Muʿjam al-Aḥādīth al-Muʿtabara · Hadith 1

The Book of Divine Unity · God’s Timelesness and Spacelessness · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 2, Hadith 1

Original Arabic text

[312/1] الكافي: عدة من أصحابنا، عن أحمد بن محمد بن خالد، عن أحمد بن محمد بن أبي نصر قال: جاء رجل إلى أبي الحسن الرضا عليه السلام من وراء نهر بلخ فقال: إني أسألك عن مسألة فإن أجبتني فيها بما عندي قلت بإمامتك، فقال أبوالحسن عليه السلام: سل عما شئت فقال: أخبرني عن ربك متى كان؟ وكيف كان؟ وعلى أي شئ كان اعتماده؟ فقال أبوالحسن عليه السلام: إن الله تبارك وتعالى أين الاين بلا أين وكيف الكيف بلا كيف وكان اعتماده على قدرته، فقام إليه الرجل فقبل رأسه وقال: أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدا رسول الله وأن عليا وصي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله والقيم بعده بما قام به رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وأنكم الائمة الصادقون وأنك الخلف من بعدهم

Published English translation

1. [1/312] al-Kafi: A number of our companions from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Khalid from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Abi Nasr who said: A man came to Abi al-Hasan al-Ridha عليه السلام from behind the Balkh river and said: I will ask you a question - if you answer it in accordance to what I have (consider correct) then I will believe in your Imama. Abu al-Hasan عليه السلام said: Ask whatever you like. He said: Inform me about your Lord - when was He? How was He? Upon what thing was His reliance? Abu al-Hasan عليه السلام said: Allah Blessed and Elevated defined the ‘where’ when there was no ‘where’ and defined the ‘how’ when there was no ‘how’ and His reliance was on his Power. The man stood up, kissed his forehead and said: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, that Ali is the vicegerent of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله and the one who took charge of what the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله was taking charge of after him, that you all are the truthful leaders and that you are the successor after them.

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Shaykh Asif al-Mohseni: معتبر

Muʿjam al-Aḥādīth al-Muʿtabara

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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source Url: https://thaqalayn.com/hadith/9/4/2/1
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edition: Muʿjam al-Aḥādīth al-Muʿtabara, volume 1, Thaqalayn digital edition / Ammaar Muslim translation
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translator: Ammaar Muslim
source Revision: becbad600b693ce23735d7403c4126ce7c896d34
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original Source Url: https://thaqalayn.net/hadith/9/4/2/1
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