Page One
**Does divine power extend to impossibilities?**
We must proclaim clearly, in the language of divine oneness, that divine power extends to impossibilities and beyond. Anyone who bars divine power from the realm of the impossible has neither clearly understood God nor grasped what impossibility means. They have also likened divine power to human power.
The most impossible of impossibilities is existence emerging from nonexistence. Let us pause and think for a moment! The most inconceivable thing in the universe—in other words, the most impossible of impossibilities, beyond all impossibility—is existence springing from nonexistence. The Creator of existence wills it, and it is: «کن فیکون».
Is existence within nonexistence, or nonexistence within existence? How vast is nonexistence? Its measure is nothing. And what are the dimensions and extent of existence? Where does it reside? Nowhere? Is that not astonishing? Is it not intrinsically impossible? How, then, has the peerless Creator made this intrinsic impossibility—this impossibility beyond impossibility—possible and brought it to pass? Glory be to my Lord, the Creator of all creation, whose word gives voice to creation!
Now, if the Creator so wills, could the world not be contained within an egg? Is it harder to place the world within nothing, or within an egg—without either changing? For the Creator, there is no such thing as difficulty. He wills, and that is all!
The images of the world before our eyes: the sky, with all its vastness, appears on the surface of our eyes, and we see it in all its immensity. Of course, I do not mean the image formed behind the retina; I mean what we actually see, without any diminishment. If we could magnify that image and penetrate its depths, it would be as though we were travelling through the universe.
Is it harder to place the world inside an egg, or to place the spirit within the body, the realm of the unseen within the visible world, immense energy within a particle, the singularity of the universe—and so on?
Which is harder? Where does time reside? How did time begin? How can we make sense of what came before time? (Though speaking of “before” is itself mistaken.) The Creator brought time into being, but did not create it within time, for there was no time in which it could be created!
Can you imagine a riddle stranger than this: comprehending time, what lies beyond time, and timelessness—is it even possible? This is precisely the intrinsic impossibility that my Lord brought to pass—and so it came to be!
How was space created? Since it was not placed in a place, or a “where,” was it placed in no place? How? Did the All-Knowing Lord not make this intrinsic impossibility possible and bring it to pass?
How well do we understand dimensions? How many dimensions does our understanding encompass—beyond three and four, and higher still?
Do we understand the concepts of point, line, plane, volume, and so on? The mysteries of the point and the line remain undisclosed to us. Creating a line from a point, a plane from a line, and so on, is intrinsically impossible by the measure of our knowledge—but the Creator has brought it about!
The units of time and space are among the strangest riddles and impossibilities. Yet we all feel time and space within ourselves, though they cannot be analysed or explained.
The passage of time is itself intrinsically impossible! How does time extend? Its units are laid out and bring time into being. And how, in the first place, can we measure the relationship between the present, the past, and the future? How do we experience the present moment, which has no duration at all? Human knowledge cannot explain it!
Let us not poison our vision with certain false philosophical propositions!
If we reflect deeply on the concepts of length, width, height, measurement, and so on, we will see that we know nothing of them.
To intrude into the domain of the All-Knowing Creator is an unforgivable act of presumption. Analysing divine power and setting limits on its peerless reach reveals the weakness of our thought, our lack of understanding, and our failure to respect our own limits.
For our Lord, the conjunction of contradictories is not impossible. We need only recognise that His power is not confined by time or space—not even by timelessness, or by what lies beyond time and space. Let us reflect for a moment: the power of the One who exists beyond time and space governs every moment of time and every point of space, encompassing them all at once, in that unknown station. We cannot understand how, from His perspective, all moments of time and all layers and parts of space coincide.
Indeed, He has power over all things, and no obstacle stands in the way of His boundless power!
For God, nothing is impossible.
, [24.01.23 16:41]
Page Two
**The inability to become incapable**
The inability to become incapable is itself a form of power! Being unable to become incapable is no proof of weakness; rather, it affirms the reality of power—of absolute power.
One of the attributes of power is the inability to become incapable.
True beauty is beauty that cannot be ugly: beauty that cannot fail to be beautiful proves that it is beautiful in truth! It is absolute beauty.
The Great One who cannot undo His own greatness is thereby shown to possess greatness in its pure and absolute form. Likewise, the Great One who cannot make Himself insignificant manifests the reality of His majesty.
