people of Basra wrote to al-Husayn ibn `Ali (AS) asking him about the Needless [al Samad]; hence, he replied to them: In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. Now to our topic: Do not argue about the Qur`an, do not dispute over it, and do not speak about it without knowledge. Verily, I have heard my grandfather, the Messenger of Allah (sw) say: “He who interprets the Qur`an without knowledge will occupy a place in Hell.” Verily, Allah, Glory be Him has explained the meaning of the Needless [al-Samad], that Allah is One. Allah is He on whom all depend. He then clarified it further and said: He begets not, nor is He begotten. And none is like Him. The interpretation of `He begets not’ is that nothing comes out of Him, like a child or a spirit, nor is He subject to slumber, sleep, thought, anxiety, grief, joy, laughter, sadness, fear, hope, attraction, dislike, hunger, or satiation. Exalted is He from giving birth to anything! The interpretation of `Nor is He begotten’ is that He was not born from anything or anyone. He did not originate in another thing as components originate from other components, as animals originate from other animals, as plants originate from the Earth, as water originates from sources, and as fruits originate from trees. He does not depend on anything for His Existence, such as vision depends on the eyes, hearing depends on the ears, scent depends on the nose, taste depends on the mouth, speech depends on the tongue, intellect depends on the heart, and like fire depends on coal, Besides Allah, nothing else in Needless. He is neither from a thing, in a thing, or on a thing. He is the Originator and Creator of all Things. He produces all things through His Omnipotence. He destroys what He creates through His Will [mashiyyat], and allows things to exit through His Knowledge. Such is Allah, on whom all depend, who begets not, nor is He begotten, the Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Great, the Host High, and none is like Him.