Peak of Eloquence Nahjul Balagha By Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib - English Translation - Sermon 185

#suntv #nahjulbalagha #nahjulbalaghaenglish

The Oneness of Allah. Principles of Knowledge

He who assigns to Him (different) conditions does not believe in His Oneness, nor does he who likens Him in order to grasp His reality. He who illustrates Him does not signify Him. He who points at Him and imagines Him does not mean Him. Everything that is known through itself has been created, and everything that exists by virtue of other things is the effect (of something else). He works but not with the help of

611

instruments. He fixes measures but not with the activity of thinking. He is rich but not by acquisition.

Times do not keep company with Him. His Being precedes times. His Existence precedes non-existence, and His eternity precedes beginning. By His creating the senses, it is known that He has no “senses”. By the contraries in various matters, it is known that He has no contrary, and by the similarity between things, it is known that there is nothing similar to Him. He has made light the contrary of darkness, brightness that of gloom, dryness that of moisture and heat that of cold. He produces affection among opponents.

He fuses together diverse things, brings near remote things and separates things which are joined together. He is not confined to limits, nor counted by numbers. Material parts can surround things of their own kind and organs can point out things similar to themselves. The word mundhu (i.e. since) disproves their eternity185, the word qad (that denotes nearness of time of occurrence), disproves their being from ever and the word lawla (if it were not) keep them remote from perfection.

Through them, the Creator manifests Himself to the intelligence, and through them He is guarded from the vision of the eyes.

Stillness and motion do not apply to Him. How can a thing occur in Him which He has Himself made to occur, and how can a thing revert to Him which He first created, and how can a thing appear in Him which He first brought to appearance? If it had not been so, His Self will have become subject to diversity, His Being will have become divisible (into parts) and His reality will have been prevented from being deemed

612

Eternal. If there was a front to Him there will have been a rear also for Him. He will need completing only if shortage befell Him. In such case, signs of the created will appear in Him and He will become a sign (leading to other objects) instead of signs leading to Him. Through the might of His abstention (from affectedness) He is far above being affected by things which effect others.

He is that which does not change or vanish. The process of setting does not behoove Him. He has not begotten anyone lest He should be regarded as having been born. He has not been begotten; otherwise, He will be contained within limits. He is too Sublime to have sons. He is too purified to contact women. Imagination cannot reach Him so as to assign Him quantity. Understanding cannot think of Him so as to give Him shape. Senses do not perceive Him so as to feel Him. Hands cannot touch Him so as to rub against Him. He does not change into any condition. He does not pass from one state to another. Nights and days do not turn Him old. Light and darkness do not alter Him.

It cannot be said that He has a limit or extremity, an end or termination, nor do things control Him so as to raise or lower Him, nor does anything carry Him so as to bend Him or keep Him erect. He is not inside things nor outside them. He conveys news, but not with tongue or voice. He listens, but not with the holes of the ears or the organs of hearing. He says but does not utter words. He remembers, but does not memorize. He determines, but not by exercising His mind. He loves and approves without any sentimentality (of heart). He hates and feels angry without any painstaking. When He intends to create someone/something He says, “Be!”, and there he/she/it is! But He does not do so through voice that strikes (the ears). His speech is an indication of His creation. His like never existed “before” nor “after”.

It cannot be said that He came into being after He had not been in existence because, in that case, the attributes of the created things will be assigned to Him and there will remain no difference between them and Him, and He will have no distinction over them. Thus, the Creator and the created will become equal and the initiator and the initiated will be on the same level. He created (the whole of) creation without any example made by someone else, and He did not secure the assistance of anyone out of His creation for creating it.

He created the earth and suspended it without being ‘busy”, retained it without support, made it stand without legs, raised it without pillars, protected it against bending and curving and defended it against

613