Another Chapter of The Previous Chapter

about being eternal. “He, Allah, is One, the Self-sufficient. He is One and only One without any multiplicity in different meaning.” The narrator said that I further inquired, “May Allah take my soul in your service, certain people in Iraq think, that Allah hears with something different from what He sees with, and He sees with something different from what He hears with.” The Imam replied, “They have said a lie and have become atheists for considering Allah similar to other things. Allah, the Most High, indeed is above all things. He is All-hearing and All-seeing. He hears with what He sees, and sees with what He hears.” The narrator has said that he further asked, “Those people are also of the opinion that Allah is All-seeing in the same sense and in the same way as they perceive.” The Imam said, “Allah is High Exalted above all such things. Only such things are perceived, which has the attributes of created things. Allah is not created.”

“He asked Imam abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.), ‘Do you say that He is All-hearing and All-seeing?’ Abu ‘Abdallah said, “Allah is All-hearing, All-seeing. He hears without any organ and sees without any instrument. He Himself hears and He Himself sees. When I say He Himself hears I do not mean thereby that He is One and His self is something different. I only try to express what I have in my mind to answer a question and help you understand the answer. So I say, “His whole self hears. This does not mean that His whole has parts. In our perception whole consists of parts. It is to make you understand and express my thoughts. It all amounts to saying that He is All-hearing, All-seeing, All-knowing and All-aware, without any multiplicity in the meaning.”