Al-Qawl al-Mufid ala Kitab al-Tawhid — Volume 1 (القول المفيد على كتاب التوحيد) — Page 12

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

الْقِسْمُ الثَّالِثُ: تَوْحِيدُ الْأَسْمَاءِ وَالصِّفَاتِ:

The third section: The monotheism of names and attributes.

وَهُوَ إِفْرَادُ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ بِمَا لَهُ مِنَ الْأَسْمَاءِ وَالصِّفَاتِ.

It is singling out Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, with what belongs to Him of names and attributes.

وَهَذَا يَتَضَمَّنُ شَيْئَيْنِ:

This includes two things:

الْأَوَّلُ: الْإِثْبَاتُ، وَذَلِكَ بِأَنْ نُثْبِتَ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ جَمِيعَ أَسْمَائِهِ وَصِفَاتِهِ

The first: Affirmation, and that is by us affirming for Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, all of His names and attributes.

الثَّانِي: نَفْيُ الْمُمَاثَلَةِ وَذَلِكَ بِأَنْ لَا نَجْعَلَ لِلَّهِ مَثِيلًا فِي أَسْمَائِهِ وَصِفَاتِهِ.

The second: Negation of resemblance, and that is by us not making for Allah a likeness in His names and attributes.

كَمَا قَالَ تَعَالَى: {لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ}.

As He, the Exalted, said: 'There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.'

فَدَلَّتْ هَذِهِ الْآيَةُ عَلَى أَنَّ جَمِيعَ صِفَاتِهِ لَا يُمَاثِلُهُ فِيهَا أَحَدٌ مِنَ الْمَخْلُوقِينَ

This verse indicates that in all of His attributes, no one from the created beings resembles Him.

فَهِيَ وَإِنِ اشْتَرَكَتْ فِي أَصْلِ الْمَعْنَى، لَكِنْ تَخْتَلِفُ فِي حَقِيقَةِ الْحَالِ.

For even if they share in the origin of the meaning, they differ in the reality of the state.

فَمَنْ لَمْ يُثْبِتْ مَا أَثْبَتَهُ اللَّهُ لِنَفْسِهِ فَهُوَ مُعَطِّلٌ، وَتَعْطِيلُهُ هَذَا يُشْبِهُ تَعْطِيلَ فِرْعَوْنَ،

Whoever does not affirm what Allah affirmed for Himself is a negator, and this negation of his resembles the negation of Pharaoh.

وَمَنْ أَثْبَتَهَا مَعَ التَّشْبِيهِ صَارَ مُشَابِهًا لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ الَّذِينَ عَبَدُوا مَعَ اللَّهِ غَيْرَهُ

And whoever affirms them with anthropomorphism becomes like the polytheists who worshipped others alongside Allah.

وَمَنْ أَثْبَتَهَا بِدُونِ مُمَاثَلَةٍ صَارَ مِنَ الْمُوَحِّدِينَ.

And whoever affirms them without resemblance becomes one of the monotheists.

وَهَذَا الْقِسْمُ مِنَ التَّوْحِيدِ هُوَ الَّذِي ضَلَّتْ فِيهِ بَعْضُ الْأُمَّةِ الْإِسْلَامِيَّةِ وَانْقَسَمُوا فِيهِ إِلَى فِرَقٍ كَثِيرَةٍ،

This section of monotheism is that in which some of the Islamic nation went astray and divided into many sects.

فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ سَلَكَ مَسْلَكَ التَّعْطِيلِ فَعَطَّلَ وَنَفَى الصِّفَاتِ زَاعِمًا أَنَّهُ مُنَزِّهٌ اللَّهَ، وَقَدْ ضَلَّ،

Among them are those who followed the path of negation, so they negated and denied the attributes, claiming that they are declaring Allah free from imperfection, and they have gone astray.

