Tafsir al-Uthaymin Juz Amma - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (341)

Tafsir al-Uthaymin Juz AmmaIbn al-'Uthaymin

this blessing and praise Allah for it. But instead: ﴿then glorify your Lord with praise and seek His forgiveness﴾. This resembles the words of Allah, Exalted is He: ﴿Indeed, it is We who have sent down to you the Quran progressively. So be patient for the decision of your Lord﴾ [al-Insān: 23–24].

One might have expected: “So thank your Lord for this revelation and fulfill its due.” Instead, He said: ﴿So be patient for the decision of your Lord﴾, indicating that he would suffer harm in the course of conveying this Quran and spreading it among the people.

﴿Then glorify your Lord with praise and seek His forgiveness﴾. Upon careful reflection, the wisdom becomes apparent. The meaning is that when Allah’s help and the conquest come, your death has drawn near, and nothing remains for you but to glorify your Lord with praise and seek His forgiveness. ﴿Then glorify your Lord with praise﴾ means: glorify Him with a glorification accompanied by praise. Glorification means declaring Allah, Exalted is He, transcendent above everything unbecoming of His majesty. Praise means extolling Him for His perfection, together with love and veneration. Combine the affirmation of His transcendence with praise. ﴿And seek His forgiveness﴾ means: ask Him to forgive you. Thus Allah, Exalted is He, commanded him to do two things:

The first: glorification accompanied by praise.

The second: seeking forgiveness. Seeking forgiveness means asking for forgiveness. Forgiveness is Allah’s concealing His servant’s sins, erasing them, and pardoning him for them. This is the utmost a servant could desire, for the servant sins often and needs forgiveness. Unless Allah envelops him in His mercy, he will perish. Hence the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “None of you will enter Paradise by virtue of his deeds.” They asked, “Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “Not even I, unless Allah envelops me in His mercy.” (1)

For if you tried to set these deeds of yours against just one of Allah’s blessings—even a single blessing—your deeds would be overwhelmed by His blessings. How, then, could they serve as the price by which you enter Paradise? Hence one of the people of spiritual knowledge wrote in verse:

(1) Recorded by al-Bukhārī in the Book of Heart-Softening Traditions, chapter “Moderation and Persistence in Deeds,” no. 6463; and by Muslim in the Book of the Attributes of the Hypocrites, chapter “No One Will Enter Paradise by His Deeds, but Rather by Allah’s Mercy,” no. 2816 (72).

هذه النعمة واحمد الله عليها ولكن ﴿فسبح بحمد ربك واستغفره﴾ وهذا نظير قوله تعالى: ﴿إنا نحن نزلنا عليك القرآن تنزيلاً. فاصبر لحكم ربك﴾ [الإنسان: ٢٣، ٢٤] . كان المتوقع فاشكر ربك على هذا التنزيل وقم بحقه، ولكن قال: ﴿فاصبر لحكم ربك﴾ إيذاناً بأنه سوف ينال أذىً بواسطة إبلاغ هذا القرآن ونشره بين الأمة ﴿فسبح بحمد ربك واستغفره﴾ عند التأمل تتبين الحكمة فالمعنى أنه إذا جاء نصر الله والفتح فقد قرب أجلك وما بقي عليك إلا التسبيح بحمد ربك والاستغفار ﴿فسبح بحمد ربك﴾ أي سبحه تسبيحاً مقروناً بالحمد. والتسبيح: تنزيه الله تعالى عما لا يليق بجلاله. والحمد: هو الثناء عليه بالكمال مع المحبة والتعظيم. اجمع بين التنزيه وبين الحمد ﴿واستغفره﴾ يعني اسأله المغفرة. فأمره الله تعالى بأمرين: الأمر الأول: التسبيح المقرون بالحمد. والثاني: الاستغفار. والاستغفار هو طلب المغفرة. والمغفرة ستر الله تعالى على عبده ذنوبه مع محوها والتجاوز عنها. وهذا غاية ما يريد العبد، لأن العبد كثير الذنب يحتاج إلى مغفرة إن لم يتغمده الله برحمته هلك، ولهذا قال النبي ﵊: «لن يدخل أحد منكم الجنة بعمله» قالوا: ولا أنت يا رسول الله؟ قال: «ولا أنا إلا أن يتغمدني الله برحمته» (١) . لأن عملك هذا لو أردت أن تجعله في مقابلة نعمة من النعم، نعمة واحدة لأحاطت به النعم، فكيف يكون عوضاً تدخل به الجنة؟ ولهذا قال بعض العارفين في نظم له:

(١) أخرجه البخاري كتاب الرقاق باب القصد والمداومة على العمل (٦٤٦٣) ومسلم كتاب صفات المنافقين باب لن يدخل أحد الجنة بعمله بل برحمة الله (٢٨١٦) (٧٢) .