following. “I asked abu al-Hassan (a.s.), ‘Enlighten me about the will of Allah and the will of His creatures.’” He said, “The will of His creatures comes from what goes in their minds and leads to action. Will of Allah, the Most High, is His inventing and nothing else because Allah does not need to reflect, deliberate or think. Such qualities do not exist with Him. They are the attributes of His creation. Allah’s will is His acts and nothing else. He says to it: Be, and it comes into existence, without any words or utterance of the tongue, any inclination and reflection. His will has no conditions just as His self has no conditions.”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: صحيح

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (2/16)

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi: صحيح

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 16

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Source, rights, and attribution

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