النَّبِيِّ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله وَ عِنْدَهُ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ عليهما السلام فَقَالَ لَهُ مَا الْفَائِدَةُ فِي حُرُوفِ الْهِجَاءِ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله لِعَلِیٍّ عليه السلام أَجِبْهُ وَ قَالَ اللَّهُمَّ وَفِّقْهُ وَ سَدِّدْهُ فَقَالَ عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ عليهما السلام مَا مِنْ حَرْفٍ إِلَّا وَ هُوَ اسْمٌ مِنْ أَسْمَاءِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ ثُمَّ قَالَ أَمَّا الْأَلِفُ فَاللَّهُ الَّذِي لا إِلهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ وَ أَمَّا الْبَاءُ فَبَاقٍ بَعْدَ فَنَاءِ خَلْقِهِ وَ أَمَّا التَّاءُ فَالتَّوَّابُ يَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبادِهِ ١ وَ أَمَّا الثَّاءُ فَالثَّابِتُ الْكَائِنُ يُثَبِّتُ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِالْقَوْلِ الثَّابِتِ وَ أَمَّا الْجِيمُ فَجَلَّ ثَنَاؤُهُ وَ تَقَدَّسَتْ أَسْمَاؤُهُ وَ أَمَّا الْحَاءُ فَحَقٌّ حَيٌّ حَلِيمٌ وَ أَمَّا الْخَاءُ فَخَبِيرٌ بِمَا يَعْمَلُ الْعِبَادُ وَ أَمَّا الدَّالُ فَدَيَّانٌ يَوْمَ الدِّينِ وَ أَمَّا الذَّالُ فَ ذُو الْجَلالِ وَ الْإِكْرامِ وَ أَمَّا الرَّاءُ فَرَءُوفٌ بِعِبَادِهِ وَ أَمَّا الزَّايُ فَزَيْنُ الْمَعْبُودِينَ وَ أَمَّا السِّينُ فَالسَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ وَ أَمَّا الشِّينُ فَالشَّاكِرُ لِعِبَادِهِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَ أَمَّا الصَّادُ فَصَادِقٌ فِي وَعْدِهِ وَ وَعِيدِهِ وَ أَمَّا الضَّادُ فَالضَّارُّ النَّافِعُ وَ أَمَّا الطَّاءُ فَالطَّاهِرُ الْمُطَهِّرُ وَ أَمَّا الظَّاءُ فَالظَّاهِرُ الْمُظْهِرُ لِآيَاتِهِ وَ أَمَّا الْعَيْنُ فَعَالِمٌ بِعِبَادِهِ وَ أَمَّا الْغَيْنُ فَغِيَاثُ الْمُسْتَغِيثِينَ وَ أَمَّا الْفَاءُ فَ فالِقُ الْحَبِّ وَ النَّوی وَ أَمَّا الْقَافُ فَقَادِرٌ عَلَى جَمِيعِ خَلْقِهِ وَ أَمَّا الْكَافُ فَالْكَافِي الَّذِي لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُواً أَحَدٌ وَ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَ لَمْ يُولَدْ أَمَّا اللَّامُ فَ لَطِيفٌ بِعِبادِهِ أَمَّا الْمِيمُ فَمَالِكُ الْمُلْكِ وَ أَمَّا النُّونُ فَ نُورُ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ مِنْ نُورِ عَرْشِهِ وَ أَمَّا الْوَاوُ فَوَاحِدٌ صَمَدٌ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَ لَمْ يُولَدْ أَمَّا الْهَاءُ فَهَادِي لِخَلْقِهِ أَمَّا اللَّامُ أَلِفٌ فَلَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَ أَمَّا الْيَاءُ فَيَدُ اللَّهِ بَاسِطَةً عَلَى خَلْقِهِ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله هَذَا هُوَ الْقَوْلُ الَّذِي رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ لِنَفْسِهِ مِنْ جَمِيعِ خَلْقِهِ فَأَسْلَمَ الْيَهُودِيُّ.
