حدثنا أبي - رحمه الله - قال: حدثنا سعد بن عبد الله قال: حدثنا محمد بن عيسى، عن يونس بن عبد الرحمن، عن الربيع بن مسلم قال: سمعت أبا الحسن عليه السلام حين سئل عن الصمد، فقال: الصمد الذي لا جوف له.

1.	We were told by my father, may Allah grant him mercy, that he said: We were told by Sa’d bin Abdullah, that he said: We were told by Muhammed bin ‘Isa, from Yunus bin Abdul-Rahman, from Rabee’ bin Muslim, that he said: I heard Abu’l-Hasan, peace be upon him, when he was asked about al-Samad [1], to which he said: Al-Samad is He who has no interior.

حدثنا علي بن أحمد بن محمد بن عمران الدقاق - رضي الله عنه - قال: حدثنا محمد بن يعقوب، عن علي بن محمد، عن سهل بن زياد، عن محمد بن الوليد- ولقبه شباب الصيرفي - عن داود بن القاسم الجعفري قال: قلت لأبي جعفر عليه السلام: جعلت فداك، ما الصمد؟ قال: السيد المصمود إليه في القليل والكثير.

2.	We were told by Ali bin Ahmad bin Muhammed bin Imran al-Daqqaq, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: We were told by Muhammed bin Ya’qub, from Ali bin Muhammed, from Sahl bin Ziyad, from Muhammed bin Waleed – whose title is Shabab al-Sayrafi – of Dawud bin Qasim al-Ja’fari, that he said: I said to Abu Ja’far, peace be upon him: May I be sacrificed for you, what is al-Samad? He said: The Master to which one remains firm, during the less and the more (fortunate).

حدثنا أبو محمد جعفر بن علي بن أحمد الفقيه القمي ثم الإيلاقي - رضي الله عنه - قال: حدثنا أبو سعيد عبدان بن الفضل قال: حدثني أبو الحسن محمد بن يعقوب بن محمد بن يونس بن جعفر بن إبراهيم بن محمد بن عليبن عبد الله بن جعفر بن أبي طالب بمدينة خجندة قال: حدثني أبو بكر محمد بن أحمد بن بن شجاع الفرغاني قال: حدثني أبو محمد الحسن بن حماد العنبري بمصر، قال: حدثني إسماعيل بن عبد الجليل البرقي، عن أبي البختري وهب بن وهب القرشي، عن أبي عبد الله الصادق جعفر بن محمد عليهما السلام قال: قال الباقر: حدثني أبي زين العابدين عن أبيه الحسين بن علي عليهم السلام أنه قال: الصمد الذي لا جوف له، والصمد الذي به انتهى سؤدده، والصمد الذي لا يأكل ولا يشرب، والصمد الذي لا ينام، والصمد الذي لم يزل ولا يزال. قال الباقر عليه السلام: كان محمد بن الحنيفة - قدس الله روحه - يقول: الصمد القائم بنفسه الغني عن غيره. وقال غيره: الصمد المتعالي عن الكون والفساد، والصمد الذي لا يوصف بالتغاير. قال الباقر عليه السلام: الصمد السيد المطاع الذي ليس فوقه آمر ولا ناه. قال: وسئل علي بن الحسين زين العابدين عليهما السلام عن الصمد، فقال: الصمد الذي لا شريك له ولا يؤوده حفظ شئ ولا يعزب عنه شئ. قال: وهب بن وهب القرشي: قال زيد بن علي بن عليهما السلام: الصمد الذي إذا أراد شيئا قال له: كن فيكون، والصمد الذي أبدع الأشياء فخلقها أضدادا وأشكالا وأزواجا وتفرد بالوحدة بلا ضد ولا شكل ولا مثل ولا ند. وقال وهب بن وهب القرشي: سمعت الصادق عليه السلام يقول: قدم وفد من فلسطين على الباقر عليه السلام فسألوه عن مسائل فأجابهم، ثم سألوه عن الصمد، فقال عليه السلام: تفسيره فيه، الصمد خمسة أحرف فالألف دليل على إنيته وهو قوله عز وجل: " شهد الله أنه لا إله إلا هو " وفي ذلك تنبيه وإشارة إلى الغائب عن درك الحواس، واللام دليل على إلهيته أنه هو الله، والألف واللام مدغمان لا يظهران على اللسان ولا يقعان في السمع ويظهران في الكتابة دليلان على أن إلهيته بلطفه خافية، لا تدرك بالحواس ولا تقع في لسان واصف ولا اذن سامع، لان تفسير الاله هو الذي أله الخلق عن درك ماهيته وكيفيته بحس أو بوهم، لا بل هو مبدع الأوهام وخالق الحواس، وإنما يظهر ذلك عند الكتابة دليلا على أن الله سبحانه أظهر ربوبيته في إبداع الخلق وتركيب أرواحهم اللطيفة في أجسادهم الكثيفة فإذا نظر عبد إلى نفسه لم ير روحه كما أن لام الصمد لا تتبين ولا تدخل في حاسة من حواسه الخمس، فإذا نظر إلى الكتابة ظهر له ما خفي ولطف. فمتى تفكر العبد في ماهية البارئ وكيفيته أله فيه وتحير ولم تحط فكرته بشئ يتصور له لأنه عز وجل خالق الصور، فإذا نظر إلى خلقه ثبت له أنه عز وجل خالقهم ومركب أرواحهم في أجسادهم. وأما الصاد فدليل على أنه عز وجل صادق، وقوله صدق، وكلامه صدق، ودعا عباده إلى اتباع الصدق بالصدق، ووعد بالصدق دار الصدق. وأما الميم فدليل على ملكه وأنه عز وجل الملك الحق لم يزل ولا يزال، ولا يزول ملكه وأما الدال فدليل على دوام ملكه وأنه عز وجل دائم، تعالى عن الكون والزوال بل هو عز وجل مكون الكائنات، الذي كان بتكوينه كل كائن.

