The second group among them is:
The ‘Siyābiyyah,’ the followers of Abd al-Rahmān ibn Siyābah (1). They suspend judgment on these matters, maintaining that the position concerning them is whatever Ja‘far says, whatever his view [may be] (2); they themselves know of no (3) position on these matters (4).
The third group among them maintains that Allah Most High cannot be described as having always (5) been God and All-Powerful, nor (6) All-Hearing and All-Seeing, until He brings things into existence. This is because (7) things, before they come into being, are not things; and He can never (8) be described as possessing power over nothing (9), or knowledge [of nothing] (10). All the Rāfidah (11)—apart from a small band—maintain that Allah wills something (12) and then changes His mind about it.”
(1) A and B read: “The Sibābiyyah, the followers of Abd al-Rahmān ibn Sibābah”; N and M read: “The Sābiyyah, the followers of Abd al-Rahmān ibn Sābiyah.” *Maqālāt al-Islāmiyyīn* (Egyptian Nahdah edition, edited by Shaykh Muhammad Muhyī al-Dīn Abd al-Hamīd) reads: “The Sibābiyyah, the followers of Abd al-Rahmān ibn Sibābah.” *Maqālāt al-Islāmiyyīn*, 1/136 (Istanbul edition, edited by H. Ritter), reads: “The Siyābiyyah, the followers of Abd al-Rahmān ibn Siyābah,” which is correct. His name likewise appears in this form in his biographical entries in al-Kashshī’s *al-Rijāl*, p. 247, and al-Māmaqānī’s *Tanqīh al-Maqāl*, 2/144–145. He is also listed in *Rijāl al-Tūsī*, p. 230, among the companions of Ja‘far al-Sādiq: “Abd al-Rahmān ibn Siyābah al-Kūfī al-Bajalī, the cloth merchant, a client from whom reports were transmitted.”
(2) “Whatever it may be” is omitted from N alone.
(3) *Maqālāt al-Islāmiyyīn* reads: “they deem [it] correct.”
(4) M reads “names,” which is a corruption.
(5) *Maqālāt al-Islāmiyyīn* reads: “They maintain that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, cannot be described as having always…” N and M read: “They maintain that Allah cannot be described that Allah has always…” The text printed here follows A and B.
(6) M, B, N, and A read “Lord.” I judged the correct reading to be the one I printed on the authority of (M).
(7) N reads “not that,” which is an error.
(8) N and M read “and not.”
(9) “Not” is omitted from M.
(10) “Of nothing” is omitted from N alone.
(11) N alone reads: “He said: All the Rāfidah…”
(12) B reads “a thing.”