6. `Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn `Imran al-Daqqaq (RA) said: Muhammad ibn Ya`qub alKulayni through his source of transmission, said When Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq (AS) had a word with Ibn Abu al-`Awja’, he returned to Abu `Abd Allah (AS) the next day and sat down speechless. Therefore, Abu `Abd Allah (AS) said: “It seems as if you have returned to discuss some of the things we discussed before.” He replied, “That is what I intend, O son of the Messenger of Allah!” Abu `Abd Allah (AS) said: “How astonishing is this? You reject Allah, but you bear witness that I am the son of the Messenger of Allah.” He responded, “It is a custom and a formality.” The Learned [al-`alim] (AS) said to him, “Then what prevents you from speaking?” He replied, “My reverence for you. Even my tongue venerates you, preventing it from verbalizing anything. Verily, I have consulted with scholars and debated with theologians, but never has such a sense of awe entered me as when I am in your presence.” The Imam (AS) said: “That may be the case. However, I will start with a question.” He approached him, and asked: “Are you created or uncreated?” `Abd al-Karim ibn Abu al-`Awja’ answered, “I am not created.” So the Learned (AS) asked him, “If you are uncreated, then describe to me how you would be, had you been created?” `Abd al-Karim was baffled and unable to answer for a long time, focusing his eyes on the piece of wood that was before him. He was saying “Long, wide, deep, short, moving, motionless, all of these are descriptions of its creation.” The Learned (AS) said to him, “If you do not know the description of its formation, then create yourself on the basis of yourself.” `Abd al-Karim replied to him, “You have posed a question that nobody has ever posed to me before, and which nobody will ever ask me after you.” Abd `Abd Allah (AS) responded to him, You admit that this question has never been asked of you in the past. However, how can you know that this question will never be posed to you in the future? O `Abd alKarim! You have negated yourself, because you claimed that all things are the same in the beginning. How, then can you precede or delay things in time? He (AS) then continued, O `Abd al-Karim! I will further clarify matters for you. If you had a bag which contained jewels, and someone asked you “Is there a gold-coin [dinar] in the bag?” you would deny that there is a gold-coin in bag. If the questioner then asked you “Describe for me the gold-coin,” when you did not know how to describe it, would it be right for you to deny its existence simply because you cannot describe it?” He replied, “No.” Abu `Abd Allah (AS) then responded to him, “The universe, however, is far greater, longer, and wider than the bag. Likewise, it is possible that there is something in the universe that was created but which you cannot describe from the uncreated.” `Abd al-Karim withdrew, but some of his friends surrendered to reason and embraced Islam while other remained obstinate in their unbelief as he did. He returned on the third day and said: May I redirect the question?” Abu `Abd Allah (AS) said to him, “Ask whatever you may wish.” So he asked, “What is the proof for the emergence of bodies?” Abu `Abd Allah (AS) replied, Verily, in contemplating all things, big, and small, I found that they all increase or decrease from their original state. If they were eternal, however, then they would decline or increase from their original state. This is because anything which can decline or change can be located and can disappear. Anything that exists after nonexistence has emerged. And anything that exists did not exist at one point. Eternity (sempiternity) and nonexistence cannot co-exist in the same thing. `Abd al-Karim said: “On the basis of your reasoning, nothing that changes can be eternal, and must have emerged. So, if something always remains small, how can it be said to have emerged?” The Learned (AS) answered, Verily, we are talking about this universe. Were it to be taken away and replaced with another one, nothing would be left of the first one. That is sufficient proof that it has been taken away and replaced by another one. However, I shall answer you on the basis of your assumption. We say: Even if something remains small, that small thing could join with another small thing, and thus become bigger. And since it is subject to such change, it cannot be eternal. Consequently, anything that is subject to change has emerged. There is nothing beyond that for you, O `Abd al-Karim.” So he withdrew, full of shame and disgrace. When the next year approached, the Imam (AS) met him in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca. So some of his followers [shi`ah] said to him: “Ibn Abu al-`Awja’ has become a Muslim.” The Learned (AS) replied, “He is blinded from faith. He will not submit.” When he saw the Learned, he said: “My Master, my Guardian.” The Learned (AS) asked him, “What brings you to this place?” He answered, “It is a custom. It is the practice of the town. And we want to watch all these crazy people shave their heads and throw pebbles at Satan.” Hence, the Learned (AS) said: “You remain firm in your arrogance and misguidance, O `Abd al-Karm.” When he started to talk, the Learned (AS) said to him, “There is no quarrel in the pilgrimage.” Then the Imam (AS) shook off his cloak from his hand and said: “If things are as you say, and they most certainly are not, then we are both saved. However, if things are the way we ay, and they most certainly are, then we are saved and you are destroyed.” `Abd al-Karim drew closer to the ones that were with him, and said: “My heart is filled with rancour. Take me away from here.” Therefore, they took him out, and he died, may Allah deprive him of mercy! The Compiler of this book says: Among the proof that bodies emerged is that bodies are subject to increase and decrease. They are subject to growth and development which makes them into different forms and shapes. Evidently, we already know that we have not formed our bodies, nor anyone from our species