But God forbid! He sat with His creation, appeared to them, taught them, and gave them understanding, as an intimacy for them and an establishment of His proof against them...
From Abu Basir, from Abu 'Abdillah Assadiq (may his glory be exalted), he said: I said to him: "Inform me about God (may He be exalted and glorified), will the believers see Him on the Day of Resurrection?" He said: "Yes, and they have already seen Him before the Day of Resurrection." I said: "When?" He said: "When He said to them: {Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yes"}. Then he was silent for a moment. Then he said: "And indeed, the believers see Him in the world before the Day of Resurrection. Do you not see Him at this time of yours?"
Abu Basir said: So I said to him: "May I be made your ransom, may I narrate this from you?" He said: "No. For if you narrate it and a denier, ignorant of the meaning of what you are saying, denies it, and then supposes that it is anthropomorphism, he disbelieves. And the vision of the heart is not like the vision of the eye. Exalted is God above what the anthropomorphists and the heretics describe."1
"Do you not see Him at this time of yours?"
He is, by God, in front of you, but you do not see!
I have no knowledge of how the "detractors" will interpret this Hadith and how they will clarify its meaning. By God, they will not escape this report unless they bring Ibn al-Ghada'iri and his book of *Rijal* to weaken its chain and flee from its text.
Our Master al-Baqir (may his glory be exalted) said: "Then God created the angels and settled them in the heaven. Then God (Exalted is He) appeared to them and took the Covenant from them: for Him in Lordship, for Muhammad in Prophethood, and for 'Ali in Guardianship. The shoulder-blades of the angels trembled, so God (Exalted is He) became angry with the angels and veiled Himself from them. They sought refuge in the Throne for seven years, seeking protection in God from His anger, affirming what He had taken from them, and asking for His contentment. So He became content with them after they affirmed that."2