3.	We were told by Abu Muhammed, Ja’far bin Ali bin Ahmad, the jurist, al-Qommi and thereupon al-Eelaqi, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: We were told by Abu Sa’eed, Abdan bin Fadl, that he said: I was told by Abu’l-Hasan, Muhammed bin Ya’qub bin Muhammed bin Yusuf bin Ja’far bin Ibrahim bin Muhammed bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Ja’far bin Abi Talib – in the city of Khujand – that he said: I was told by Abu Bakr, Muhammed bin Ahmad bin Shuja’ al-Farghani, that he said: I was told by Abu Muhammed, Hasan bin Hammad al-Anbari – in Egypt – that he said: I was told by Isma’il bin Abdul-Jalil al-Barqi, from Abu’l-Bukhturi, Wahab bin Wahab al-Qurashi, from Abu Abdillah al-Sadiq, Ja’far bin Muhammed, peace be upon him, that he said: Al-Baqir said: I was told by my father, Zain-ul-Abideen, from his father, Hussain bin Ali, peace be upon him, that he said:  Al-Samad is He who has no interior, and al-Samad is He at whom sovereignty ends, and al-Samad is He who does not eat nor drink, and al-Samad is He who does not sleep, and al-Samad is He who has not perished and does not perish. Al-Baqir, peace be upon him, said: Muhammed bin Hanafiya – may Allah sanctify his soul – used to say: Al-Samad is He who is Upright by Himself, the Self-Sufficient from any other.» Another have said: Al-Samad is the Elevated above creation and termination, and al-Samad is He who is not characterized by change. Al-Baqir, peace be upon him, said: Al-Samad is the obeyed Master above whom there is no commander nor prohibitor. He said: Also, Ali bin Hussain, Zain-ul-Abideen, peace be upon him, was asked about al-Samad, so he said: Al-Samad is He who has no associate, nor is tired by preserving anything, nor is anything absent from Him. Wahab bin Wahab al-Qurashi said: Zaid bin Ali, peace be upon him, said: Al-Samad is He who if He wants something, He says to it: «Be», and it is, and al-Samad is who innovated things and created them in opposites, shapes and couples, and who unequaled Himself in Oneness with no opposite, nor shape, nor equal, nor rival. Also, Wahab bin Wahab al-Qurashi said: I heard al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, say: A delegation from Palestine came to al-Baqir, peace be upon him, and they asked him about matters, to which he answered, and then they asked him about al-Samad, so he said: Its interpretation: Al-Samad is of five letters. As for the Alif [1], it is a denotation that His Essential Existence, and that is His saying, Exalted and Glorious is He: «Allah witnessed that there is no god but Him» (3:18). In that is a reminder and indication to that which is absent from being perceivable by the senses. The Laam is a denotation that His Godness, that he is the God. Furthermore, the Alif and the Laam are diphthonged, and they do not appear (separately) on the tongue, and they are not heard (separately), and they appear in writing. They are two denotations that His Godness is, with His unmerited favor, hidden and not perceived by the senses, and that it does not come on the tongue of any describer, nor the ear of any hearer, because the interpretation of the God is He who protected the creation from comprehending His Essence and Nature by sense or by imagination. No, but rather, He is the Innovator of imaginations and Creator of senses. This only appears in writing as a denotation that Allah, Glorious is He, made apparent His Lordship by innovating the creation and forming their gentle souls into their solid bodies; so, if a servant looks at himself, he will not see his own soul, in similarity to how the Laam of al-Samad does not appear nor enter any sense of his five senses. However, when he looks at the writing, it appears to him what has been hidden and softened; so, whenever a servant ponders upon the Essence and Nature of the Maker, he will be exposed (to loss) and confused in it, and his imagination will not encompass anything that is imaginable of Him, because He, Exalted and Glorious is He, is the Creator of images. So, when he looks at His creation, it is affirmed to him that He, Exalted and Glorious is He, is their Creator and Former of their souls into their bodies. As for the Ssaad, it is a denotation that He, Exalted and Glorious is He, is Truthful, and that His saying is  truth, and that His words are truth, and that He called His servants to follow the truth with the truth, and He promised with the truth, the World of Truth. As for the Miim, it is a denotation of His Kingdom, and that He, Exalted and Glorious is He, is the True King, that He did not perish nor does perish, nor does His Kingdom perish. As for the Daal, it is a denotation of the continuity of His Kingdom, and that He, Exalted and Glorious is He, is Everlasting, Exalted is He above creation and termination. Rather, He, Exalted and Glorious is He, is the Creator of the creations, by whose creation, every creature exists.»

Maʿānī al-ʾAkhbār

Chapter #7