Al-Tisʿīniyya - Ibn Taimiya - (2/398)

Al-TisʿīniyyaIbn Taimiya

to say that this is a form of distinction (1) in that sense. Many (1) people therefore refuse or deny the very terms “distinction” (taghāyur) and “partition” (tabʿīḍ) and the like; some are willing to use “distinction” but object to “partition”; others object to neither term once the intended meaning is clarified and the ambiguity in the wording removed. There is no doubt that the Jahmiyyah claim the opposite in this matter (2), just as it is said in defining two distinct things: each is that which can exist apart from the other—like the attributes of created bodies, composed of their parts and accidents—for such things can disperse and separate (3). Allah, exalted be He, is far above all of that, sanctified from every imperfection and flaw.

Sometimes what is meant is that something of Him is known while something else is not; in that case, what is known is not other than what remains as yet unknown, even though the latter necessarily accompanies it and never departs from it. Distinction in this sense is affirmed for every existent being: a servant may first know that the True One exists, then learn that He is able, then that He is knowing, and then that He is hearing and seeing. His vision—exalted is He—is like knowledge of Him. Whoever denies of Him and of His attributes this kind of distinction and partition is an outright negator of the Lord, for such distinction is absent only from what does not exist. We have set this out in detail in the book Bayān Talbīs al-Jahmiyyah fī Ta'sīs Bidaʿihim al-Kalāmiyyah (4) when discussing Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ and elsewhere, with full clarification. Whoever understands this will have his doubts in this field removed. Hence the statement (5) of the early scholars and leading imams: “Whatever Allah has described of Himself is from Allah; His attributes are from Him; the knowledge of Allah is from Allah and for Him,” and similar expressions in which they employed (6) the preposition min (“from”).

If someone were to say that its meaning (7) is partition, then it is partition only in that particular consideration, just as

(1) In the original: “anhu” (“from him”), a reading attested in manuscripts S and T. (2) In the original: “al-ghubrayn.” This is a slip by the copyist, though the reading appears in manuscripts S and T. (3) Al-Shaykh mentions the usage of the salaf (may Allah have mercy on them), the Ash’aris and their followers, the Mu’tazila, the Karamiyya, and others regarding the term “al-ghayr,” in Bayān Talbīs al-Jahmiyya, vol. 1, p. 508. (4) Vol. 1, p. 460 and following, notably pp. 465, 474, 475, 508. (5) In the original: “fa-naqul” (“we say”). This is a scribal error, although the reading is found in manuscripts S and T. (6) In manuscript S: “fi.” (7) In manuscripts S and T: “ma’naha” (“its meaning”).

ذلك فيه (١) ، كما يقال حد الغيرين (٢) : ما جاز مفارقة أحدهما للآخر، كصفات الأجسام المخلوقة من أجزائها وأعراضها، فإنه يجوز أن يتفرق وينفصل (٣) ، والله سبحانه منزه عن ذلك كله، مقدس عن النقائص والآفات. وقد يراد بذلك ما يعلم منه شيء دون شيء، فيكون المعلوم ليس هو غير المعلوم، وإن كان لازمًا له لا يفارقه، والتغاير بهذا المعنى ثابت لكل موجود، فإن العبد قد يعلم وجود الحق، ثم يعلم أنَّه قادر ثم أنَّه عالم، ثم أنَّه سميع بصير، وكذلك رؤيته تعالى كالعلم به، فمن نفى عنه وعن صفاته التغاير والتبعيض بهذا المعنى فهو معطل جاحد للرب، فإن هذا التغاير لا ينتفي إلا عن المعدوم، وهذا قد بسطناه في كتاب بيان تلبيس الجهمية في تأسيس بدعهم الكلامية (٤) في الكلام على سورة الإخلاص وغير ذلك بسطًا بينًا، ومن علم ذلك زالت عنه الشبهات في هذا الباب، فقول (٥) السلف والأئمة: ما وصف الله من الله وصفاته منه وعلم الله من الله وله، ونحو ذلك مما استعملوا فيه (٦) لفظ من. وإن قال قائل معناه (٧) التبعيض -فهو تبعيض بهذا الاعتبار، كما

(١) في الأصل: عنه. والمثبت من: س، ط. (٢) في الأصل: الغبرين. وهو سهو من الناسخ. والمثبت من: س، ط. وقد ذكر الشيخ اصطلاح السلف -رحمهم الله - والأشعرية ومن وافقتهم، والمعتزلة، والكرامية، وغيرهم في لفظ (الغير). في بيان تلبيس الجهمية ١/ ٥٠٨. (٣) في ط: تتفرق وتنفصل. (٤) ١/ ٤٦٠ فما بعدها وخاصة ص: ٤٦٥، ٤٧٤، ٤٧٥، ٥٠٨. (٥) في الأصل: فنقول. وهو تصحيف. والمثبت من: س، ط. (٦) في س: في. (٧) في س، ط: معناها.