It has been related by my father that he heard the Imam al-Sadiq say: "God possesses two kinds of knowledge: one is the guarded, hidden knowledge which no one knows except Him. From that knowledge comes al-bada . The other is the kind which He has taught His angels and His prophets.The learned ones among the Family of your Prophet [i.e., the Imams] know it ..."٣
In Ba air
dition he traces back to AbU Ba Ir,

God possesses two kinds of knowledge. [First], knowledge that is guarded, hidden, about which no one except Him knows. From this knowledge originates al-bada and [second], from knowledge that He has taught to His angels, messengers, and prophets, and which we know.٤
Second, we have the divine decree regarding which God informed His Prophet and His angels that it would definitely come to pass. Undoubtedly,al-bada does not occur in this kind, either. The difference between this and the first kind is that al‌ bada does not originate in this knowledge.
The Imam al-Riqa told Sulayman al-Marwazi, in the abovementioned tradition related by al- aduq: •
Ali (peace be upon him) used to say: "Knowledge is of two kinds. [First], knowledge that God taught His angels and His prophets, and what He taught His angels and His prophets will occur. He shall not belie Himself or His angels or His prophets. An
Al-Ayyashi relates from al-Fuqayl, who heard the Imam al-Baqir say:

Some occurrences are inevitable, bound to happen definitely, and others are held back with God, of which He shall send forward what He will, and efface what He will, and confirm what He will. No one knows about them-that is, the occurrences held back by God. As for those [the knowledge of which] comes with the prophets, they are bound to happen,, for God does not give lie to Himself, nor to His prophet or His angels.٦

Third, there is the divine decree (which, God has informed His Prophet and His angels, shall come to pass) that occurs in the external. This is conditional on Gods will not becoming attached to a different thing. This is the type in which al-bada occurs:

God effaces whatever He will, and establishes whatever He will; and with Him is the Essence of the Book (Q. ١٣:٣٩). To God belongs the Command before and after [the event] (Q. ٣٠:٤).

A number of traditions support this interpretation about the bada , of which the following are examples.

١. In the tafsir ofAli b. Ibrahim, a tradition is related on the authority ofAbd Allah b. Muskan, who reports from the Imam al- adiq:

He {Ibn Musklin] said: "On the Night of Determination (lay/at al-qadar) the angels, the Spirit, and the angels who record [human deeds] descend to the heaven of the earth. Theil they will write what will occur through the divine decree during that year. Thus,