لِأَنَّ الْمُنَزِّهَ حَقِيقَةً هُوَ الَّذِي يَنْفَى عَنْهُ صِفَاتِ النَّقْصِ وَالْعَيْبِ، وَيُنَزِّهُ كَلَامَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَكُونَ تَعْمِيَةً وَتَضْلِيلًا،

Because the one who truly declares free from imperfection is the one who denies from Him the attributes of deficiency and fault, and declares His speech free from being an obscuration and misguidance.

فَإِذَا قَالَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ لَيْسَ لَهُ سَمْعٌ، وَلَا بَصَرٌ وَلَا عِلْمٌ وَلَا قُدْرَةٌ لَمْ يُنَزِّهْ اللَّهَ، بَلْ وَصَمَهُ بِأَعْيَبِ الْعُيُوبِ، وَوَصَمَ كَلَامَهُ بِالتَّعْمِيَةِ وَالتَّضْلِيلِ،

So if he says that Allah has no hearing, no sight, no knowledge, and no power, he has not declared Allah free from imperfection, but rather he has stigmatized Him with the most faulty of faults, and stigmatized His speech with obscuration and misguidance.

لِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يُكَرِّرُ ذَلِكَ فِي كَلَامِهِ، وَيُثْبِتُهُ سَمِيعٌ بَصِيرٌ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ.

Because Allah repeats that in His speech, and affirms it: Hearing, Seeing, Mighty, Wise, Forgiving, Merciful.

Vocabulary · المفردات (21 verbs · 45 nouns)

• عَزَّ — to be mighty
• جَلَّ — to be majestic
• تَضَمَّنَ — to include
• أَثْبَتَ — to affirm
• قَالَ — to say
• دَلَّ — to indicate
• مَاثَلَ — to resemble
• اشْتَرَكَ — to share
• اخْتَلَفَ — to differ
• عَطَّلَ — to negate
• أَشْبَهَ — to resemble
• صَارَ — to become
• عَبَدَ — to worship
• ضَلَّ — to go astray
• انْقَسَمَ — to be divided
• سَلَكَ — to follow
• نَفَى — to deny
• زَعَمَ — to claim
• نَزَّهَ — to declare free from imperfection
• وَصَمَ — to stigmatize
• كَرَّرَ — to repeat
• قِسْمٌ — section
• ثَالِثٌ — third
• تَوْحِيدٌ — monotheism
• اسْمٌ — name
• صِفَةٌ — attribute
• إِفْرَادٌ — singling out
• شَيْءٌ — thing
• أَوَّلٌ — The First
• إِثْبَاتٌ — affirmation
• جَمِيعٌ — all
• مِثْلٌ — likeness
• سَمِيعٌ — The Hearer of all
• بَصِيرٌ — The Seer of all
• آيَةٌ — verse
• مَخْلُوقٌ — created being
• أَصْلٌ — origin
• مَعْنًى — meaning
• حَقِيقَةٌ — reality
• حَالٌ — state
• تَعْطِيلٌ — negation
• تَشْبِيهٌ — anthropomorphism
• مُشَابِهٌ — resembling
• مُشْرِكٌ — polytheist
• غَيْرٌ — other
• مُمَاثَلَةٌ — resemblance
• مُوَحِّدٌ — monotheist
• أُمَّةٌ — nation
• إِسْلَامِيٌّ — Islamic
• فِرْقَةٌ — sect
• كَثِيرٌ — many
• مَسْلَكٌ — path
• مُنَزِّهٌ — one who declares free from imperfection
• نَقْصٌ — deficiency
• عَيْبٌ — fault
• كَلَامٌ — speech
• تَعْمِيَةٌ — obscuration
• تَضْلِيلٌ — misguidance
• سَمْعٌ — hearing
• بَصَرٌ — sight
• عِلْمٌ — knowledge
• قُدْرَةٌ — power
• عَزِيزٌ — mighty
• حَكِيمٌ — wise
• غَفُورٌ — forgiving
• رَحِيمٌ — merciful