Al-Kafi · Hadith 6

The Book on Oneness of Allah (God) · Chapter On The Meanings of the Names of Allah and their Derivatives · Volume 1, book 3, chapter 16, Hadith 6

Original Arabic text

6ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي عُمَيْرٍ عَنِ ابْنِ أُذَيْنَةَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ حَكِيمٍ عَنْ مَيْمُونٍ الْبَانِ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) وَقَدْ سُئِلَ عَنِ الاوَّلِ وَالاخِرِ فَقَالَ الاوَّلُ لا عَنْ أَوَّلٍ قَبْلَهُ وَلا عَنْ بَدْءٍ سَبَقَهُ وَالاخِرُ لا عَنْ نِهَايَةٍ كَمَا يُعْقَلُ مِنْ صِفَةِ الْمَخْلُوقِينَ وَلَكِنْ قَدِيمٌ أَوَّلٌ آخِرٌ لَمْ يَزَلْ وَلا يَزُولُ بِلا بَدْءٍ وَلا نِهَايَةٍ لا يَقَعُ عَلَيْهِ الْحُدُوثُ وَلا يَحُولُ مِنْ حَالٍ إِلَى حَالٍ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْ‏ءٍ.

Published English translation

6. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from ibn ’Udhaynah from Muhammad ibn Hakim from Maymun al-Ban who has said the following. “I heard abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) saying to a question about Allah being the first and the last.” The Imam replied, “His being the first means there was no first before Him and no beginning preceded Him at all. His being the last means that He has no end because it is an attribute of the created and He is eternal, the first and the last. He has always been and He will always be without any beginning and any end. Nothing new happens to Him and does not change from one state to another. He is the Creator of all things.”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: مجهول

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (2/41)

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. 17

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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edition: Al-Kafi, volume 1, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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