Al-Usayfir

He said: "Whoever claims that Ali¹—the Apparent—is Allah, has disbelieved. And whoever claims that he limits Him, has associated others with Him. And whoever claims that he knows Allah by the Apparent, has transgressed [Fasaqa]. And whoever claims that he knows Allah by the Inner [Batin], has been annihilated [Muhiqa]. And whoever claims that he knows Allah by an Attribute, has apostatized [Maraqa]."

We said: Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return. Our lives have been wasted and our days gone, while we thought that we had declared His Oneness and reached the utmost in knowing Him."

Then Muhammad ibn Sinan—peace be upon him—said to us: "Is not the Name other than the Meaning, and the Meaning other than the Name?" We said: "The Name is not other than the Meaning.

Footnotes

¹The Name "Ali": It is the name of the Humanity [Nasut] which the Master [Mawla] manifested for identification/definition. So whoever claims falsely that this Name appearing in the Humanity—or that the human nature associated with Ali—[is Allah], has indeed disbelieved. All existent beings are limited and finite, whereas the Meaning—the Exalted—is Absolute Light that does not enter into limits. Therefore, whoever claims that He possesses limits has associated all created beings with Him. And whoever claims that he knows Allah through what He manifested of human attributes and actions has exited the path of Truth and righteousness. Thus, whoever claims he knows Allah by the Batin (Inner) has perished. Whoever claims he knows Allah by His human attribute has exited [the faith] into error and innovation. For the Meaning: neither name nor attribute applies to Him (essentially); meaning, He is not named by a name He is named with [as a definition], nor by any Form He appears in. For the Form is an attribute of His attributes and a name of His names, but Allah—neither name, nor attribute, nor limit applies to Him. These names are "other than Him," and He is "other than His Name." Rather, Attributes and Names were established and made as places of knowledge for the Gnostics, while He is Exalted above them in His manifestation and His hiddenness. The First, the Pre-eternal, the Divinity [Lahut]: His Batin is Unseen [Ghayb], and His Zahir is Guidance for those of right conduct.

مكتبة كتيبة محمّد بن نصير Muhammad bin Nusayr's Library Bibliothèque de Muhammad bin Nusayr کتابخانه کتیبه محمد بن نصیر

Al-Usayfir - Muhammad ibn Shu‘ba al-Harrani

Footnotes