٢ - وبهذا الإسناد، عن أحمد بن أبي عبد الله، عن أبيه رفعه إلى أبي عبد الله عليه السلام في قوله الله عز وجل: ﴿فلما آسفونا انتقمنا﴾  قال: إن الله تبارك وتعالى لا يأسف كأسفنا، ولكنه خلق أولياء لنفسه يأسفون ويرضون، وهم مخلوقون مدبرون، فجعل رضاهم لنفسه رضى وسخطهم لنفسه سخطا، وذلك لأنه جعلهم الدعاة إليه والأدلاء عليه، فلذلك صاروا كذلك، وليس أن ذلك يصل إلى الله كما يصل إلى خلقه، ولكن هذا معنى ما قال من ذلك، وقد قال أيضا: (من أهان لي وليا فقد بارزني بالمحاربة ودعاني إليها). وقال أيضا: ﴿من يطع الرسول فقد أطاع الله﴾ (١) وقال أيضا: ﴿إن الذين يبايعونك إنما يبايعون الله﴾  وكل هذا وشبهه على ما ذكرت لك، هكذا الرضا والغضب وغيرهما من الأشياء مما يشاكل ذلك ولو كان يصل إلى المكون الأسف والضجر وهو الذي أحدثهما وأنشأهما لجاز لقائل أن يقول: إن المكون يبيد يوما ما، لأنه إذا دخله الضجر والغضب دخله التغيير وإذا دخله التغيير لم يؤمن عليه الإبادة، ولو كان ذلك كذلك لم يعرف المكون من المكون، ولا القادر من المقدور، ولا الخالق من المخلوق، تعالى الله عن هذا القول علوا كبيرا، هو الخالق للأشياء لا لحاجة، فإذا كان لا لحاجة استحال الحد والكيف فيه، فافهم ذلك إن شاء الله . 
2. And with this chain of narrations, on the authority of Ahmad ibn Abu `Abd Allah, on the authority of his father, who eliminated the source of report2 to Abu `Abd Allah  that Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq  was asked to interpret the Word of Allah, the Mighty and High: Then when they displeased Us, We inflicted retribution on them.1 He  said: Verily, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, is not displeased like our displeasure. However, He has created Guardians who are displeased and pleased. They are created and reflect. Thus, He has places His Own Pleasure in their pleasure and His Own Anger in their displeasure. This is because He has made them Callers to Him and Guides to Him. That is why they have become like that and it does not reach Allah like it does to His Creation. Rather, this is the meaning of what He has said. He has also said: “Whoever disrespects My Guardian, wages war upon Me to which I will respond.” He has also said: `Whoever obey the Messenger, he indeed obeys Allah.’2 And He also said: `Surely those who swear allegiance to you do but swear allegiance to Allah.’3 All of this and its likes are as I mentioned them to you. Such is the case with pleasure and anger and things that are similar to these two. If displeasure and annoyance were to reach the Creator, while He brought them about and originated them, it would be permissible to say: “The Creator will become extinct one day, because if annoyance and anger can affect Him, then change can affect Him, and if change can affect Him, then He is not safe from annihilation.” If that were the case, then the Creator could not be distinguished from the created, nor the All-Powerful from the overpowered, not the Creator from the Created. Exalted is Allah, the Elevated and Great, from this statement. He is the Creator of All Things, but in need of nothing. Hence, if there is no nee, then a boundary is impossible, and so is quality. Try to understand this, if Allah wills.