Hadith record

2. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from al-‘Abbass ibn ’Amr from Hisham ibn al-Hakam, who about the debate with an atheist (see Hadith No.225 - 6), has said the following. “He asked Imam abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.), ‘Do you say that He is All-hearing and All-seeing?’ Abu ‘Abdallah said, “Allah is All-hearing, All-seeing. He hears without any organ and sees without any instrument. He Himself hears and He Himself sees. When I say He Himself hears I do not mean thereby that He is One and His self is something different. I only try to express what I have in my mind to answer a question and help you understand the answer. So I say, “His whole self hears. This does not mean that His whole has parts. In our perception whole consists of parts. It is to make you understand and express my thoughts. It all amounts to saying that He is All-hearing, All-seeing, All-knowing and All-aware, without any multiplicity in the meaning.”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.