The One who cannot divest Himself of His oneness manifests the supreme truth of His unity—His imperishable oneness!
So the answer to the question “Can the Creator create another like Himself?” is that the Creator cannot create another like Himself. This inability affirms the reality of His oneness and the reality of His absolute power. Even so, we know the question is flawed and needs correcting: the Creator is not a created being who could create another like Himself—as though the Creator were not the Creator!
Thus, the One who cannot create another one like Himself demonstrates the truth of His oneness, for two ones in the same place would deprive both of their oneness! In such matters, then, the statement of inability establishes the truth of His power and uniqueness.
The answer to the question, “Could God create a stone He could not lift?” is the same: God cannot create a stone He could not lift. In fact, the implication of this answer is that He can never be deprived of His power—that is, He is absolutely omnipotent. We must acknowledge that words were devised to express meanings. So the wording above conveys the meaning that the Creator’s power is absolute and cannot be diminished.
, [24.01.23 16:49]
Page Three
Can divine power be overcome by the inherent limitations of created things? (God forbid!)
Is divine power limited, such that it cannot extend to impossibilities? (God forbid!)
For God, it is impossible that the impossible should be impossible. In other words, the impossible becomes possible through the impossible: a negative multiplied by a negative makes a positive.
For God, it is impossible that the impossible should be impossible; that is, nothing is impossible for God. When the impossible becomes impossible, that is equivalent to making the impossible impossible. Multiply the impossible by the impossible—what is the result?
The greatest impossibility, the very limit of the impossible, is bringing existence into being from nothingness. Yet nothing is impossible for this All-Knowing, All-Wise Creator! For the One who brings existence forth from nothing, ordering existence and transforming it are easy and effortless.
If the Creator could create another like Himself, He would no longer be «لیس کمثله»!!!!!!! So, to say that He cannot create another like Himself means that He is eternally «لیس کمثله شیء»; His uniqueness is real and enduring. In truth, the inability to become powerless is itself absolute power; only the wording used to describe power has changed.
Just as in the declaration of divine unity, «لا اله الا الله», the entire phrase affirms the oneness of the Most Exalted Lord, so too does the inability to become powerless. «لا اله» means “there is no god,” but with «الا الله», the two negatives together affirm oneness.
Nothingness is not; it does not exist, and so cannot be divided or classified into the possible and the impossible, or into other parts!
Those who say that “God’s power does not extend to impossible things” are mistaken in several respects. First, they do not properly understand what “impossible” means. They measure God against created beings and their own limited knowledge. The greatest impossibility is nonexistence itself, which the Creator brings into being by His power!
If we make reason the criterion for distinguishing what is possible from what is impossible, we have, in effect, measured God’s power by our own reason—and the result is a foregone conclusion! It is not the case that everything our reason deems impossible lies beyond divine power (God forbid).
Which is harder: gathering all the energy in the universe into a single particle, or placing the universe inside an egg? How well do we understand the laws of creation?! Divine will is itself the law: He need only will it, and the law comes into being—along with size and smallness! Dimensions, the mystery of time, the mystery of space: these are all riddles utterly beyond the grasp of human reason. To pass judgment on matters about which we know nothing is sheer ignorance.
Asking a question without error is the foundation of inquiry. Failing to notice a flaw in the question will make the issue more complicated and the answers more erroneous; both questioner and respondent will be caught in a spiral of layered errors. So a faulty question will inevitably receive an even more faulty answer! First correct the question; then answer it.
The assumption that a human being is a stone is less flawed than imagining the Creator to be a created being, whether deliberately or through carelessness and ignorance. An example is the question, “Is it possible to create another like God?” (God forbid!)—which itself imagines God as something created.
By identifying the flaws in a question, the answer becomes clear, without any complication. In the case of the question at hand, once its flaws are recognized, the answer is straightforward: “God cannot cease to be God! That is, God is God and always will be God. He cannot create another like Himself, because His divinity is real.”
Which is harder: bringing existence forth from nothingness, or putting the earth inside an egg? Which is harder: placing time within timelessness and space within placelessness, or placing the earth inside an egg?
Whatever law the Almighty God establishes becomes sovereign and is realized; His will is God’s law, made real and set in motion.
