525 — Al-Firyābī informed us, saying: Muhammad ibn al-Alā narrated to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs narrated to us, from Umar ibn Dharr, who said: Five of us came to Umar ibn Abd al-Azīz: Mūsā ibn Abī Kathīr, Dithār al-Nahdī, Yazīd al-Faqīr, al-Salt ibn Bahrām, and Umar ibn Dharr. He said, “If your purpose is one and the same, let your spokesman speak.” Mūsā ibn Abī Kathīr then spoke. The gravest concern about him was that he might have formed a firm resolve concerning some matter of divine predestination. Umar responded to him, praising Allah Most High and extolling Him. He then said, “Had Allah willed that He not ⦗927⦘ be disobeyed, He would not have created Iblīs, who is the source of sin. There is indeed knowledge of this in the Book of Allah: whoever knows it knows it, and whoever is ignorant of it is ignorant of it.” He then recited this verse:

“Indeed, you and what you worship cannot lead anyone astray from Him except one who is to burn in Hell” [Al-Sāffāt: 162].

“Then, had Allah Most High willed, He would have charged His creation with rendering Him His due commensurate with His greatness; neither earth nor heaven, water nor mountain, could have borne it. Yet He was content to accept from His servants a lighter measure.”