What Does It Mean to Truly Know God Through God Himself?

Knowledge is God’s conclusive proof: the One Creator has placed the primordial truths within human nature. Human beings are familiar both with knowledge and with its denial; only when it comes to choosing do they choose one or the other.

قُلْتُ يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَا الْإِيمَانُ وَ مَا الْإِسْلَامُ قَالَ أَمَّا الْإِيمَانُ فَالْإِقْرَارُ بِالْمَعْرِفَةِ وَ الْإِسْلَامُ فَمَا أَقْرَرْتَ بِهِ وَ التَّسْلِيمُ وَ الطَّاعَةُ لَهُمْ قُلْتُ الْإِيمَانُ الْإِقْرَارُ بَعْدَ الْمَعْرِفَةِ بِهِ قَالَ مَنْ عَرَّفَهُ اللَّهُ نَفْسَهُ وَ نَبِيَّهُ وَ إِمَامَهُ ثُمَّ أَقَرَّ بِطَاعَتِهِ فَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ قُلْتُ الْمَعْرِفَةُ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَ الْإِقْرَارُ مِنَ الْعَبْدِ قَالَ الْمَعْرِفَةُ مِنَ اللَّهِ [دُعَاءٌ] وَ حُجَّةٌ وَ [مِنَّةٌ وَ نِعْمَةٌ] وَ الْإِقْرَارُ [مِنَ اللَّهِ‏] قَبُولُ الْعَبْدِ- يَمُنُّ عَلى‏ مَنْ يَشاءُ وَ الْمَعْرِفَةُ صُنْعُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فِي الْقَلْبِ وَ الْإِقْرَارُ [فَعَالُ الْقَلْبِ‏] مِنَ اللَّهِ وَ عِصْمَتُهُ وَ رَحْمَتُهُ فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجْعَلْهُ [اللَّهُ‏] عَارِفاً فَلَا حُجَّةَ عَلَيْهِ وَ عَلَيْهِ أَنْ يَقِفَ وَ يَكُفَّ عَمَّا لَا يَعْلَمُ فَلَا يُعَذِّبُهُ اللَّهُ عَلَى جَهْلِهِ فَإِنَّمَا يَحْمَدُهُ عَلَى عَمَلِهِ بِالطَّاعَة...
*Kitāb Sulaym ibn Qays al-Hilālī*, vol. 2, p. 610

I said, “Commander of the Faithful, what is faith, and what is Islam?”

He replied, “Faith is affirmation accompanied by knowledge. Islam is what you affirm, together with submission to and obedience of them”—the Prophet’s Household.

I said, “Is faith affirmation that follows knowledge?”

He replied, “When God makes Himself, His Messenger and His Imam known to someone, and that person then affirms obedience to Him, that person is a believer.”

I said, “Does knowledge come from God, and affirmation from the servant?”

He replied, “Knowledge comes from God as a call, a proof, a favor and a blessing; affirmation is the servant’s acceptance. He bestows His favor upon whom He wills. Knowledge is created by God Most High in the heart, and affirmation—the act of the heart—comes from God, through His protection and mercy.

“So whoever is not granted knowledge by God has no proof against him. He must refrain and abstain from what he does not know. God will not punish him for his ignorance, for He praises a person only on account of his deeds of obedience...”

عنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ: إِنَ‏ اللَّهَ احْتَجَّ عَلَى النَّاسِ بِمَا آتَاهُمْ وَ عَرَّفَهُمْ.
*Al-Kāfī* (Islamic edition), vol. 1, p. 162

It is narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: “Indeed, God has established His proof against people through what He has given them and made known to them.”

عنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ حَكِيمٍ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع الْمَعْرِفَةُ مِنْ صُنْعِ مَنْ هِيَ قَالَ مِنْ صُنْعِ اللَّهِ لَيْسَ لِلْعِبَادِ فِيهَا صُنْعٌ.
*Al-Kāfī* (Islamic edition), vol. 1, p. 163

It is narrated from Muhammad ibn Hakim, who said: I asked Abu Abdillah (Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him), “Who creates knowledge?” He replied, “God creates it. His servants have no part in creating or controlling it.”

...َ فَكَتَبَ ع عَلَى يَدَيْ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ‏ بْنِ أَعْيَنَ سَأَلْتَ عَنِ الْمَعْرِفَةِ مَا هِيَ فَاعْلَمْ رَحِمَكَ اللَّهُ أَنَّ الْمَعْرِفَةَ مِنْ صُنْعِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ فِي الْقَلْبِ مَخْلُوقَةٌ وَ الْجُحُودَ صُنْعُ اللَّهِ فِي الْقَلْبِ مَخْلُوقٌ وَ لَيْسَ لِلْعِبَادِ فِيهِمَا مِنْ صُنْعٍ وَ لَهُمْ فِيهِمَا الِاخْتِيَارُ مِنَ الِاكْتِسَابِ فَبِشَهْوَتِهِمُ الْإِيمَانَ اخْتَارُوا الْمَعْرِفَةَ فَكَانُوا بِذَلِكَ مُؤْمِنِينَ عَارِفِينَ وَ بِشَهْوَتِهِمُ الْكُفْرَ اخْتَارُوا الْجُحُودَ فَكَانُوا بِذَلِكَ كَافِرِينَ جَاحِدِينَ ضُلَّالًا وَ ذَلِكَ بِتَوْفِيقِ اللَّهِ لَهُمْ وَ خِذْلَانِ مَنْ خَذَلَهُ اللَّهُ فَبِالاخْتِيَارِ وَ الِاكْتِسَابِ عَاقَبَهُمُ اللَّهُ وَ أَثَابَهُمْ- وَ سَأَلْتَ رَحِمَكَ اللَّهُ ...
*Al-Tawḥīd* (al-Saduq), p. 226

“The Imam (peace be upon him) then wrote to Abd al-Malik ibn Aʿyan in his own hand: ‘You asked about knowledge and what it is. Know, then—may God have mercy on you—that knowledge is created by God, Mighty and Exalted, in the heart; it is a created thing. Rejection and denial, too, are created by God in the heart; they are created things.

‘His servants have no part in creating either of them, but they do have the freedom to choose between them, acquiring one or the other through their own choice.

‘Out of their desire and longing for faith, they chose knowledge, and so became believing people of knowledge. Out of their desire and longing for disbelief, they chose rejection and denial, and so became disbelievers who denied the truth and went astray.

‘This comes about through God’s granting them success, and through His abandoning those whom He abandons. It is on account of their choice and what they have acquired that God punishes them or rewards them. And you, may God have mercy on you, asked…’”