The impossibility of two contradictions coexisting is according to God’s will and law. If He established a law allowing contradictions to coexist, then the impossibility of their coexistence would be realized; and if He removed that law, the possibility of their coexistence would come to pass.
Where, within timelessness, is time, and in which of its coordinates? And within which coordinates of time is space? How can we understand the creation of time, and what came before it?
, [24.01.23 16:51]
Page Four
The world inside an egg ...
Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq relates: ʿAbd Allāh al-Dayṣānī asked Hishām ibn al-Ḥakam, “Do you have a Lord?” “Yes,” he replied. “Is He powerful?” “Yes. He is powerful and all-conquering.” “Can He fit the entire world into an egg, without the egg growing larger or the world becoming smaller?” Hishām said, “Give me time to consider it.” “I’ll give you a year,” al-Dayṣānī replied, then left.
Hishām went straight to Abū ʿAbd Allāh (AS), asked permission to enter, and was admitted. “O son of the Messenger of God,” he said, “ʿAbd Allāh al-Dayṣānī has put a question to me for which I have no recourse but to God and you.”
“What did he ask you?” Abū ʿAbd Allāh (AS) said.
“He asked me such and such.”
“O Hishām, how many senses do you have?”
“Five.”
“Which is the smallest?”
“Sight.”
“And how large is the pupil?”
“About the size of a lentil, or smaller.”
“Then look before you and above you, and tell me what you see.”
“I see the sky and the earth, houses and palaces, open country, mountains and rivers.”
Abū ʿAbd Allāh (AS) said, “The One who can fit all that you see into a lentil, or something smaller, can also fit the entire world into an egg, without the world becoming smaller or the egg growing larger.”
Hishām bowed over him, kissed his hands, head and feet, and said, “That is enough for me, O son of the Messenger of God.” Then he returned home.
The next morning, al-Dayṣānī came to him. “Hishām,” he said, “I’ve come to you as a seeker of guidance, not to press you for an answer.”
“If you’ve come for an answer, here it is,” Hishām replied.
Al-Dayṣānī left and went to the door of Abū ʿAbd Allāh (AS). He asked permission to enter, and was admitted. When he sat down, he said, “Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, show me my God.”
Abū ʿAbd Allāh (AS) asked him, “What is your name?”
Al-Dayṣānī left without telling him. His companions asked, “Why didn’t you tell him your name?”
“If I’d said, ‘ʿAbd Allāh,’ he would have asked, ‘Who is this that you serve?’”
They said, “Go back to him. Ask him to show you your God, and tell him not to ask your name.”
He returned and said, “Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, show me my God, and do not ask me my name.”
“Sit down,” Abū ʿAbd Allāh (AS) said. A young servant was there, playing with an egg in his hand. Abū ʿAbd Allāh (AS) said to him, “Bring me the egg, boy,” and he handed it to him.
Then Abū ʿAbd Allāh (AS) said, “Al-Dayṣānī, this is a well-protected fortress. It has a thick shell, and beneath that thick shell is a thin membrane. Beneath the membrane are liquid gold and molten silver. The liquid gold does not mix with the molten silver, nor does the molten silver mix with the liquid gold. It remains as it is. No one has come out of it to tell us what made it whole, and no corrupter has entered it to tell us what caused it to decay. We do not know whether it was made for a male or a female. It will split open, revealing colours like those of peacocks. Do you think it has a maker?”
He bowed his head for a long while, then said, “I bear witness that there is no god but God alone, without partner; that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger; and that you are an Imam and a proof from God to His creation. I repent of what I used to believe.”
ʿAbd Allāh al-Dayṣānī asked Hishām, “Do you have a Lord?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“Is He powerful?”
“Yes. He is powerful and all-conquering.”
“Can He fit the whole world into an egg, without the egg growing larger or the world becoming smaller?”
“Give me time to consider it,” Hishām said.
Al-Dayṣānī replied, “I’ll give you a year,” and left.
Hishām rode to visit Imam al-Ṣādiq (AS), asked permission to enter, and was admitted. “O son of the Messenger of God,” he said, “ʿAbd Allāh al-Dayṣānī has asked me a question for which I have no recourse but to God and you.”
“What did he ask you?” the Imam said.