One day a Jewish man came into the presence of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, and asked: What benefit is there in the use of the letters of the alphabet? At that time the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, was present before that great one, and the Prophet of God said to 'Ali, peace be upon him: Give him his answer! So he raised his hands in prayer and said: My Lord! Aid him and make him firm. Then 'Ali, peace be upon him, said: Each of the letters is a name of God's names. Then he continued thus: As for "alif", it means Allah — the God of whom "there is no god but He, the Living, the Self-subsisting". "Ba'" means the Everlasting — the eternal One who will endure after the perishing of His creatures. "Ta'" means the Ever-Relenting (it comes in eight places in the Qur'an): "He accepts repentance from His servants" — He accepts His servant's turning away from sin. "Tha'" means the firm and ever-enduring: "God makes firm those who believe with the firm word." "Jim" means majesty — most full of splendour is His praise, exalted are His names. And "ha'" means the Truth, and He is a Being firm, living and forbearing. "Kha'" means the All-Aware — that is, He is aware of the deeds of the servants. "Dal" means the Requiter — the One who gives recompense on the Day of Resurrection. "Dhal" means splendour and nobility: "Possessor of Majesty and Honour." "Ra'" means compassion — He is most kind toward His servants. "Zay" means adornment — that is, He is the adornment of the worshippers. "Sin" means the All-Hearing — that is, He is the Hearing, the Seeing. "Shin" means the Grateful — that is, He is grateful to His believing servants. "Sad" means the Truthful — that is, He is true in His promise and His threat. "Dad" means harming and benefiting — that is, He is the One who harms and the One who benefits. "Ta'" means the Pure — that is, He purifies the servants from sin and is Himself pure of every impurity. "Za'" means the Manifest — that is, He is manifest in the mirror of the world of creation, which shows forth His greatness. "'Ayn" means the Knowing — that is, He is aware of the state of His servants. "Ghayn" means the Succourer — that is, He is the One who answers the cry of the helpless and those who seek justice. "Fa'" is the Cleaver of the grain and the date stone: "God is the Cleaver of the grain and the date stone." "Qaf" is the Powerful and Able over all His creatures. "Kaf" is the One who makes independent and who has no peer; He has not been begotten nor has He begotten. "Lam" means the Subtle — kind and bringing good things to His servants. "He has not begotten nor has He been begotten, and there is none equal to Him." And "mim" means the Owner and King of the realm of being. "Nun" is light — the light of the heavens, and the earth is a trace of the radiance of the throne of His greatness: "the Light of the heavens and the earth." "Waw" means the One — the noble Single One who has not begotten and has not Himself been begotten of anything: "He has not begotten nor has He been begotten." "Ha'" is the Guide and Director of His servants. "Lam-alif": none is worthy of worship but the Essence of the Lord, the One who has no partner. "Ya'" means the hand — the hand of God's power is spread over the heads of His creatures. When the Commander of the Faithful's words, peace be upon him, reached this point, the Prophet of God, may God bless him and his family, said: This is the very speech that God approved for Himself from His servant; and (as a result of this fine discernment and exactness of the Commander of the Faithful) the Jewish man accepted Islam.
بيان: قوله عليه السلام و أما الضاد فالضار النافع ذكر النافع إما على الاستطراد أو لبيان أن ضرره تعالى عين النفع لأنه خير محض مع أنه يحتمل أن يكون موضوعا لهما معا و كذا الواو يحتمل أن يكون موضوعا للواحد و ذكر ما بعده لبيان أن واحديته تعالى تستلزم تلك الصفات و أن يكون موضوعا للجميع.
The Imam's words, peace be upon him: "and as for dad" — it is one of God's names, like the rest of the letters; so God is the One who harms and the One who benefits. The mention of God's "benefiting" alongside "harming" is either of the kind of correspondence in the content of the two words (a digression), or in order to make clear that the harm of the Truth, exalted be He, is the very essence of His benefit, since He is pure good. Another possibility is that the letter "dad" was posited for harm and benefit together (since they are necessarily bound to one another). And likewise concerning the letter "waw": it is possible that what it was posited for is oneness and unity, and the statement of the matters that follow is to explain God's being One and that God's oneness necessarily entails those attributes of God; although another possibility is that "waw" was posited for all of them.
«5»- مع، معاني الأخبار وَ رُوِيَ فِي خَبَرٍ آخَرَ أَنَّ شَمْعُونَ سَأَلَ النَّبِيَّ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله فَقَالَ أَخْبِرْنِي مَا أَبُو جَادٍ وَ مَا هَوَّزْ وَ مَا حُطِّي وَ مَا كَلَمَنْ وَ مَا سَعْفَصْ وَ مَا قَرَشَتْ وَ مَا كَتَبَ
Ma'ani al-Akhbar: In another report it has come that Sham'un asked the noble Prophet, may God bless him and his family: What is the meaning of "abu jad, hawwaz, hutti, kalaman, sa'fas, qarashat" and "ma kataba"?