has formed them. It is not rational to believe that bodies, which are subject to change, growth, development, and measure, and which are not eternal, can come about without a Planner. If it is possible for the universe and all it contains to be without a Producer or a Creator, then it would also be possible for smaller things. If this were the case, then we should be able to find texts without authors, buildings without builders, and paintings without painters. However, it is not possible to find a boat that was not expertly designed by a builder. If all of this is impossible, then so is the argument that something can exist without a Creator. Everything we have mentioned, and which we have not mentioned, is subject to change: the skies, time, the sun and the moon, their rising and their setting, the seasons, trees and their fruits; the denial of which is the most obstinate stubbornness. This is clear. All praise be to Allah! I have asked one of the learned monotheists regarding proof that bodies emerged. He said: The proof that bodies emerged is that their existence is not separate from His Existence. The bodies do not have individual existence. They exist along with others. Whenever a body exists along with others, it cannot be unique, and can only have been created. Therefore, the body is created as it cannot be separate from the Creator nor precede it. And among the proofs that Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, is not a body is that there is not a body that does not have a body that resembles it, which is physically present or at least imaginable. Whatever has a similarity of any kind is created and has emerged. Therefore, since Allah, the Mighty and High, is Eternal, it proves that He is devoid of a body. One more thing: if someone speaks of a “body” literally, it subject to increase since it applies to something which can be measured in terms of length and width, and something which is composed of parts. If someone says: Verily, Allah, the Mighty and High, possesses a body, this statement could only be true if one proves that the aforementioned descriptions could apply to Him. If what we have mentioned before can apply to Him, then it could only mean two things: one, that He is created, and that he emerged like all bodies; or two, that all bodies are eternal. However, if the word “body” does not convey this meaning, and is only the name of a word, then it is a convention. Thus, it would be like someone calling Allah, the Mighty and High, a human, composed of flesh and blood, metaphorically, and not literally. However, the Names of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, should only be drawn from the names which He Himself has used, or which have been taught to us by the Messenger of Allah (SA) or the Rightly Guided Imams (AS).
Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Imran Al-Daqqaq a rapporté: Muhammad ibn Ya'qub Al-Kulayni nous a informés avec sa chaîne de transmission, qu'Ibn Abi Al-Awja' a dit qu'Abu Abdullah (paix soit sur lui) lui a parlé. Ibn Abi Al-Awja' est revenu le deuxième jour et s'est assis en silence sans parler. Abu Abdullah (paix soit sur lui) lui a dit : "Il semble que tu viennes répéter quelque chose sur lequel nous étions." Il a répondu : "Je voulais cela, ô fils du Messager d'Allah." Abu Abdullah (paix soit sur lui) a dit : "Étonnant, tu renies Allah et tu témoignes que je suis le fils du Messager d'Allah." Il a dit : "L'habitude me pousse à cela." Al-Aalim (paix soit sur lui) lui a demandé : "Qu'est-ce qui t'empêche de parler ?" Il a répondu : "Par respect pour toi et par crainte de ce que ma langue pourrait dire devant toi. J'ai vu des savants et j'ai entendu des orateurs, mais jamais je n'ai ressenti une telle crainte que celle que j'éprouve envers toi." Al-Aalim (paix soit sur lui) a dit : "Cela peut arriver, mais je vais te poser une question." Il s'est approché de lui et lui a demandé : "Es-tu créé ou non créé ?" Abd Al-Karim ibn Abi Al-Awja' a répondu : "Je ne suis pas créé." Al-Aalim (paix soit sur lui) lui a dit : "Alors, décris-moi comment tu serais si tu étais créé." Abd Al-Karim est resté perplexe sans trouver de réponse, et il s'est passionné pour un morceau de bois devant lui, en disant : "Long, large, profond, court, mobile, immobile, tout cela est une description de sa création." Al-Aalim (paix soit sur lui) lui a dit : "Si tu ne connais pas la description de la création autre que celle-ci, considère-toi alors comme créé en fonction de ce que tu trouves en toi-même parmi ces choses qui se produisent. " Abd Al-Karim lui a dit : "Tu m'as posé une question sur un sujet sur lequel personne ne m'a interrogé avant toi, et personne ne m'interrogera après toi sur un sujet similaire." Abu Abdullah (paix soit sur lui) lui a dit : "Tu as su que tu n'as pas été interrogé sur ce qui s'est passé auparavant, alors comment sais-tu que tu ne seras pas interrogé sur ce qui se passera ensuite ? Tu as contredit toi-même en prétendant que les choses étaient égales depuis le début, alors comment as-tu avancé et reculé ?" Puis il a dit : "Ô Abd Al-Karim, je vais te donner plus de clarté. Imagine si tu avais un sac rempli de joyaux et qu'on te demande : 'Y a-t-il un dinar dans le sac ?' Si tu nies la présence du dinar dans le sac sans en avoir connaissance, que dirais-tu ?" Il a répondu : "Non." Abu Abdullah (paix soit sur lui) lui a dit : "L'érudit est plus grand, plus vaste et plus profond que le sac. Peut-être que dans l'érudit, il y a une création dont tu ne connais pas la description de la création sans la création. " Abd Al-Karim s'est interrompu, et certains de ses compagnons se sont convertis à l'islam, tandis que d'autres sont restés avec lui. Il est revenu le troisième jour et a dit : "Je vais changer la question." Abu Abdullah (paix soit sur lui) lui a dit : "Pose ce que tu veux." Il a demandé : "Quelle est la preuve de l'existence des corps ?" Alors il a dit : "Je n'ai trouvé aucune chose petite ou grande qui, lorsqu'on lui ajoute son équivalent, ne devienne plus grande. Cela implique une disparition et un changement par rapport à l
