Chapter On The Meanings of the Names of Allah and their Derivatives
Al-Kāfi|Volume 1|Book 3|Chapter 16
6ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي عُمَيْرٍ عَنِ ابْنِ أُذَيْنَةَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ حَكِيمٍ عَنْ مَيْمُونٍ الْبَانِ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) وَقَدْ سُئِلَ عَنِ الاوَّلِ وَالاخِرِ فَقَالَ الاوَّلُ لا عَنْ أَوَّلٍ قَبْلَهُ وَلا عَنْ بَدْءٍ سَبَقَهُ وَالاخِرُ لا عَنْ نِهَايَةٍ كَمَا يُعْقَلُ مِنْ صِفَةِ الْمَخْلُوقِينَ وَلَكِنْ قَدِيمٌ أَوَّلٌ آخِرٌ لَمْ يَزَلْ وَلا يَزُولُ بِلا بَدْءٍ وَلا نِهَايَةٍ لا يَقَعُ عَلَيْهِ الْحُدُوثُ وَلا يَحُولُ مِنْ حَالٍ إِلَى حَالٍ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ.
6. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from ibn ’Udhaynah from Muhammad ibn Hakim from Maymun al-Ban who has said the following. “I heard abu ‘Abdallah عليه السلام saying to a question about Allah being the first and the last.” The Imam replied, “His being the first means there was no first before Him and no beginning preceded Him at all. His being the last means that He has no end because it is an attribute of the created and He is eternal, the first and the last. He has always been and He will always be without any beginning and any end. Nothing new happens to Him and does not change from one state to another. He is the Creator of all things.”
- Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (2/41)
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 17