سورة النحل

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ الْخَیْلَ وَ الْبِغالَ وَ الْحَمِیرَ لِتَرْکَبُوها [And (He made) horses and mules and asses that you might ride upon them] — and Allah the Mighty and Majestic did not say, "so that you may ride them and eat them," as He said concerning the other cattle.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Horses used to live wild in the lands of the Arabs. Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and Ismail (peace be upon him) went up onto Mount Jiyad and called out, "Come, hurry!" — and not a single horse remained but that it became tame before them and placed its forelock in their hands.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): On the forehead of the horse good and blessing are inscribed until the Day of Resurrection.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): The first to ride a horse was Ismail (peace be upon him). The horse was wild and would not be ridden, so Allah the Mighty and Majestic gathered it for Ismail (peace be upon him) from the mountain of Mina and tamed it. The horse was called al-'Irab (the pure Arabian breed) because Ismail (peace be upon him) was the first to ride it.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): There are five qualities I will not abandon until death, one of which is my continuing to ride the donkey [as a mount for travel and transport].

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ یَخْلُقُ ما لا تَعْلَمُونَ [And He creates what you do not know] — what is meant are the wonders that Allah has created on land and in the sea.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)- Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him) said: We went to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family); we were seated in circles in the mosque when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) came in and said to us: "What were you thinking about?" We said: "We were reflecting on the sun — how it rises and how it sets?" He said: "You have done well, be like that; reflect upon the creation, but not upon the Creator, for Allah has created whatever He wished for whatever He wished, and you are astonished at that. Behind Mount Qaf are seven seas, each sea a journey of five hundred years, and behind that are seven earths whose light shines for their people, and beyond that are seventy thousand nations who are like birds that hover in the air with their chicks, and they do not tire of a single, uninterrupted glorification (tasbih); and beyond that are seventy thousand nations who were created from wind — their food, drink, garments, vessels and mounts are of wind. The hooves of their beasts will not settle upon the earth until the Day of Resurrection; their eyes are in their chests. When one of them sleeps once and awakens, his sustenance is prepared beside his head. Beyond that shade is the Throne, and in the shade of the Throne are seventy thousand nations who have no knowledge that Allah created Adam (peace be upon him), or the children of Adam, or Iblis, or the children of Iblis! And this is the word of Allah where He says: وَ یَخْلُقُ ما لا تَعْلَمُونَ [And He creates what you do not know]."

Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him)- Ali ibn Fazzal said: I said to Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him): "O son of the Messenger of Allah, why did Allah not create His creatures of a single kind, but rather created them of varied kinds?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said in reply: "So that it not occur to anyone's mind that Allah is incapable; and no form comes to the mind of a heretic but that Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has created a creature like that form; and no one may say: 'Is Allah able to create a being in such-and-such a form and shape?' without finding its like among the creatures of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)- Allah has thirty-one domes: you are in one of them, and there are thirty other domes of which you have no knowledge. This is the meaning of the word of Allah where He said: وَ یَخْلُقُ ما لا تَعْلَمُونَ [And He creates what you do not know].