It is narrated by Muhammad ibn Abdullah Khorasani, the servant of Imam Reza (peace be upon him), that one day a group was present with Imam Reza (peace be upon him), when one of the deniers of God entered. This person asked Imam (peace be upon him), “Explain to me, how is God, and where is He?”

The Imam (peace be upon him) replied, “Woe to you! What you have imagined is false. He is the creator of space and place. He existed when there was no space or place, and He created the concept of ‘how’ by Himself. He existed when there was no ‘how’ or ‘quality’. Therefore, He is not known through any quality, place, or sensory perception, nor can He be compared to anything.”

The man said, “Since He cannot be perceived through any of the senses, then He does not exist at all!”

The Imam (peace be upon him) replied, “Woe to you! Just because your senses cannot perceive Him, do you deny His lordship? When our senses fail to perceive Him, we are certain that He is our Lord, and He is something other than all created things.”

The man asked, “What is the proof of God’s existence?”

The Imam (peace be upon him) replied, “When I look at my body and see that I cannot reduce or increase its size or remove its difficulties or do anything beneficial for it, I understand that this structure has a builder, and I acknowledge Him. Similarly, when I see the movement of the heavens, the creation of clouds, the turning of the winds, the movement of the moon, the sun, and the stars, and other wondrous and stable signs, I realize that all these things have a planner and creator.”

The man asked, “Then why cannot His eye be seen?”

The Imam (peace be upon him) replied, “It is so there is a distinction between Him and His creation — which can be seen with the eyes. Moreover, He is above being seen by eyes, or perceived by thoughts, or understood by intellect.”

The man said, “Then tell me, what is the boundary of His existence?”

The Imam (peace be upon him) replied, “He has no boundary.”

The man asked, “Why?”

The Imam (peace be upon him) explained, “Because anything that has a boundary has a limited existence. If He were to have a boundary, He would also be subject to increase, and if He could increase, then decrease could be attributed to Him. But He is unlimited, inexhaustible, immeasurable, and indivisible, and cannot be comprehended by thought.”

The man asked, “What do you mean when you say He is Latif (subtle), Sami’ (hearing), Hakim (wise), Basir (seeing), and ‘Alim (knowing)? Can anyone be hearing without ears, or seeing without eyes, or subtle without doing anything with their hands, or wise without being a craftsman and creator?”

The Imam (peace be upon him) replied, “Latif (subtle) among us creatures refers to one who does something with precision. Have you not seen when someone processes something and works with fine detail, they say, ‘This person is so precise and performs the task with delicacy’?

So how can we not call God Latif, when He has created delicate and magnificent creations and placed souls in animals, and He has created every kind of being with its own kind in different forms, such that some are unlike others, and in each of them, there are signs of God’s subtlety and knowledge in their design? When we look at trees and their fruit, both edible and non-edible, we see the subtlety of God’s creation; but it is not like the subtlety of created beings in their work.

We say He is hearing because no sound of any of His creatures — from ants to those bigger than them, whether in the sky or on the earth — is concealed from Him, and He does not confuse their languages. So we say He is hearing, but not by means of ears.

We say He is seeing, but not with eyes, because He can see the black ant’s footsteps on a black stone in the dark, and He can see its movements in the dark night, the mating, the eggs, and its progeny. Thus, we say He is seeing, but not in the way creatures are seeing.”

The narrator states that the man did not disengage from the discussion until he eventually became a Muslim.

(Excerpt from the book “Tawhid” by Sheikh Saduq (may Allah have mercy on him))

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