“[The account continues…]”
He said, “He said such-and-such.” The Imam said, “Hisham, how many senses do you have?” He replied, “Five.” The Imam asked, “Which is the smallest?” “Sight,” he answered—that is, the eye. “How large is the organ of sight?” “About the size of a lentil, or smaller.”
The Imam then said, “Hisham, look ahead and above you, and tell me what you see.” He replied, “I see the sky and the earth, houses and palaces, deserts and mountains, and rivers.”
The Imam (AS) said, “The One who was able to place all that you see within a lentil, or something smaller, can place the whole world inside an egg without the world becoming smaller or the egg becoming larger.”
Hisham leaned towards the Imam, kissed his hands, head and feet, and said, “That is enough for me, O son of the Prophet.” Then he returned home.
The next day, the Dayṣānī came to him and said, “Hisham, I have come to greet you, not to ask you for an answer.” Hisham replied, “If you have come seeking an answer as well, here it is.” He told him the Imam’s answer.
The Dayṣānī left and went to the house of Imam al-Ṣādiq (AS), where he asked permission to enter. The Imam granted it. After sitting down, he said, “O Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, guide me to my Lord.”
Imam al-Ṣādiq asked him, “What is your name?” The Dayṣānī left without telling him. His companions asked, “Why didn’t you tell the Imam your name?” He replied, “If I had said that my name was ʿAbd Allāh—servant of God—he would have asked, ‘Who is the one you serve?’”
They said, “Go back and ask him to guide you to your Lord without asking your name.” He returned and said, “Guide me to my Lord, and do not ask my name.”
The Imam said, “Sit down.”
One of the Imam’s children was there, holding an egg and playing with it. The Imam said to him, “Give me that egg.” He handed it to him.
The Imam (AS) said, “O Dayṣānī, this egg is a sealed fortress. It has a thick shell, beneath which is a thin membrane. Beneath that membrane is flowing gold and molten silver. The flowing gold does not mix with the molten silver, nor does the molten silver blend with the flowing gold; they remain as they are. No one has gone inside it to say, ‘I made it sound,’ and no corrupter has entered it to say, ‘I spoiled it.’ Yet it is not known whether it was created to produce a male or a female. Then suddenly it splits open, and out comes a creature of many colours, like a peacock. Do you see any maker behind this?”
The Dayṣānī lowered his head for a while, then said, “I bear witness that there is no god but God alone, without partner, and that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger; and that you are God’s Imam and proof to humankind. I repent of my former belief.”
Uṣūl al-Kāfī / translated by Muṣṭafawī, vol. 1, p. 102
Fifth leaf
Nothing is impossible for God
عن أبی عبد الله ع قال: قیل لأمیر المؤمنین ع هل یقدر ربک أن یدخل الدنیا فی بیضه من غیر أن یصغر الدنیا أو یکبر البیضه قال إن الله تبارک و تعالى لا ینسب إلى العجز و الذی سألتنی لا یکون.
The Imam’s answer is brief. At the beginning of the report, he declares God exalted above incapacity, but in the rest, the phrase «لا یکون» leaves the answer open-ended. Given the Imam’s other statements, this kind of ambiguity seems unlikely. Perhaps the report has been abridged, or some words and phrases have been omitted.
A second possibility is that the phrase «لا یکون» is meant as a question. On that reading, it would mean: “The same God who cannot be attributed with incapacity—could the thing you asked about really be impossible?” In other words, do you think divine power cannot extend to it?
This interpretation of the Imam’s words accords with another report attributed to him:
عن أبی عبد الله ع قال: جاء رجل إلى أمیر المؤمنین ع فقال أ یقدر الله أن یدخل الأرض فی بیضه و لا یصغر الأرض و لا یکبر البیضه فقال ویلک إن الله لا یوصف بالعجز و من أقدر ممن یلطف الأرض و یعظم البیضه.
It is related from Imam al-Ṣādiq (AS) that a man came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and asked, “Can God place the earth inside an egg without making the earth smaller or the egg larger?” The Imam replied, “Woe to you! God cannot be described as incapable. And who is more powerful than the One who makes the earth subtle and the egg immense?”
Here the answer differs somewhat from the one in the previous report. It is as if the Imam is saying: “God, exalted is He, is so powerful that He can make the earth subtle and the egg immense, allowing the earth to fit inside it without the earth becoming smaller or the egg larger.”
