2. We were told by my father, may Allah be pleased with him, with this chain of narrators, from Muhammed bin Sinan, from Abu’l-Hasan al-Rida, peace be upon him, that he said: I asked him: Was Allah, Glorious and Exalted is He, consciously knowing of Himself before He created the creation? He, peace be upon him, said: Yes. I said: Was He seeing and hearing it? He said: He was not in need of that, because He was not asking it, nor requesting from it. He is His Self, and His Self is Him; His Might is Piercing, and so He does not need to name Himself. However, He indeed chose names for Himself, to others than Himself, that they may call upon Him with, because if He was not called upon by His Name, he would not have been recognized. Hence, the first He chose for Himself is the High, the Great, because He is the Highest of all things. So, His meaning is the God, and His Name is the High, the Great, which is the first of His Names, because He has exalted above everything.
Je lui ai demandé : "Est-ce qu'Allah, exalté soit-Il, se connaissait Lui-même avant de créer la création ?" Il (que la paix soit sur lui) a dit : "Oui." J'ai dit : "Il se voyait et s'entendait ?" Il a répondu : "Il n'avait pas besoin de cela car personne ne L'interrogeait ni ne Lui demandait. Il est Lui-même et Lui-même est Lui, Sa puissance est absolue. Il n'a pas besoin d'être nommé Lui-même, mais Il a choisi pour Lui-même des noms par lesquels Il est invoqué par les autres, car s'Il n'était pas invoqué par Son nom, Il ne serait pas connu. Ainsi, la première chose qu'Il a choisie pour Lui-même est 'Al-`Alî Al-`Aẓîm' (Le Très-Haut, Le Très-Grand) car Il est au-dessus de toutes choses. Son sens est 'Allah' et Son nom est 'Al-`Alî Al-`Aẓîm', et c'est Son premier nom car Il est élevé au-dessus de toute chose."
