عَنْ يُونُسَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ عَن غَيْرِ وَاحدٍ عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ وَأَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَلَيهِمَا السَّلَامُ قَالَا:
«إِنَّ اللَّهَ أَرْحَمُ بِخَلْقِهِ مِنْ أَنْ يُجْبِرَ خَلْقَهُ عَلَى الذُّنُوبِ ثُمَّ يُعَذِّبَهُمْ عَلَيْهَا، وَاللَّهُ أَعَزُّ مِنْ أَنْ يُرِيدَ أَمْرًا فَلَا يَكُونَ» قَالَ: فَسُئِلَا عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلَامُ: هَلْ بَيْنَ الْجَبْرِ وَالْقَدَرِ مَنْزِلَةٌ ثَالِثَةٌ؟ قَالَا: «نَعَمْ، أَوْسَعُ مِمَّا بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ».
— أصـول الكافـي
Yūnus ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman (-) more than one (persons) (-) Abu Ja'far and Abu 'Abdillah, P.B.U.T, as saying:
"Verily, Allah is too merciful to compel His creatures to sin first and then to punish them for it. And He is (also) too mighty for a thing not to happen when He intends it." Both the Imams were asked, "Is there any third common ground between absolute determinism and absolute free will?" They replied, "Yes, there is a common ground between the two and it is vaster than the distance between the heaven and the earth."
— Usul al-Kāfī
