The Divine Plot

Regarding divine plot: “And they plotted and God plotted, and God is the best of plotters”, Shaykh al-Ṭūsī and Ṭabrisī state: Attributing plotting to God is a matter of verbal correspondence (mushākala), like “The requital of evil is an evil like it”,(515) whereas the requital of evil and punishment of wrongdoing that justice requires is good, not evil.(516) Similarly in “So should anyone aggress against you, assail him in the manner he assailed you”,(517) the oppressor is transgressive, but the one taking retribution is not transgressive, except in terms of verbal correspondence. “God derides them”(518) is also of this category. Therefore, God’s action is good, not plotting; it is only called plotting due to verbal correspondence.(519)

It must be noted that the entire system of creation comprises God’s executive forces: “To God belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth.”(520) On this basis, God is “the best of plotters”, meaning that if others plot, both the plot and plotter are part of the divine army and headquarters, and God can return the evil effects of the ill-intentioned plotters back to themselves. Thus He says: “and evil schemes beset only their authors”,(521) meaning if someone schemes to oppress another, that scheme will ensnare the oppressor himself.