912 - 'Ali ibn 'Isa informed me that Hanbal ibn Ishaq narrated to them, saying: Abu 'Abd Allah [Ahmad ibn Hanbal] said: "We believe in the Decree (al-qadar), its good and its evil." He said: "And whoever affirms the Decree and holds sins to be grave is closer [to the truth], like al-Hasan [al-Basri] and his companions." I asked: "Who among the companions of al-Hasan?" He replied: "'Ali al-Rifa'i, Yazid al-Raqashi, and those like them. And whoever denies [the Decree] by [denying] the vision [of Allah in the Hereafter] has a more severe and more wicked opinion." Abu 'Abd Allah said: "'Amr ibn 'Ubayd and his peers used to say this." Then Abu 'Abd Allah said: "In the Quran, there are such and such places that refute the Qadariyyah." I asked: "What is it that is binding upon the Qadariyyah?" He replied: "The saying of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, 'And We do not send it down except in a known measure' [Al-Hijr: 21], and He said, 'Indeed, We have created all things with a measure' [Al-Qamar: 49], and in other places. If a person were to contemplate the Quran, it would contain that which refutes every innovator in his innovation."