The suffering, sickness, pleasure and anger of God

Hasan Ibn Fadl Ibn Hasan reported that Imam As-Sadiq (a.) said: “When the Day of Resurrection comes, a caller calls the servant to God, whereupon He gives him an easy accounting and says: “My servant, what prevented you from visiting Me when I fell sick?” Then the believer says: “You are my Lord and I am your servant. You are the Living, the Everlasting. You suffer neither pain nor sickness.” Thus He says: “Whoever visited a believer for My sake visited Me.” Then He says: “Do you know the son of So-and-so?” Then He says: “Yes, My Lord.” So He says to him: “What kept you from visiting him when he fell sick? If you had visited him, you would have visited Me. Then you would have found Me through him and with him. Then you would have asked Me for a wish and I would have fulfilled it for you and would not have held you back from him.” [Makarim-ul-Akhlaq of At-Tabarsi, page 360 – 361]

الحسن بن الفضل بن الحسن عن جعفر بن محمد الصادق عليهما السلام قال: إذا كان يوم القيامة نادى مناد العبد إلى الله عز وجل فيحاسبه حسابا يسيرا ويقول: يا مؤمن ما منعك أن تعودني حين مرضت فيقول المؤمن أنت ربي وأنا عبدك أنت الحي القيوم الذي لا يصيبك ألم ولا نصب فيقول عز وجل: من عاد مؤمنا في فقد عادني ثم يقول له أتعرف فلان بن فلان فيقول نعم يا رب فيقول له ما منعك أن تعوده حين مرض أما إنك لو عدته لعدتني ثم لوجدتني به وعنده ثم لو سألتني حاجة لقضيتها لك ولم أردك عنها

Muhammad Ibn Murtada Ibn Mahmud reported that Imam As-Sadiq (a.) said: “We have instances with God where He is us and where we are Him and yet He is Him and we are us.” [Al-Kalimat-ul-Maknunah of Al-Kashani, page 113]

محمد بن مرتضى بن محمود عن جعفر بن محمد الصادق عليهما السلام قال: لنا حالات مع الله هو فيها نحن ونحن فيها هو ومع ذلك هو هو ونحن نحن

Ali Ibn Abi Talib reported that Prophet Muhammad (s.) said: “On the Day of Resurrection, God reprimands a servant of His servants. Thus He says: “My servant, what prevented you from visiting Me when I was sick?” Then He says: “Praise be to You. You are the Lord of servants. Neither do you suffer pain nor sickness.” Thus He says: “Your fellow brother fell ill. But you did not visit him. By My honor and majesty, if you had visited him, you would have found Me with him. Then I would have taken care of your wishes and fulfilled them. That for the sake of My faithful servant and I am the gracious, the merciful.” [Al-Amali from At-Tusi, pages 629 – 630]

محمد بن الحسن بن علي بن الحسن عن جماعة عن أبي المفضل عن أحمد بن محمد بن الحسين بن إسحاق بن جعفر عن الحسين بن إسحاق عن إسحاق بن جعفر عن موسى بن جعفر عن جعفر بن محمد عن محمد بن علي عن علي بن الحسين عن الحسين بن علي عن علي بن أبي طالب عن النبي صلى الله عليه وآله قال: يعير الله عز وجل عبدا من عباده يوم القيامة فيقول عبدي ما منعك إذ مرضت أن تعودني فيقول سبحانك، أنت رب العباد لا تألم ولا تمرض فيقول مرض أخوك المؤمن فلم تعده وعزتي وجلالي لو عدته لوجدتني عنده ثم لتكلفت بحوائجك فقضيتها لك وذلك من كرامة عبدي المؤمن، وأنا الرحمن الرحيم

Ali Ibn Hasan Ibn Fadl reported that Prophet Muhammad (s.) said: “Whoever caused harm to a believer has caused harm to me and whoever caused harm to me has caused harm to God and whoever caused harm to God is cursed in the Torah, Gospel, Psalms and Furqan.” [Miskhat-ul-Anwar of At-Tabarsi, page 149]

علي بن الحسن بن الفضل عن النبي صلى الله عليه وآله قال: من آذى مؤمنا فقد آذاني ومن آذاني فقد آذى الله عز وجل ومن آذى الله فهو ملعون في التوراة والإنجيل والزبور والفرقان

