Al-Qawl al-Mufid ala Kitab al-Tawhid — Volume 3 (القول المفيد على كتاب التوحيد) — Page 208

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

بِجِسْمِهَا، وَالْوَصْفِيَّةُ أَنْ يَصْنَعَ صُورَةً مُلَوَّنَةً؛ لِأَنَّ التَّلْوِينَ وَالتَّخْطِيطَ بِالْيَدِ وَصْفٌ لِلْخَلْقِ وَإِنْ كَانَ الْإِنْسَانُ مَا خَلَقَ الْوَرَقَةَ وَلَا صَنَعَهَا لَكِنْ وَضَعَ هَذَا التَّلْوِينَ الَّذِي يَكُونُ وَصْفًا لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ، عَزَّ وَجَلَّ.

With its body, and the descriptive [aspect] is to create a colored image; because coloring and drawing by hand is a description of creation, even if the human did not create the paper nor manufacture it, he has placed this coloring which serves as a description of the creation of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic.

هَذَا الْحَدِيثُ يَدُلُّ عَلَى أَنَّ الْمُصَوِّرِينَ يُعَذَّبُونَ، وَأَنَّهُمْ أَشَدُّ النَّاسِ عَذَابًا وَأَنَّ الْحِكْمَةَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ مُضَاهَاتُهُمْ خَلْقَ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، وَلَيْسَتِ الْحِكْمَةُ كَمَا يَدَّعِيهِ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ أَنَّهُمْ يَصْنَعُونَهَا لِتُعْبَدَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ، فَذَلِكَ شَيْءٌ آخَرُ فَمَنْ صَنَعَ شَيْئًا لِيُعْبَدَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّهُ حَتَّى وَلَوْ لَمْ يُصَوِّرْ كَمَا لَوْ أَتَى بِخَشَبَةٍ وَقَالَ اعْبُدُوهَا دَخَلَ فِي التَّحْرِيمِ، لِقَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ، لِأَنَّهُ أَعَانَ عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ.

This Hadith indicates that the image-makers will be punished, that they are the most severely punished of people, and that the wisdom behind that is their imitation of the creation of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic; the wisdom is not, as many people claim, that they make them to be worshipped instead of Allah, for that is something else. Whoever makes something to be worshipped instead of Allah, even if he did not make an image—such as if he brought a piece of wood and said 'worship it'—he has entered into the prohibition, due to His saying, the Exalted: 'And do not cooperate in sin and aggression,' because he has assisted in sin and aggression.

وَقَوْلِهِ: «يُضَاهِئُونَ» هَلِ الْفِعْلُ يَشْعُرُ بِالنِّيَّةِ أَوْ نَقُولُ الْمُضَاهَاةُ حَاصِلَةٌ سَوَاءٌ كَانَتْ بِنِيَّةٍ أَوْ بِغَيْرِ نِيَّةٍ؟.

And regarding His saying: 'They imitate,' does the verb imply intention, or do we say that the imitation occurs whether it was with intention or without intention?

…3 more translated lines, 29 more verbs and 39 more nouns on this page — subscribe to study every page.

Vocabulary · المفردات (32 verbs · 42 nouns)

• صَنَعَ — to make
• كَانَ — to be
• خَلَقَ — to create
• جِسْم — body
• وَصْفِيَّة — descriptiveness
• صُورَة — image