Peak of Eloquence Nahjul Balagha By Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib - English Translation - Sermon 162

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The Attributes of Allah

Praise be to Allah, Creator of beings and things; He has spread the earth. He makes streams flow and vegetation grow on high lands. His primality has no beginning, nor has His eternity any end. He is the First and forever. He is the everlasting without limit. Foreheads bow before Him and lips declare His Oneness. He determined the limits of things at the time when He created them, keeping Himself away from any likeness.

173As an editor, I apologize for admitting that I really do not know for sure what the details of the incident are. In the absence of the original text, I could not make much sense of this paragraph, and I do not expect the reader to do any better!

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Imagination cannot conceive Him as having any limits of movements, or having any limbs or faculties [such as those of His creatures]. It cannot be asked about Him: “Whence?” and no time limit can be attributed to Him by saying, “till then.” He is apparent, but it cannot be asked, “from what?” He is hidden, but it cannot be asked, “in what?” He is not a body which can die, nor is He veiled so as to be enclosed. He is not near to things by way of touch, nor is He remote from them by way of separation.

The gazes of people’s eyes are not hidden from Him, nor the repetition of words, nor the glimpse of hillocks, nor the tread of a footstep in the dark night or in the deep gloom, where the shining moon casts its light and the effulgent sun comes in its wake, through its setting and appearing again and again with the rotation of time and periods, by the approach of the advancing night or the passing away of the fleeting day.

He precedes every extremity and limit, every counting and numbering. He is far above what those who attribute any limited attribute to Him, such as the qualities of measure, having extremities, living in houses and dwelling in abodes because limits are meant for creation and are attributable only to those other than Allah.

Allah: Originates from Nothing

He did not create things from eternal matter nor after existing examples. Rather, He created whatever He created then He fixed limits thereto. He shaped whatever He shaped, ging the best shape thereto. Nothing can disobey Him, but anyone’s obedience is of no benefit to Him. His knowledge about those who died in the past is the same as His knowledge about the survivors. His knowledge about whatever there is in the high skies is like His knowledge of whatever there is in the low earth.

Part of the Same Sermon: Creation of Mankind, the requirements of life

O creature who has been equitably created and who has been nurtured and looked after in the darkness of wombs with multiple curtains! You were originated from the essence of clay (Holy Quran, 23: 12), placed in a still place for a known length (Holy Quran, 77: 21-22) and an ordained time. You used to move in the womb of your mother as an embryo, neither responding to a call nor hearing any voice.

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Then you were taken out of your place of stay to a place you had not seen before and you were not acquainted with the means of awaiting its benefits, or with who guided you to eke out your sustenance from the udder of your mother. And when you were in need, He appraised you of the location of what you required or aimed at. Alas! Certainly he who is unable to understand the qualities of a being with shape and limbs is more unable to understand the qualities of the Creator and the more remote from appreciating Him through the limitations.