Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

About the Oneness of Allah. This
sermon contains principles of knowledge which no other sermon contains

He who assigns to Him (different) conditions does
not believe in His oneness, nor does he who likens Him 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 a cause). He works but not with the help of
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, and implements
do not help 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 inimical things.

He fuses together diverse things, brings near remote
things and separates things which are joined together. He is not confined by 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⁽¹⁾
"mundhu" (i.e. since) disproves their eternity, 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 sight of the eyes.

Stillness and motion do not occur in Him, and how
can that 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 would have become subject to diversity, His
Being would have become divisible (into parts), and His reality would have been prevented
from being deemed Eternal. If there was a front to Him there would have been a rear also
for Him . He would need completing only if shortage befell Him. In that case signs of the
created would appear in Him, and He would 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 behove Him. He has not begotten any one lest He be regarded as
having been born. He has not been begotten otherwise He would be contained within limits.
He is too High 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,
or end or termination; nor do things control Him so as to raise Him 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 the 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 memorise. 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 He says "Be" and there he is, but
not through a voice that strikes (the ears) is that call heard. His speech is an act of
His creation. His like never existed before this. If had been eternal it would have been
the second god.

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 would
be assigned to Him and there would remain no difference between them and Him, and He would
have no distinction over them. Thus, the Creator and the created would become equal and
the initiator and the initiated would 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
any one 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 bendings and curvings and defended it against crumbling and splitting
(into parts). He fixed mountains on it like stumps, solidified its rocks, caused its
streams to flow and opened wide its valleys. Whatever He made did not suffer from any
flow, and whatever He strengthened did not show any weakness.

He manifests Himself over the earth with His
authority and greatness. He is aware of its inside through his knowledge and
understanding. He has power over every thing in the earth by virtue of His sublimity and
dignity. Nothing from the earth that he may ask for defies Him, nor does it oppose Him so
as to overpower Him. No swift-footed creature can run away from Him so as to surpass Him.
He is not needy towards any possessing person so that he should feed Him. All things bow
to Him and are humble before His greatness. They cannot flee away from His authority to
someone else in order to escape His benefit or His harm. There is no parallel for Him who
may match Him and no one like Him so as to equal Him.

He will destroy the earth after its existence, till
all that exists on it will become non-existent. But the extinction of the world after its
creation is no stranger than its first formation and invention. How could it be? Even if
all the animals of the earth, whether birds or beasts, stabled cattle or pasturing ones,
of different origins and species, dull people and sagacious men -- all jointly try to
create (even) a mosquito they are not able to bring it into being and do not understand
what is the way to its creation. Their wits are bewildered and wandering. Their powers
fall short and fail, and return disappointed and tired, knowing that they are defeated and
admitting their inability to produce it, also realising that they are too weak (even) to
destroy it.

Surely, after the extinction of the world, Allah the
Glorified will remain alone with nothing else beside Him. He will be, after its
extinction, as He was before its production: without time or place or moment or period. At
this moment, period and time will not exist, and years and hours will disappear. There
will be nothing except Allah, the One, the All-powerful. To Him is the return of all
matters. Its initial creation was not in its power; and the prevention of its extinction
was (also) not in its power. If it had the power to prevent it, it would have existed for
ever. When He made anything of the world, the making of it did not cause Him any
difficulty, and the creation of anything which He created and formed did not fatigue Him.
He did not create it to heighten His authority nor for fear of loss or harm, nor to seek
its help against an overwhelming foe, nor to guard against any avenging opponent with its
help, nor for the extension of His domain by its help, nor for boasting (over largeness of
His possession) against a partner, nor because He felt lonely and desired to seek its
company.

Then after its creation He will destroy it, but not
because any worry has overcome Him in its upkeep and administration, nor for any pleasure
that will accrue to Him, nor for the cumbrousness of anything over Him. The length of its
life does not weary Him so as to induce Him to its quick destruction. But Allah, the
Glorified, has maintained it with His kindness, kept it intact with His command and
perfected it with His power. Then after its destruction, He will resuscitate it, but not
for any need of His own towards it, nor to seek the assistance of any of its things
against it, nor to change over from the condition of loneliness to that of company, nor
from the condition of ignorance and blindness to that of knowledge and search, nor from
paucity and need towards needlessness and plenty, nor from disgrace and lowliness towards
honour and prestige.

⁽¹⁾.
The meaning is that the sense for which the words "mundhu" , "qad" and
"lawla" have been formed is opposed to the attributes of "Ever",
"Eternal" and "Perfect". Therefore, their application to anything
would prove that they have come into existence from non-existence and are imperfect. For
example, "mundhu" is used to denote time as is "qad wujida mundu
kadha" (this thing is found since so-and-so). Here a time limit has been stated, and
anything for which a limit of time can be described cannot exist from ever or for ever.
The word "qad" shows (indicating the present perfect tense) the immediate past.
This sense also can apply to a thing which is limited in time. The word "lawla"
is used to denote the negation of something in another thing, as "ma ahsanahu wa
akmalahu lawla annahu kadha" (how handsome and perfect it would be if it were
so-and-so). Therefore, the thing for which this word is used would be in need of others in
handsomeness and perfection, and would remain deficient by itself.

.

Forward to Sermon 186.

Back to Sermon 184.