Recognition of Allah (s.w.t)
96 sayings · page 1 of 3
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
I would not be pleased to die as a child and be made to enter Paradise without being able to grow up and get to know my Lord, Mighty and Exalted.
Kanz al-`Ummal, no. 36472; Mizan ul Hikmah page No. 436 link
If you truly knew Allah as He is worthy of being known, you would be able to walk on the seas and the mountains would fall by your command.
Kanz al-`Ummal, no. 5893; Mizan ul Hikmah page No. 437 link
Ponder about the creation of Allah, but do not ponder about Allah Himself lest you be ruined.
Kanz al-`Ummal, no. 5705; Mizan ul Hikmah page No. 441 link
Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Rida [a] said
He is manifest though indiscernible through direct contact; He is evident though unapprehended by vision; He is hidden though not through withdrawal.
al-Tawhid, p. 37, no. 2; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 453 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Every master other than Him is a slave.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 65; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 453 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Verily we are not masters over anything with Allah, nor are we masters over anything except what He has given us mastery over. So by making us masters over that which He is a superior Master, He has given us responsibility, and by taking away mastership from us He absolves us of our responsibilities.
Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 404; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 453 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
He is the All-hearing but not by means of any organ
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 152; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 454 link
Verily He is all-hearing and all-seeing, such that He hears with that by means of which He sees and He sees with that by means of which He hears.
al-Tawhid, p. 144, no. 9; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 454 link
Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Rida [a] said
Because of the fact that the secret trace of a black mustard seed on a massive rock in the darkness of the night, be it in the ground or in the seas, cannot remain hidden from Him, is what compels us to say that He is all-seeing.
al-Tawhid, p. 65, no. 18; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 454 link
Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Rida [a] said
He is subtle not in terms of lack or delicateness or smallness, rather [He is subtle] in His penetration into everything without being perceived. He is all-aware through the fact that nothing escapes His attention or evades Him, independent of experience or consideration of things, for experience and consideration in turn result in two types of knowledge, without which He would not know [if he were to be dependent on them], and would therefore be ignorant
al-Kafi, v. 1, p. 122, no. 2; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 454 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
And every strong person besides Allah is weak.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 65; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 455 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Everything humbles before Him, and everything subsists through Him. He is the contentment of every poor, the honour of every disgraced one, and the strength of every weak one.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 109; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 455 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Every mighty one besides Him is abased.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 65; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 455 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Praise be to Allah who wears the cloak of might and majesty, and has chosen them for Himself over the rest of His creation.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 192; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 455 link
Because He(Allah) only does what is wise and good.
al-Tawhid, p. 397, no. 13; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 455 link
The All-embracing is the One Who has no lack within Him; the All-embracing is the One Whose mastership is complete; the All-embracing is the One Who neither eats nor drinks; the All-embracing is the One Who does not sleep; the All-embracing is the Eternal One who is and will always be.
al-Tawhid, p. 90, no. 3; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 456 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
And verily He(Allah) is everywhere, each and every moment and time, and with every human and Jinn.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 195; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 456 link
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) was asked by Abu Jau`afar regarding Allah's verse in the Qur'an: "And He is Allah in the heavens and in the earth", to which he replied, 'Yes, similarly He is in every place.' I [Abu Ja`afar] asked, 'In His essence?' Imam replied, 'Woe betide you! Verily places are the objects of divine decree, so by your saying that He is in a place in essence, you are in fact compelled to say that He is both in the objects of His divine decree and separate thereof. He is, however, distinct from His creation, entirely encompassing what He creates in knowledge, power, control, authority and dominion.'
al-Tawhid, p. 133, no. 15; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 456 link
Our Lord is luminant in His very essence, Living in His very essence, All-knowing in His very essence, All-embracing in His very essence.
al-Tawhid, p. 140, no. 4; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 456 link
Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Rida [a] said
Wish and will are among the attributes of Allah's action, so whoever claims that Allah, most High, is eternally willing and wishing has not understood His divine unity.
al-Tawhid, p. 338, no. 5; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 457 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
The very first step in religion is acknowledging Him, and the perfect way to acknowledge Him is to testify to Him, and the perfect way to testify to Him is to believe in His divine unity, and the perfect way to believe in His divine unity is to regard Him as absolutely pure, and the perfect way to regard Him as absolutely pure is to negate all attributes from Him, for every attribute is a proof of its own distinction from the thing to which it is attributed, and everything that is attached and attributed is distinct from the attribute. Thus, whoever attaches attributes to Allah, Glory be to Him, associates Him with something else, and whoever associates Him regards Him as two, and whoever regards Him as two identifies parts to Him, and whoever identifies parts to Him has indeed misunderstood Him, and whoever misunderstands Him singles Him out, and whoever singles Him out has confined Him, and whoever confines Him has enumerated Him. Whoever asks 'In what [is He]?' holds that He is contained, and whoever asks 'On what [is He]?' has excluded Him. He is [a Being] but not through any phenomenon of coming into being, He exists but not from non-existence. He is with everything but not in physical proximity, and is separate from everything but not through physical separation. He acts but without need for movements and instruments. He sees without need for an object of sight from among His creation. He is One such that He has no need for a source of comfort that may keep Him company nor any whom He may miss in his absence
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 1; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 457 link
It is written in Tafsir al-Qummi: 'Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, answered dualism and those who professed that there were two gods, saying: "Allah has not taken any offspring, neither is there any god besides Him, for then each god would take away what he created, and some of them would surely rise up against others. Clear is Allah of what they allege!" [Qur'an 23:91] If there were two gods, as you claim, each one of them would seek superiority, and if one of them desired to create a man, the other would desire to oppose him and create an animal, so their joint creation would have to be the product of both their desires, in spite of their differing wills, man and beast at the same time. And this is the most impossible thing that does not even exist. And if this argument is invalid and there is no difference between them, then the whole duality is invalid [with no distinction left between the two] and there is only one. Therefore, this order, unity of arrangement, subsistence of some things through other things, all indicate to One Maker, and this is the purport of Allah's verse in the Qur'an: "Allah has not taken any offspring neither is there any god besides Him " and "Had there been gods in them (i.e. the heavens and the earth) other than Allah, they would surely have fallen apart."