Those who invent things that are inherently impossible for God, and deny that divine power can extend to them, are in a sense afflicted with hidden shirk.
It is enough for the Creator to turn His gaze towards the earth and make it subtle, and towards the egg and make it immense, for the earth—with all its grandeur—to fit within the egg in all its delicacy, without any resistance. Whatever God wills comes to pass.
[24.01.23 16:54]
Sixth leaf
جاء رجل إلى الرضا ع فقال هل یقدر ربک أن یجعل السماوات و الأرض و ما بینهما فی بیضه قال نعم و فی أصغر من البیضه قد جعلها فی عینک و هی أقل من البیضه لأنک إذا فتحتها عاینت السماء و الأرض و ما بینهما و لو شاء لأعماک عنها.
عن أبی عبد الله ع قال: إن إبلیس قال لعیسى ابن مریم ع أ یقدر ربک على أن یدخل الأرض بیضه لا یصغر الأرض و لا یکبر البیضه فقال عیسى ع ویلک إن الله لا یوصف بعجز و من أقدر ممن یلطف الأرض و یعظم البیضه.
هو بکل شیء محیط بالإشراف و الإحاطه و القدره
On the authority of Abū ʿAbd Allāh, peace be upon him, concerning the words of the Almighty: “There is no secret counsel among three but He is their fourth, nor among five but He is their sixth; whether fewer or more, He is with them wherever they may be.” He said: “He is One, unique in essence, distinct from His creation. This is how He has described Himself. He encompasses all things through His watchfulness, encompassing knowledge and power. Nothing, not even an atom’s weight in the heavens or the earth, escapes Him; nothing smaller or greater does either. He encompasses all things through His knowledge, not through His essence, for places are bounded and enclosed within four limits. Were He present in them by His essence, He would necessarily be contained within them…
“All things are equal before Him in knowledge, power, authority, dominion and encompassing knowledge.
“Muḥammad ibn Nuʿmān said: I asked Abū ʿAbd Allāh, peace be upon him, about the words of the Almighty: ‘And He is God in the heavens and on earth.’ He said: ‘That is so: He is in every place.’ I asked: ‘By His essence?’ He replied: ‘Woe to you! Places have dimensions. If you say that He is in a place by His essence, you must also say that He is within dimensions and other such things. Rather, He is distinct from His creation, encompassing all that He has created through knowledge, power, encompassing knowledge, authority and dominion. His knowledge of what is on earth is no less than His knowledge of what is in heaven. Nothing is distant from Him. All things are equal before Him in knowledge, power, authority, dominion and encompassing knowledge.’
“My treasuries are such that, whenever I will something, I say to it, ‘Be,’ and it comes to be.”
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ṣādiq, peace be upon him, said: “When Moses, peace be upon him, ascended the mountain and called upon his Lord, the Almighty, he said: ‘My Lord, show me Your treasuries.’ He replied: ‘Moses, My treasuries are such that, whenever I will something, I say to it, “Be,” and it comes to be.’”
, [24.01.23 16:55]
Page Seven
He cannot be described by any measure without being greater than it
Faḍīl ibn Yasār said: I heard Abū ʿAbd Allāh, peace be upon him, say: “God, the Almighty, cannot be described…”
Zurāra said: Abū Jaʿfar, peace be upon him, said: “God, the Almighty, cannot be described. How could He be described when He has said in His Book: ‘They have not esteemed God as He deserves to be esteemed’? Any measure by which He is described falls short of Him, for He is greater than it.”
*Al-Tawḥīd* (by al-Ṣadūq), p. 128
On the authority of Abū ʿAbd Allāh, peace be upon him, concerning the words of the Almighty: “There is no secret counsel among three but He is their fourth, nor among five but He is their sixth; whether fewer or more, He is with them wherever they may be.” He said: “He is One, unique in essence, distinct from His creation. This is how He has described Himself. He encompasses all things through His watchfulness, encompassing knowledge and power. Nothing, not even an atom’s weight in the heavens or the earth, escapes Him; nothing smaller or greater does either. He encompasses all things through His knowledge, not through His essence, for places are bounded and enclosed within four limits. Were He present in them by His essence, He would necessarily be contained within them…”
*Al-Tawḥīd* (by al-Ṣadūq), p. 132
, [25.01.23 19:43]