Al-Qawl al-Mufid ala Kitab al-Tawhid — Volume 1 (القول المفيد على كتاب التوحيد) — Page 15

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

رَأَيْتُهَا تَشْفِي عَلِيلًا، وَلَا تَرْوِي غَلِيلًا، وَوَجَدْتُ أَقْرَبَ الطُّرُقِ طَرِيقَةً الْقُرْآنِ، أَقْرَأُ فِي الْإِثْبَاتِ الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَى

I saw that it neither heals the sick nor quenches the thirst, and I found the nearest of paths to be the way of the Quran; I read in the affirmation: 'The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established' (1).

إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ الْكَلِمُ الطَّيِّبُ

'To Him ascends good speech' (2).

يَعْنِي فَأَثْبِتْ وَاقْرَأْ فِي النَّفْيِ : لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ

Meaning: affirm [these attributes], and read in the negation: 'There is nothing like unto Him' (3).

وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِهِ عِلْمًا (٤) يَعْنِي فَانْفِ الْمُمَاثَلَةَ، وَانْفِ الْإِحَاطَةَ بِهِ عِلْمًا، وَمَنْ جَرَّبَ مِثْلَ تَجْرِبَتِي عَرَفَ مِثْلَ مَعْرِفَتِي

'But they do not encompass Him in knowledge' (4); meaning: negate the likeness, and negate the encompassing of Him in knowledge, and whoever experiences what I have experienced will know what I have known (5).

فَتَجِدُهُمْ حَيَارَى مُضْطَرِبِينَ لَيْسُوا عَلَى يَقِينٍ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ (٦) ، وَتَجِدُ هَدَاهُ اللَّهُ الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ مُطْمَئِنًّا مُنْشَرِحَ الصَّدْرِ، هَادِئَ الْبَالِ يَقْرَأُ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ، وَفِي سُنَّةِ رَسُولِهِ، مَا أَثْبَتَهُ اللَّهُ لِنَفْسِهِ مِنَ الْأَسْمَاءِ، وَالصِّفَاتِ، فَيُثْبِتُ إِذْ لَا أَحَدَ أَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ بِاللَّهِ، وَلَا أَصْدَقُ خَبَرًا مِنْ خَبَرِ اللَّهِ، وَلَا أَصَحُّ بَيَانًا مِنْ بَيَانِ اللَّهِ كَمَا قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى

You find them bewildered and disturbed, not having certainty in their affairs (6), while you find the one whom Allah has guided to the straight path to be tranquil, open-hearted, and at peace, reading in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger what Allah has affirmed for Himself of names and attributes, and he affirms them, for no one is more knowledgeable of Allah than Allah, no one is more truthful in report than Allah, and no one is more correct in explanation than Allah, as Allah the Exalted said:

سُورَةُ طَهَ الْآيَةُ

(1) Surah Taha, verse: 5.

سُورَةُ فَاطِرٍ، الْآيَةُ

(2) Surah Fatir, verse: 10.

سُورَةُ الشُّورَى الْآيَةُ

(3) Surah Ash-Shura, verse: 11.

سُورَةُ طَهَ الْآيَةُ

(4) Surah Taha, verse: 110.

انْظُرْ دَرْءَ تَعَارُضِ الْعَقْلِ وَالنَّقْلِ ١٥٩/١ ، ١٦٠ ، وَالْفَتَاوَى ٧١/٤، وَشَرْحَ الطَّحَاوِيَّةِ ١ / ٢٤٤ ، وَطَبَقَاتِ الشَّافِعِيَّةِ لِابْنِ قَاضِي شُهْبَةَ

(5) See Dar' Ta'arud al-'Aql wa al-Naql 1/159, 160; Al-Fatawa 4/71; Sharh al-Tahawiyyah 1/244; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyyah by Ibn Qadi Shuhbah 2/82.

وَقَالَ أَبُو الْمَعَالِي الْجُوَيْنِيُّ : «يَا أَصْحَابَنَا لَا تَشْتَغِلُوا بِالْكَلَامِ، فَلَوْ عَرَفْتُ أَنَّ الْكَلَامَ يَبْلُغُ بِي مَا بَلَغَ مَا اشْتَغَلْتُ بِهِ وَقَالَ عِنْدَ مَوْتِهِ : «لَقَدْ خُضْتُ الْبَحْرَ الْخِضَمَّ، وَخَلَّيْتُ أَهْلَ الْإِسْلَامِ وَعُلُومَهُمْ، وَدَخَلْتُ فِي الَّذِي نَهَوْنِي عَنْهُ وَالْآنَ إِنْ لَمْ يَتَدَارَكْنِي رَبِّي بِرَحْمَتِهِ فَالْوَيْلُ لِابْنِ الْجُوَيْنِيِّ، وَهَا أَنَا ذَا أَمُوتُ عَلَى عَقِيدَةِ أُمَّتِي، أَوْ قَالَ عَلَى عَقِيدَةِ عَجَائِزِ نَيْسَابُورَ»

(6) Abu al-Ma'ali al-Juwayni said: 'O my companions, do not busy yourselves with Kalam (speculative theology), for had I known that Kalam would lead me to where it has, I would not have busied myself with it.' And he said at his death: 'I have plunged into the vast ocean, left behind the people of Islam and their sciences, and entered into that which they forbade me from. Now, if my Lord does not overtake me with His mercy, then woe to Ibn al-Juwayni. Here I am, dying upon the creed of my community,' or he said, 'upon the creed of the old women of Nishapur.'

انْظُرْ : شَرْحَ الطَّحَاوِيَّةِ ١ / ٢٤٥ ، وَتَلْبِيسَ إِبْلِيسَ ص (٩٠) ، وَصَوْنَ الْمَنْطِقِ ص (١٨٣)، وَفَتْحَ الْبَارِي

See: Sharh al-Tahawiyyah 1/245, Talbis Iblis p. (90), Sawn al-Mantiq p. (183), and Fath al-Bari.

Vocabulary · المفردات (16 verbs · 37 nouns)

• رَأَى — to see
• شَفَى — to heal
• رَوَى — to quench
• وَجَدَ — to find
• قَرَأَ — to read
• اسْتَوَى — to ascend
• صَعِدَ — to ascend
• عَنَى — to mean
• أَثْبَتَ — to affirm
• أَحَاطَ — to encompass
• نَفَى — to negate
• جَرَّبَ — to experience
• عَرَفَ — to know
• هَدَى — to guide
• قَالَ — to say
• تَعَالَى — to be exalted
• عَلِيل — sick person
• غَلِيل — thirst
• طَرِيق — path
• طَرِيقَة — method
• قُرْآن — Quran
• إِثْبَات — affirmation
• رَحْمَن — the Merciful
• عَرْش — throne
• كَلِم — word
• طَيِّب — good
• نَفْي — negation
• مِثْل — likeness
• شَيْء — thing
• عِلْم — knowledge
• مُمَاثَلَة — resemblance
• إِحَاطَة — encompassing
• تَجْرِبَة — experience
• مَعْرِفَة — knowledge
• حَيَارَى — confused people
• مُضْطَرِب — disturbed person
• يَقِين — certainty
• أَمْر — matter
• صِرَاط — path
• مُسْتَقِيم — straight
• مُطْمَئِن — reassured person
• مُنْشَرِح — content
• صَدْر — chest
• هَادِئ — calm
• بَال — mind
• كِتَاب — book
• سُنَّة — tradition
• رَسُول — messenger
• اسْم — name
• صِفَة — attribute
• أَحَد — The One
• خَبَر — news
• بَيَان — clarification