Préface

All praise be to Allah, the One and Only, who does not have a partner; the Peerless, the Needless, who has no like; the First, the Ever-Existent, who has no limit; the Last and the Everlasting who has no end; the Existing, the Constant, who has no non-existence; the Eternal King, who does not decline; the Power who is not weakened; the All-Knowing from who nothing can be hidden; the Alive but not with life; the One who Exists, but who is not confined to place; the All-Hearing and the All-Seeing, who has no ears and eyes; the One who ordered with justice, punished with favour, and commanded with bounty, but not to trap people under His Command. There is no rejecter to His Judgement, no challenger to His Decision, and no subduer to His Will. And His Command, when He intendeth anything, is only that He sayeth unto it “Be,” and then it is. Therefore, hallowed be He in whose Hand is the kingdom of all things, and unto His is the return and final arrival. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the Master of the Universe, and I bear witness that Muhammad (sw) in His Servant and His Messenger, the Master of the Prophets (of Allah) and the Best of all His Creation. And I bear witness that `Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) is the Master of the Appointed Guardians, and Commander of the Pious and Leader of the People with Radiant Foreheads. And I bear witness that the Imams (AS) from his Progeny after him are the Proofs of Allah to the Day of Judgement; may the blessings and salutations of Allah be upon them all. Al-Shaykh Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn `Ali ibn Husayn ibn Musa ibn Babawayh al-Qummi, the jurist, a resident of Ray compiler of this book (may Allah, the Exalted, help him in obeying Him, and grant him success with his work, through His Contentment) said: I compiled this book because the opponents of our sect [isabah] allege that we believe in anthropomorphism and determinism [jabr]. They made these claims on the basis of traditions [akhbar] they found in their books. Since they could not explain these traditions, and they could not understand their meaning, they distorted their original sense. In fact, they failed to compare the words of these traditions with the words of the Quran. As a result of their shortcomings, they distorted the beliefs of our sects among the ignorant. They confused people about our ways, and turned people away from the religion of Allah. They induced them to deny the Proofs of Allah. Therefore, I sought the favour of Allah, may His Remembrance be Exalted, and sought His Help, through the compilation of The Book of Divine Unity which rejects anthropomorphism and determinism.

Le cheikh Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Musa ibn Babawayh al-Qummi, l'érudit résidant à Rayy, auteur de ce livre, a dit : "Ce qui m'a poussé à rédiger ce livre est que j'ai trouvé des gens qui s'opposent à nous en déformant nos paroles pour propager des idées d'anthropomorphisme et de détermination, en interprétant de manière erronée des récits qu'ils ne comprennent pas. Ils ont altéré leur sens et les ont placés hors de leur contexte, ne trouvant pas dans leurs propres livres des termes équivalents à ceux du Coran. Ainsi, ils ont déformé notre école de pensée aux yeux des ignorants, l'ont revêtue de nos habits, ont détourné les gens de la religion d'Allah, les incitant à rejeter les preuves d'Allah. J'ai donc cherché à me rapprocher d'Allah en rédigeant ce livre sur l'unicité et la purification de l'anthropomorphisme, m'aidant et me fiant à Lui, car Il est mon suffisant protecteur et excellent garant."