The Tradition of Subakht, the Jewish Man

“O Muhammad, I have come to ask about your Lord, So, if you answer me about what I ask you of Him, I will follow you. Otherwise, I will leave.” The Messenger of Allah (AS) said to him, “Ask what you wish.” Hence, he asked, “Where is your Lord?” The Prophet (SA) replied, “He is in very place, but He is not confined in any place.” He enquired, “How is He?” The Prophet answered, “How can I describe my Lord in terms of quality when quality was created by Allah, and Allah cannot be compared with His Creation.” He asked, “Then who knows that you are a Prophet (SA)?” The reported says: “Everything which surrounded him, including the stones, pebbles and other things, spoke in clear Arabic That `O Shaykh! Verily, He is the Messenger of Allah.’” So Subakht said: “By Allah I have not seen things so clearly as I have seen them today.” Then he said: “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that you are the Messenger of Allah.”

I said: `Abd Allah ibn Ja`far al-Azhari said, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ja`far ibn Muhammad, on the authority of his father Muhammad ibn `Ali, on the authority of his father `Ali ibn al-Husayn, on the authority of his father Al-Husayn (AS) that The Commander of the Faithful `Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) said in some of his sermons: “Who was present when Subakht the Persian had a word with the Messenger of Allah (SA)?” The people said: “None of us were present.” So `Ali (AS) said: “However, I was with him (AS) when Subakht came to him. He belonged to Persian royalty, and was very sharp of mind. He asked: `O Muhammad! To what do you call the people?’ The Prophet (SA) replied, “I call people to witness that there is no god but Allah, the One, the Only, without partners, and that Muhammad is His Servant, and His Messenger.” So Subakht asked, “Where is Allah, O Muhammad?” He (SA) answered, “He is present in every place by means of His Signs.” He asked, “How is He?” The Prophet (SA) replied, “He is not subject to quality nor space, because He, the Mighty and High, created both quality and space.” Subakht asked, “Then where did He come from?” He (SA) replied, “It cannot be said of Him that `He came’ since it refers to something that moves form one place to another. Our Lord, however, is not subject to space or to movement. In fact, He has always been without place and He never declines.” Then he said: “O Muhammad! Verily, you are describing your Great Lord without quality. Then how do I know that He has sent you?” There was nothing that surrounded us that day, of stone, pebble, mountain, tree or animal, but that it professed: `I bear witness that here is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is His Servant, and His Messenger.’ Thus, I myself professed that `I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is His Servant, and His Messenger.’ So Subakht asked, “O Muhammad! Who is this?” The Prophet (SA) replied, This (`Ali ibn Abu Talib) is the best of my family, and the closest person to me in all of creation. His flesh is my flesh. His blood is my blood. His spirit is my spirit. He is my successor in my lifetime and the Caliph after my death. He is to me as Harun was to Musa, except that there will be no prophet after me. Listen to him, and obey him, for verily he embodies the truth. Then the Prophet (SA) named the Jewish man ”Abd Allah.”