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7. Ali b. Muhammad has narrated from Sahl b. Ziyad from Muhammad ibn Ali b. Ibrahim from Ali b. Hammad from Al-Mufadhal who has said the following. “Once I asked Abu ‘Abdallah عليه السلام , “How did you exist when you existed in the shadows?” The Imam عليه السلام said, “O Mufadhal, we were in the presence of our Lord and there was no one else in the green shadow. We spoke of His Glory, Holiness, acknowledged Him as the Lords and spoke of His Majesty. There was no angel even of the ones close to Allah or a living being except us in His presence until He decided to create all things. He then created whatever He wanted, in the way He wanted of the angels and others. He then made the knowledge of that to reach and come to us.”