Al-Tisʿīniyya - Ibn Taimiya - (2/418)

Al-TisʿīniyyaIbn Taimiya

And whatever has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—regarding an attribute he named of his Lord stands on the same footing as that which the Lord—exalted be He—has Himself named and described.

Those firmly grounded (1) in knowledge—who halt where their knowledge ends, who describe their Lord only with that (2) which He has described of Himself, and who refrain from what He has left unmentioned—neither repudiate, out of obstinate denial, any attribute that He has named, nor burden themselves with describing Him, out of excessive speculation, with what He has not named. The truth lies in leaving what He left and in naming (3) what He named; so,

“Whoever follows a path other than that of the believers, We shall leave him to the path he has chosen and cast him into Hell—what an evil destination!” (4)

May (5) Allah grant us and you sound judgment and join us with the righteous.

Reflect, then, on the words of this imam (6) and on the insight and clarity they contain.

The point intended here is his use of the word min (“of”) in several (7) places, such as his statement: “How (8) can an attribute—something of Him—have a limit or an end that any knower could know or any describer could determine?” He thereby affirmed that His attribute is indeed something of Him (9), yet no one knows its limit or its measure.

He then said: “The proof of the intellects’ inability to comprehend His attribute is their inability to comprehend the attribute of the smallest of His creatures.” Thus, he treated the attribute here as belonging to Him, not to something of Him, for he argued from the inability to grasp the attribute of the creature; thereafter he enjoined the acknowledgment of whatever knowledge has become manifest.

(1) In al-Mukhtar it reads “min nafsihi” instead of “min ajli ma wasafna,” i.e., “the denier who rejects what we have attributed to it.” (2) In al-Asl it reads “mimma.” This reading is confirmed by manuscripts S, T, the Hamawiyya fatwa, and al-Mukhtar. (3) In manuscript S it reads “wa tasmiyatihi”; in T “wa samma.” (4) Surah an-Nisa 4:115. In al-Asl it reads “ittaba,” whereas manuscripts S and T read “wasarat,” a scribal error. (5) Manuscripts S, T, and the Hamawiyya fatwa read “wahaba.” (6) The aforementioned individual is Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah ibn Abi Sulayma al-Majshun; his biography was provided above. (7) In manuscript S it reads “mawdi.” (8) In manuscript T it reads “wa kayfa.” (9) The words enclosed in quotation marks are an addition from manuscript T.

وما ذكر عن رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - أنَّه سماه من صفة ربه، فهو بمنزلة ما سمى ووصف الرب -تعالى- من نفسه. والراسخون (١) في العلم -الواقفون حيث انتهى علمهم، الواصفون لربهم بما (٢) وصف من نفسه، التاركون لما ترك من ذكرها- لا ينكرون صفة ما سمَّى منها جحدًا، ولا يتكلفون وصفه بما لم يسم تعمقًا، لأنَّ الحق ترك ما ترك، وتسمية (٣) ما سمى فمن {وَيَتَّبِعْ غَيْرَ سَبِيلِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ نُوَلِّهِ مَا تَوَلَّى وَنُصْلِهِ جَهَنَّمَ وَسَاءَتْ مَصِيرًا} (٤) أوهب (٥) الله لنا ولكم حكمًا وألحقنا بالصالحين. فتدبر كلام هذا الإمام (٦) ، وما فيه من المعرفة والبيان. والمقصود هنا: تكلمه بلفظ (من) في مواضع (٧) عديدة كقوله: كيف (٨) يكون لصفة شيء منه [حد أو منتهى يعرفه عارف أو يحد قدره واصف، فذكر أن صفته شيء منه] (٩) لا يعرف أحد حدها ولا قدرها. ثم قال: الدليل على عجز العقول عن تحقيق صفته عجزها عن تحقيق صفة أصغر مخلوقاته، فجعل الصفة هنا له لا لشيء منه، لأنَّه استدل بالعجز عن تحقيق صفة المخلوق، ثم أمر بمعرفة ما ظهر علمه

(١) في المختار: من نفسه من أجل ما وصفنا كالجاحد المنكر لما وصفنا منها. (٢) في الأصل: ممَّا. والمثبت من: س، ط، والفتوى الحموية، والمختار. (٣) في س: وتسميته. وفي ط: وسمى. (٤) سورة النساء، الآية: ١١٥. وقد ورد في الأصل: اتبع. وفي س، ط: وسارت. وهو تصحيف. (٥) في س، ط، والفتوى الحموية: وهب. (٦) المتقدم ذكره هو: عبد العزيز بن عبد الله بن أبي سلمة الماجشون. وقد تقدم التعريف به. (٧) في س: موضع. (٨) في ط وكيف. (٩) ما بين المعقوفتين زيادة من: ط.