Muhammad Ibn Khalid reported that Imam As-Sadiq (a.) said about the Word of God “When they caused us grief, we retaliated” (43:55): “God is not caused by grief like our grief, but He created those close to Him for Himself. They are grieved and they are pleased and they are the guided creatures. So He made their pleasure the pleasure of Himself and their anger the anger of Himself, because He made them to be callers to Himself and indications of Himself. That is why they became like this, and not because this reaches to God as it reaches to His creatures, but because it is the meaning of what He said about it, and He has likewise said: “He who belittled a close one of mine has gone to war against Me and has challenged Me to him.” And He likewise said: “He who obeys the messenger has obeyed God.” (4:80) And He also said: “Those who swear the oath of allegiance to you, only swear the oath of allegiance to God.” (48:10) And with all this and what is like it, it is as I told you. So are the good pleasure and the anger and other things that resemble it. If sorrow and anger were to reach the Creator while He is the One who created and brought them forth, then it would be possible to make the statement: “The Creator will one day cease to exist one day.” For when anger and wrath afflicts him, change afflicts him, and when change afflicts him, he is not immune to ephemerality, and if that were the case, then one would not know the Creator from the creation, and would not know the powerful from the overpowered, and neither the creator from the created. God is highly exalted above this statement. He is the creator of all things. Not out of necessity. If there is no necessity, then limit and condition in relation to Him are impossible. Now understand this, God willing.” [At-Tawhid of As-Saduq, pages 168-169]

محمد بن علي بن الحسين عن علي بن الحسين بن موسى عن أحمد بن إدريس أحمد بن أبي عبد الله البرقي عن محمد بن خالد مرفوعا عن جعفر بن محمد الصادق عليهما السلام في قوله الله عزوجل فلما آسفونا انتقمنا قال: إن الله تبارك وتعالى لا يأسف كأسفنا ولكنه خلق أولياء لنفسه يأسفون ويرضون، وهم مخلوقون مدبرون فجعل رضاهم لنفسه رضى وسخطهم لنفسه سخطا، وذلك لانه جعلهم الدعاة إليه والادلاء عليه، فلذلك صاروا كذلك وليس ان ذلك يصل إلى الله كما يصل إلى خلقه ولكن هذا معنى ما قال من ذلك وقد قال أيضا من أهان لى وليا فقد بارزني بالمحاربة ودعاني إليها وقال أيضا من يطع الرسول فقد أطاع الله وقال أيضا إن الذين يبايعونك إنما يبايعون الله وكل هذا وشبهه على ما ذكرت لك هكذا الرضا والغضب وغيرهما من الاشياء مما يشاكل ذلك ولو كان يصل إلى المكون الاسف والضجر وهو الذي أحدثهما وأنشاهما لجاز لقائل أن يقول: إن المكون يبيد يوما ما لانه إذا دخله الضجر والغضب دخله التغيير وإذا دخله التغيير لم يؤمن عليه الابادة ولو كان ذلك كذلك لم يعرف المكون من المكون ولا القادر من المقدور ولا الخالق من المخلوق تعالى الله عن هذا القول علوا كبيرا، هو الخالق للاشياء لا لحاجة فإذا كان لا لحاجة استحال الحد والكيف فيه فافهم ذلك إن شاء الله

Abd-us-Salam Ibn Salih reported that Imam Ar-Rida (a.) said: “The Prophet (s.) said that God said: “The one has not believed in Me, when he has interpreted My word according to his own opinion and the one has no knowledge about Me, when he has compared Me with My own creation and the one did not belong to My religion, when he applied analogy in My religion.” And he said: “The one who left the ambiguity of the Qur’an with its clearness was guided to the straight path.” Then he said: “Our reports contain ambiguities like the ambiguity of the Qur’an and clearness like the clearness of the Qur’an. So leave the ambiguous reports with its clear reports and do not follow the ambiguous one of them without the clear one of them, to which you will be led astray.” [Al-Ihtijaj of At-Tabarsi, Volume 2, page 192]

عبد السلام بن صالح عن علي بن موسى الرضا عليه السلام قال: أن النبي صلى الله عليه وآله قال قال الله جل جلاله: ما آمن بي من فسر برأيه كلامي، وما عرفني من شبهني بخلقي، وما على ديني من استعمل القياس في ديني وقال: من رد متشابه القرآن إلى محكمه هدي إلى صراط مستقيم ثم قال: إن في أخبارنا متشابها كمتشابه القرآن، ومحكما كمحكم القرآن فردوا متشابهها إلى محكمها، ولا تتبعوا متشابهها دون محكمها فتضلوا