‘O Ameerul Mo’minin, with what you have known your Lord?’

It is narrated from Ameerul Mo’minin (a.s.) that one day Najda came to him asking about how to know Allah. He asked, ‘O Ameerul Mo’minin, with what you have known your Lord?’ Imam Ali (a.s.) said, ‘With the thinking that has empowered me and the mind that has led me.’ Najda said, ‘Are you molded into that?’ Imam Ali (a.s.) said, ‘If I am molded into that, I shall not be praised for good deeds and blamed for bad deeds, and so a good doer shall deserve blame more than a wrongdoer. I know that Allah is Eternal, Everlasting and any other than Him is transient and mortal. The Eternal, Everlasting One is not like a transient creature.’ Najda said, ‘I see you have become wise.’ Ameerul Mo’minin (a.s.) said, ‘I am free to choose. If I commit a bad deed instead of good deed, I shall be punished for it.’ Reference : The Life of Imam ALI bin Muhammad AL-HADI