Al-Uqud al-Durriyya - Ibn Abd al-Hadi - (الكتاب/27)

At that point the observation becomes sound: its single component surpasses the sum to which it belongs. It stands firm in every conceivable circumstance—endowed with majesty, formidable even to those who are otherwise capable of mastering it. Once it is attained, people praise the night-journey, and it is said that its slow pace is the same as its swift; for slowness and speed do not proceed from it itself, but from the road and from the effort required to seize what is hard to reach.

Knowledge of the Most Merciful is the very first obligation (1) and the most important duty God has laid down. The truly devout are forever seeking an increase of it, never yet halted by any final boundary. A person’s need for it is more acute than his need for food, for he must know the ruling that governs his actions at every moment, whereas food is required only in the throes of intense hunger. It is the path to every virtue and righteous deed, so disgrace befalls the one who lets it slip away. Every useful discipline is referred back to it—and indeed it towers over them all in both their roots and their branches—because of the majesty of the One known and the subtle grace (2) that has made knowledge commensurate with His wondrous handiwork.

Knowledge is the balance of realities, just as prosody (3) is a balance when one scans its metres. The noun, when its middle consonant is given a vowel (4), derives from what is separated, whereas the verb, when that consonant is left quiescent, derives from what is composite. It is the central jewel (5) in the necklace of all virtues, and by it every ornament is weighed when set in its mounting.

(1) F and K read “sahib” (possessor). (2) F reads “wa-l-lafz” (and the wording). (3) K reads “wa-kadhak” (and likewise). (4) This is the reading of the base manuscripts; a marginal note to the archetype says: “The correct form is with sukun (no vowel).” I would add that in the second hemistich one should likewise read “and the ‘aql with a vowel.” The author apparently means that the noun ‘ilm—classified in prosody as a watad mafruq, i.e. two mobile letters with a quiescent between them—whereas the verb ‘alima is a watad majmu‘, two mobile letters followed by either a quiescent or another mobile. (5) F reads “wasita” (intermediary).

فيصحُّ حينئذٍ مقالة قائل ... قد زاد مُفرده على مجموعه هو ثابتٌ في كلّ حال ممكن ... ذو عِزّة صعب على مُسْطيعه حتى يُنال فيَحْمَد القومُ السُّرى ... وإذًا يقال: بطيئه كسريعه فالبُطْءُ والإسراع ليس بنفسه ... بل في الطريق وفي اقتناص منيعه والعلمُ بالرحمن أول واجبٍ (١) ... وأهمُّ فرض الله في مشروعه وأخو الديانة طالبٌ لمزيده ... أبدًا ولمّا ينهه بقطوعه والمرء فاقته إليه أشدّ من ... فقر الغذاء لعِلْم حُكم صنيعه في كلِّ وقتٍ، والطعام فإنما ... يحتاجه في وقت شِدَّةِ جوعه وهو السبيل إلى المحاسن كلِّها ... والصالحات فسوأة لمضيعه وإليه يُسْنَد كلُّ فنٍّ نافع ... بل فارع بأصوله وفروعه لجلالة المعلوم واللطف (٢) الذي ... للعلم كان مناسبًا لبديعه فالعلم ميزانُ الحقائق والعرو ... ض كذاك (٣) ميزان لدى تقطيعه والاسم بالتحريك (٤) من مفروقه ... والفعل بالتسكين من مجموعه [ق ٩] هو واسطٌ (٥) عِقْد الفضائل كلّها ... وبه يُزان الحَلْي في ترصيعه

(١) (ف، ك): «صاحب». (٢) (ف): «واللفظ». (٣) (ك): «وكذاك». (٤) كذا في الأصول. وبهامش الأصل: «صوابه: بالتسكين». أقول: وكذلك في الشطر الثاني «والعقل بالتحريك». ولعل مراد المؤلف أن اسم «عِلْمَ» (وتد مفروق)، أي متحرك بينهما ساكن. والفعل عَلِمَ (وتد مجموع) متحركان ثم ساكن أو متحرك. (٥) (ف): «واسطة».