16
Ninth point:
They contend, “The Word of God, by which the subtle realms were brought into being, manifests in something that is not wholly dense.”
We reply:
The Word of God whose manifestation in the Messiah you claim—do you mean the divine speech, which is His attribute; or the very Essence of the speaking Lord; or both together?
If you answer that what appeared in him is the speech itself, this too may be understood in two ways:
- If you intend that God sent down His speech to the Messiah just as He revealed it to the other messengers, then this is true, unanimously affirmed by the people of faith and expressly stated in the Quran.
- But if you mean that the speech of God separated from His Essence and indwelt the Messiah, or anyone else, this is false—and in any case of no use to the Christians, for in their doctrine the Messiah is a deity who created the heavens and the earth, yet is also the son of Adam and the creator of Adam, the son of Mary and the creator of Mary: her son according to his nāsūt (human nature) and her creator according to his lāhūt (divine nature).
If, on the other hand, by “the manifestation of the Word” you mean the manifestation of God’s Essence—or of His Essence together with His speech—in the dense entity that is a human being, then this too can mean the manifestation of His light in the hearts of the believers,
as the Exalted says:
“Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth … like a radiant star” (Quran 24:35),
and just as God appeared from Mount Sinai, shone forth from Seir, and was disclosed from
الْوَجْهُ التَّاسِعُ:
قَوْلُهُم: فَكَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ الَّتِي بِهَا خُلِقَتِ اللَّطَائِفُ تَظْهَرُ فِي غَيْرِ كَثِيفٍ كُلًّا،
فَيُقَالُ لَهُم:
كَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ الَّتِي يَدَّعُونَ ظُهُورَهَا فِي الْمَسِيحِ، أَهِيَ كَلَامُ اللَّهِ الَّذِي هُوَ صِفَتُهُ، أَوْ ذَاتُ اللَّهِ الْمُتَكَلِّمَةُ أَوْ مَجْمُوعُهَا؟
فَإِنْ قُلْتُمُ:
الظَّاهِرُ فِيهِ نَفْسُ الْكَلَامِ فَهَذَا يُرَادُ بِهِ شَيْئَانِ:
إِنْ أُرِيدَ بِهِ أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَنْزَلَ كَلَامَهُ عَلَى الْمَسِيحِ، كَمَا أَنْزَلَهُ عَلَى غَيْرِهِ مِنَ الرُّسُلِ، فَهَذَا حَقٌّ اتَّفَقَ عَلَيْهِ أَهْلُ الْإِيمَانِ، وَنَطَقَ بِهِ الْقُرْآنُ.
وَإِنْ أُرِيدَ بِهِ أَنَّ كَلَامَ اللَّهِ فَارَقَ ذَاتَهُ وَحَلَّ فِي الْمَسِيحِ أَوْ غَيْرِهِ، فَهُوَ بَاطِلٌ مَعَ أَنَّ هَذَا لَا يَنْفَعُ النَّصَارَى، فَإِنَّ الْمَسِيحَ عِنْدَهُمْ إِلَهٌ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ، وَهُوَ عِنْدَهُمُ ابْنُ آدَمَ وَخَالِقُ آدَمَ، وَابْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَخَالِقُ مَرْيَمَ، ابْنُهَا بِنَاسُوتِهِ وَخَالِقُهَا بِلَاهُوتِهِ.
وَإِنْ أَرَادُوا بِظُهُورِ الْكَلِمَةِ ظُهُورَ ذَاتِ اللَّهِ أَوْ ظُهُورَ ذَاتِهِ وَكَلَامِهِ فِي الْكَثِيفِ الَّذِي هُوَ الْإِنْسَانُ، فَهَذَا أَيْضًا يُرَادُ بِهِ ظُهُورُ نُورِهِ فِي قُلُوبِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ،
كَمَا قَالَ تَعَالَى:
{اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ}
[النور: ٣٥]
إِلَى قَوْلِهِ:
{كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّيٌّ}
[النور: ٣٥]
الْآيَةَ.
وَكَمَا ظَهَرَ اللَّهُ مِن طُورِ سَيْنَاءَ وَأَشْرَقَ مِنْ سَاعِيرَ وَاسْتَعْلَنَ مِن