Al-Uqud al-Durriyya - Ibn Abd al-Hadi - (الكتاب/143)

Al-Uqud al-DurriyyaIbn Abd al-Hadi

“…arguments that shatter like glass—you take them for solid truth, yet each one both smashes and is smashed.” (1)

The discerning scholar realises that, in one respect, they deserve what al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204 AH) ruled when he said, “My verdict concerning the partisans of kalām is that they be struck with palm-sticks and sandals, and paraded among the tribes and clans while it is proclaimed: ‘This is the recompense of one who abandoned the Book and the Sunnah and busied himself with speculative theology.’” ⦗38⦘ (2)

From another angle, however—when you view them through the lens of divine decree, while bewilderment overwhelms them and Satan has taken hold of them—you are moved to pity and feel compassion for them. (3)(4)

They were granted keenness of mind but not purity of heart; given powers of comprehension but not true knowledge; endowed with hearing, sight, and hearts, “yet their hearing, sight, and hearts availed them nothing, because they used to deny Allah’s signs; and that which they mocked engulfed them.” [Al-Aḥqāf 46:26]

Whoever is well-versed in these matters will thereby recognise the skill and learning of the early generations. (5)

(1) Al-Khattabi records the passage in al-Ghuniyah, p. 41; something very similar appears in Ibn al-Rumi’s Diwan, 3:1139: Those given to disputation, when they set out to dispute, marshal proofs that stray from guidance and go astray. They are like glass vessels colliding— they crash, and each one is both breaker and broken. Thus killer and killed alike, through weakness and confusion, and the captor is himself a captive. (2) MS F reads: “alayhim.” Al-Shafi‘i’s remark is cited by Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, al-Jami‘, 2:941. (3) Omitted in MSS B and Q. MS Kh reads: “bi-‘ayni al-‘udhr” (with the very eye of excuse). (4) MSS F, K, B, Q, and Kh read: “alayhim,” while MS K also has: “wa rafaqt” (and I showed gentleness). (5) MSS Kh and T read: “aliman” (knowing).

حُججٌ تَهافَتُ كالزّجاج تخالها ... حقًّا وكلٌّ كاسِرٌ مكسور (١) ويعلمُ البصير العالم أنهم من وجه مستحقُّون ما قاله الشافعي ﵁ حيث قال: «حُكْمي في أهل الكلام أن [ق ٣٨] يضربوا بالجريد والنعال، ويُطاف بهم (٢) في القبائل والعشائر، ويقال: هذا جزاء من ترك الكتاب والسنة، وأقبل على الكلام». ومن وجه آخر إذا نظرتَ إليهم بعين (٣) القدر ــ والحيرةُ مستوليةٌ عليهم، والشيطانُ مستحوذٌ عليهم ــ رَحِمْتَهم ورقَقْتَ لهم (٤). أوتوا ذكاءً وما أوتوا زكاء، وأُعطوا فهومًا وما أعطوا علومًا، وأعطوا سمعًا وأبصارًا وأفئدةً ﴿فَمَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُمْ سَمْعُهُمْ وَلَا أَبْصَارُهُمْ وَلَا أَفْئِدَتُهُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إِذْ كَانُوا يَجْحَدُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَحَاقَ بِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ﴾ [الأحقاف: ٢٦]. ومن كان عالمًا (٥) بهذه الأمور تبيَّن له بذلك حِذْق السلف وعلمهم

(١) ذكره الخطابي في «الغنية» (ص/٤١)، وقريب منه من أبيات لابن الرومي في «ديوانه»: (٣/ ١١٣٩): لذوي الجدال إذا غدوا لجدالهم ... حجج تضلّ عن الهدى وتجورُ وهنَّ كآنية الزِّجاج تصادمت ... فهوَت وكلٌّ كاسرٌ مكسور فالقاتل المقتول ثَمَّ لضعفه ... ولوَهْيه والآسرُ المأسور (٢) (ف): «عليهم». وكلمة الشافعي أخرجها ابن عبد البر في «الجامع»: (٢/ ٩٤١). (٣) سقطت من (ب، ق). (خ): «بعين العُذْر». (٤) (ف، ك، ب، ق، خ): «عليهم». و (ك): «ورفقت». (٥) (خ، ط): «عليمًا».