Al-Khiṣāl, no. 1210

26-2 The Jew asked, ‘What is the living creature which was placed in another living creature without there being any ties of kinship between them?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘It was the Prophet Jonah (‘Yunus) who was eaten up by a large whale.’The Jew asked, ‘Which grave was the one which took what it contained on a trip?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘It was the large whale which moved around at sea when Jonah was in its stomach.’The Jew asked, ‘From where does the Sun rise?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘From between the two horns of Satan?’The Jew asked, ‘To where does the Sun set?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘It sets in a hot spring. My friend, i.e. God’s Prophet (MGB) told me not to pray at the times of sunrise or sunset when it is below the size of one or two spears.’The Jew asked, ‘Where was that place upon which the Sun shone only once and never again?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘It was in the depth of the sea which God split up for the Children of Israel to pass (when they were escaping from Egypt being chased by Pharaoh, and where Pharaoh and his soldiers were drowned.)’The Jew asked, ‘Does your God bear things or is He carried?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘My God bears everything and nothing has the endurance to bear the greatness of His load.’The Jew asked, ‘Then what is meant by the following words of the Honorable the Exalted God, ‘And the angels will be on its sides, and eight will, that Day, bear the Throne of thy Lord above them.’’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘Don’t you know that whatever exists in the heavens and the Earth and in between them and under the Earth belongs to God. Everything is established upon the Earth and the Earth is established upon God’s Power and it is indeed His Power which bears everything.’The Jew asked, ‘Where is Paradise? Where is Hell?’ Ali (MGB) replied ‘Paradise is in the heavens and Hell is on the Earth.’The Jew asked, ‘To which direction does your God face?’ Ali ibn Abi Talib told me (Ibn Abbas), ‘O Ibn Abbas! Bring some wood and make a fire.’ I brought some wood and kindled it. Ali (MGB) put some wood on the fire. Then he (MGB) asked the Jew, ‘To which direction does this fire face?’ The Jew said, ‘It doesn’t face any specific direction.’ Ali (MGB) said, ‘This is similar to the case of the Honorable the Exalted God. To Him belong both the East and the West. To every direction you look, God is there.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the two things that are always present?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the heavens and the Earth which never disappear.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the two things that are always absent?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are life and death which no one can ever see.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the two things which cannot both be at once?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are day and night.’The Jew asked, ‘Who is the one?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘The Honorable the Exalted God.’The Jew asked, ‘Who are the two?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘Adam and Eve.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the three?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘The Christians have ascribed lies to the Honorable the Exalted God and said, ‘Allah is one of three in a Trinity… ’ But God has no companions or sons.’The Jew asked, ‘ What are the four?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the Quran, the Zabur (Psalms of David), the Torah and the Bible.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the five?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the five obligatory prayers.’The Jew asked, ‘ What are the six?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the six days during which God created the heavens, the Earth and whatever lies in between.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the seven?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the seven gates of Hell which are identical.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the eight?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the eight gates of Paradise.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the nine?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are nine men (of the Thamud clan) who made mischief in the land, and would not reform.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the ten?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the 10 days of a third of a month.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the eleven?’ Ali ((MGB) replied, ‘They refer to the ‘eleven stars’ about which Joseph told his father as we read in the Holy Quran, ‘Behold! Joseph said to his father, ‘O my father! I did see eleven stars and the sun and the moon: I saw them prostrate themselves to me!’’9The Jew asked, ‘What are the twelve?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the twelve months in a year.’The Jew asked, ‘ What are the twenty?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘That refers to the twenty Dirhams with which Joseph was exchanged.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the thirty?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘Those are the thirty days of fasting in the month of Ramazan which is obligatory for every believer unless he is ill or on a journey.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the forty?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘It refers to the term of communion of Moses with his Lord which was thirty nights, and was completed with ten more to become forty nights.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the fifty?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘This refers to the appointment of Noah to his people which was for a thousand years less fifty.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the sixty?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘This refers to the ‘sixty days of consecutively fasting’ or the ‘feeding of sixty indigent ones’ (for Zihar) that the Honorable the Exalted God has established as the expiation of men who divorce their wives by calling them their mothers (Zihar) before they can touch each other.’