Muʿjam al-Aḥādīth al-Muʿtabara · Hadith 3

The Book of Divine Unity · Attributes of Essence and Action. The Meaning of God’s Will · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 6, Hadith 3

Original Arabic text

[352/3] الكافي: أحمد بن إدريس، عن محمد بن عبدالجبار، عن صفوان بن يحيى قال: قلت لابي الحسن عليه السلام: أخبرني عن الارادة من الله ومن الخلق؟ قال: فقال: الارادة من الخلق الضمير وما يبدو لهم بعد ذلك من الفعل وأما من الله تعالى فإرادته إحداثه لا غير ذلك لانه لا يروي ولا يهم ولا يتفكر، وهذه الصفات منفية عنه وهي صفات الخلق، فإرادة الله الفعل، لا غير ذلك يقول له كن فيكون بلا لفظ ولا نطق بلسان ولا همة ولا تفكر ولا كيف لذلك، كما أنه لا كيف له

Published English translation

3. [3/352] al-Kafi: Ahmad b. Idris from Muhammad b. Abd al-Jabbar from Safwan b. Yahya who said: I said to Abi al-Hasan عليه السلام: Inform me about the Will of Allah and that of the creatures (are they the same)? He said: The Will of the creatures is a conception (thought in the heart) and then what they see fit to put into action, as for Allah the Elevated then His willing is to originate (bring into existence), nothing other than that, for He does not deliberate (consider), does not desire, does not ponder, these attributes are negated for Him, they are the attributes of the creation. The will of Allah is His act, nothing other than that. He says to it ‘be’ and it ‘is’ without wording or intoning by the tongue, without desiring or pondering. There is no ‘how’ to that just as there is no ‘how’ to Him.

Narrator and transmission

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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.

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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
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