حدثنا أبي - رضي الله عنه - بهذا الاسناد، عن محمد بن سنان، عن أبي الحسن الرضا عليه السلام قال: سألته هل كان الله عز وجل عارفا بنفسه قبل أن يخلق الخلق؟ قال عليه السلام: نعم. قلت: يراها ويسمعها؟ قال: ما كان محتاجا إلى ذلك لأنه لم يكن يسألها ولا يطلب منها، هو نفسه ونفسه هو، قدرته نافذة، فليس يحتاج أن يسمى نفسه، ولكنه اختار لنفسه أسماء لغيره يدعوه بها، لأنه إذا لم يدع باسمه لم يعرف فأول ما اختار لنفسه " العلي العظيم " لأنه أعلى الأشياء كلها فمعناه " الله " واسمه " العلي العظيم " وهو أول أسمائه لأنه علي علا كل شئ.
2.	We were told by my father, may Allah be pleased with him, with this chain of narrators, from Muhammed bin Sinan, from Abu’l-Hasan al-Rida, peace be upon him, that he said: I asked him: Was Allah, Glorious and Exalted is He, consciously knowing of Himself before He created the creation? He, peace be upon him, said: Yes. I said: Was He seeing and hearing it? He said: He was not in need of that, because He was not asking it, nor requesting from it. He is His Self, and His Self is Him; His Might is Piercing, and so He does not need to name Himself. However, He indeed chose names for Himself, to others than Himself, that they may call upon Him with, because if He was not called upon by His Name, he would not have been recognized. Hence, the first He chose for Himself is the High, the Great, because He is the Highest of all things. So, His meaning is the God, and His Name is the High, the Great, which is the first of His Names, because He has exalted above everything.