Qawāʿid al-Asmāʾ al-Ḥusnā - Ibn al-Qayyim - (43)

Thus, with respect to the attributes of perception He is al-ʿAlīm (the All-Knowing) and al-Khabīr (the All-Aware), not merely “the rational” or “the discerning jurist”; and He is al-Samīʿ (the All-Hearing) and al-Baṣīr (the All-Seeing), not simply “the hearer,” “the seer,” or “the observer.”

Regarding the attributes of beneficence, He is al-Barr (the All-Benign), al-Raḥīm (the All-Merciful), and al-Wadūd (the Most Loving), not “al-Rafīq1” or “al-Shafūq2” and the like. In the same vein, He is al-ʿAliyy (the Most High) and al-ʿAẓīm (the Magnificent), not “al-Rafīʿ3” or “al-Sharīf.” He is al-Karīm (the Most Generous), not merely “al-Sakhī.” He is al-Khāliq, al-Bāriʾ, al-Muṣawwir (the Creator, the Originator, the Fashioner), not simply “al-Fāʿil,” “al-Ṣāniʿ,” or “al-Mushakkil.” And He is al-Ghafūr, al-ʿAfuww (the All-Forgiving, the Pardoning) rather than “al-Ṣafūḥ” or “al-Sātir.”

Likewise, with all His other names—exalted is He—He applies to Himself only those that are the most perfect and most beautiful, names whose significance nothing else can replace.

So reflect on this: His names are the finest of names, just as His attributes are the most complete.

(1) All the manuscripts in my possession read the word this way, yet the correct form is al-Raqiq (with qaf). The divine name al-Rafiq (with fa) is attested in the Prophet’s saying: “Allah is Rafiq and loves rifq (gentleness).” Ibn al-Qayyim lists al-Rafiq among the divine names in Madarij al-Salikin, 2/294. I later discovered that some other manuscripts do in fact contain the reading al-Raqiq. (2) Manuscripts B and Kh have wa-l-mashawq (“and the eager one”), whereas manuscript S reads wa-l-maʿshuq (“and the beloved”). (3) This name appears in the construct form, as in the verse: rafiʿ al-darajat dhi al-ʿarsh (Quran 40:15). Ibn Saʿdi explains in his Tafsir, 6/515: “That is, the Most High, the Exalted, who rose over the Throne and alone possesses it; His degrees are elevated far above His creatures, His status is sublime, and His attributes are magnificent …”

فله من صفة الإدراكات: العليم الخبير دون العاقل الفقيه، والسميع البصير دون السامع والباصر والناظر، ومن صفات الإحسان: البر الرحيم الودود دون الرفيق١ والشفوق٢ ونحوهما، وكذلك العلي العظيم دون الرفيع٣ الشريف، وكذلك الكريم دون السخي، والخالق الباريء المصور دون الفاعل الصانع المشكل، والغفور العفو دون الصفوح الساتر. وكذلك سائر أسمائه تعالى يجري على نفسه منها أكملها وأحسنها وما لا يقوم غيرُهُ مقامه. فتأمل ذلك فأسماؤه أحسن الأسماء كما أنَّ صفاته أكمل

١ كذا في جميع النسخ الخطية التي بين يدي، والصواب "الرقيق"- بالقاف-، فإن اسم "الرفيق"- بالفاء- نابت في قوله ﷺ: "إن اللَّه رفيق يحب الرفق". وقد عده ابن القيم في كتاب مدارج السالكين (٢/٢٩٤) من أسماء الله ﷿، ثم تبين لي بعد ذلك وجوده في بعض النسخ الخطية الأخرى، بلفظ "الرقيق". ٢ في (ب) و (خ) "والمشوق"وفي (ص) "والمعشوق". ٣ ورد هذا الاسم مضافًا كما في قوله تعالى: ﴿رفيع الدرجات ذو العرش﴾ [غافر: ١٥] ، قال ابن سعدي في تفسيره (٦/ ٥١٥) : (أي: العلي الأعلى، الذي استوى على العرش واختص به وارتفعت درجاته ارتفاعًا باين به مخلوقاته وارتفع به قدره وجلت أوصافه ... ".