Sharh al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyya by Ibn Uthaymeen (شرح الأربعين النووية) — Page 64

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

ثَانِيًا: الْإِيمَانُ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى كَتَبَ فِي اللَّوْحِ الْمَحْفُوظِ، مَقَادِيرَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ، قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: ﴿وَكُلَّ شَيْءٍ أَحْصَيْنَاهُ فِي إِمَامٍ مُّبِينٍ﴾ [يس: ١٢] أَيْ فِي كِتَابٍ وَقَالَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: ﴿وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ مِنْ بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ أَنَّ الْأَرْضَ يَرِثُهَا عِبَادِيَ الصَّالِحُونَ﴾ [الْأَنْبِيَاءِ: ١٠٥] وَهُوَ اللَّوْحُ الْمَحْفُوظُ، وَالْآيَاتُ فِي هَذَا مُتَعَدِّدَةٌ.

Second: Belief that Allah the Exalted wrote in the Preserved Tablet the measures of everything until the Day of Resurrection, for Allah the Almighty said: 'And everything We have enumerated in a clear register' [Ya-Sin: 12], meaning in a book, and He the Almighty also said: 'And We have already written in the Psalms after the [previous] message that the land [of Paradise] is inherited by My righteous servants' [Al-Anbiya: 105], which is the Preserved Tablet, and the verses regarding this are numerous.

وَأَخْبَرَ النَّبِيُّ أَنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَّا خَلَقَ الْقَلَمَ قَالَ لَهُ: «اكْتُبْ، قَالَ رَبِّ: وَمَاذَا أَكْتُبُ؟ قَالَ: اكْتُبْ مَا هُوَ كَائِنٌ، فَجَرَى فِي تِلْكَ السَّاعَةِ بِمَا هُوَ كَائِنٌ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ» فَأَمَرَ اللَّهُ الْقَلَمَ أَنْ يَكْتُبَ؛ وَلَكِنْ كَيْفَ يُوَجَّهُ الْخِطَابُ إِلَى الْجَمَادِ؟

The Prophet informed us that when Allah created the Pen, He said to it: 'Write.' It said: 'My Lord, what shall I write?' He said: 'Write what is to be.' So at that moment, it recorded what is to be until the Day of Resurrection. Thus, Allah commanded the Pen to write; but how is an address directed to an inanimate object?

الْجَوَابُ عَنْ ذَلِكَ: نَعَمْ، مِنْ اللَّهِ يَصِحُّ لِأَنَّهُ هُوَ الَّذِي يُنْطِقُ الْجَمَادَ ثُمَّ إِنَّ الْجَمَادَ بِالنِّسْبَةِ إِلَى اللَّهِ عَاقِلٌ يَصِحُّ أَنْ يُوَجَّهَ إِلَيْهِ الْخِطَابُ، قَالَ تَعَالَى: ﴿ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى إِلَى السَّمَاءِ وَهِيَ دُخَانٌ فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلْأَرْضِ ائْتِيَا طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًا قَالَتَا أَتَيْنَا طَائِعِينَ﴾ [فُصِّلَتْ: ١١] فَوَجَّهَ الْخِطَابَ إِلَيْهِمَا، وَذَكَرَ جَوَابَهُمَا وَكَانَ الْجَوَابُ لِجَمْعِ الْعُقَلَاءِ (طَائِعِينَ) دُونَ طَائِعَاتٍ

The answer to that is: Yes, from Allah it is valid because He is the One who makes inanimate objects speak, and furthermore, inanimate objects in relation to Allah are considered rational, so it is valid for an address to be directed to them. The Exalted said: 'Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, "Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion." They said, "We have come willingly"' [Fussilat: 11]. He directed the address to both of them and mentioned their response, and the response was in the form used for rational beings (ta'i'in) rather than (ta'i'at).

…2 more translated lines, 15 more verbs and 35 more nouns on this page — subscribe to study every page.

Vocabulary · المفردات (18 verbs · 38 nouns)

• كَتَبَ — to write
• أَحْصَى — to count
• وَرِثَ — to inherit
• إِيمَان — faith
• لَوْح — tablet
• مِقْدَار — amount