Nur al-Thaqalayn, v. 3, p. 550, no. 107; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 446 link
When I was taken on my Night Journey to the heavens, Gabriel took me up until a place wherein he himself had never set foot. The veils were pulled away for me and Allah, Mighty and Exalted, showed me whatever He liked from the light of His Greatness.
al-Tawhid, p. 108, no. 4; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 447 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Woe to you O Dha`alab! I do not worship a Lord Whom I cannot see!' So Dha`alab asked, 'But how do you see Him? Describe Him to us.' Imam (AS) replied, 'Woe betide you! Eyes do not see Him by looking with the sights; it is the hearts that behold Him with the realities of faith.'
Amali al-Saduq, p. 281, no. 1; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 447 link
My God! My own obscure doubts about the signs [in nature] has caused my distance from my goal, so draw me near to You through Your service that may allow me to reach You. How can something that needs You for its very existence be used to prove Your existence?! Are other things more manifest than You that they be used to point to You?! When were You ever absent that You should need anything to prove Your existence?! Through You alone do I arrive at You, so guide me with Your light to Yourself.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 98, p. 225; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 440 link
I have attained knowledge of You through You, and You are the One Who indicated me to Yourself and called me to Yourself, and were it not for You, I would not know who You are.
Iqbal al-A`amal, v. 1, p. 157; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 440 link
Beware of pondering about Allah, for verily pondering about Allah only increases one's bewilderment. Verily Allah, Mighty and Exalted, cannot be perceived by the sights or described by any type of criteria.
Amali al-Saduq, p. 340, no. 3; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 441 link
How ruined is the one who examines Allah!
al-Mahasin, v. 1, p. 371, no. 808; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 441 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
We do not know the essence of Your greatness. All that we do know is that You are Ever-Living and Self-Subsisting through Whom all things subsist. Drowsiness and sleep do not overtake You, vision does not reach You and sight cannot perceive You.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 160; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 441 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
They (angels)are in their own places [distinct] from You, [and yet] their positions are near You. Their desires are all concentrated on You, their worship for You is abundant, and their neglect of Your command is little. If they were to witness the essence of what is hidden about You from them, they would regard their deeds insignificant, they would reproach themselves and would realize that they have not worshipped You as You deserve to be worshipped, and have not obeyed You as You deserve to be obeyed.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 109; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 442 link
The intellects are incapable of fathoming the essence of Your Beauty, the sights are restricted to looking at other than the splendour of Your Countenance, and You have not set aside any means for Your creation to get to know You except through their complete incapacity of knowing You.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 94, p. 150, no. 21; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 442 link
Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Rida [a] said
His essence is a partition between Himself and His creation.
al-Tawhid, p. 36, no. 2; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 442 link
Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Rida [a] said
Im?m Al? ibn M?s? al-Rez? (a.s.) said in his description of Allah, Glory be to Him, 'He is too exalted for sight to be able to perceive Him, for imagination to be able to fathom Him, and for the intellect to be able to grasp Him.'
al-Tawhid, p. 252, no. 3; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 442 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
He who [undertakes to] describe Him has defined Him, and he who defines Him has numbered Him, and he who numbers Him has nullified His eternity. He who asks 'How?' [about Allah] has indeed sought to describe Him, and he who asks 'Where?' has indeed confined Him.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 152; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 442 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
So blessed be the One Whom the highest ambitions cannot reach and Whom the conjecture of intelligent minds cannot grasp.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 94; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 443 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
[He is] One, but not by enumeration. He is everlasting without extremity. He exists without any support.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 185; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 443 link
Im?m Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-S?diq (a.s.) asked a man who said 'Allah is Greater' (Allahu Akbar), 'Greater than what?' So the man replied, 'Greater than everything', to which Imam (AS) retorted, 'Then you have defined Him.' The man then asked him, 'So what should I say?' Imam replied, 'Say: Allah is too great for description.'
al-Kafi, v. 1, p. 117, no. 8; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 443 link
Verily Allah is too High and too Exalted and too Great for the reality of His description to ever be possible, so describe Him as He Himself has described Himself, and desist from anything other than that
al-Kafi, v. 1, p. 102, no. 6; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 443 link
Verily the Creator can only be described by that which He Himself has described Himself, and how can the Creator ever be described anyway, Whom the senses are incapable of perceiving and the imaginations unable to grasp and the ideas unable to confine and the sights unable to contain?! He is too exalted for the description of those who undertake to describe, and too high to be attributed by those who seek to attach attributes to Him.
Kashf al-Ghamma, v. 3, p. 176; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 443 link
Allah's divine Unity is half of religion.
Uyoun Akhbar al-Reza (AS), v. 2, p. 35, no. 75; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 444 link
Shown with the book and page each saying is taken from. The collection carries no grading, and the English is the compiler’s. All subjects