Al-Tisʿīniyya - Ibn Taimiya - (2/420)

Al-TisʿīniyyaIbn Taimiya

[Such is the case, for]

(1) the very fact of the vision (ru’yah) necessarily entails the affirmation of those attributes—there is no doubt about it. Hence, whoever affirms the vision yet sides with the Jahmi in denying what the vision entails stands opposed to the innate rational fitrah recognized by most people of intellect, whether among those who affirm or those who deny.

He then said:

When he cited the Almighty’s words,

“The whole earth will be in His grasp on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded up in His right hand,” (2)

by Allah, nothing pointed them to the sheer magnitude (3) of what He has described of Himself and of all that His grasp contains except the minuteness of its counterpart found among them. He explained that what the verse (4) conveys is precisely what He has described (5) of Himself, and that this attribute of His has among them only a diminutive analogue. If this is the grandeur of something that is small when compared with what He has not mentioned, then how tremendous must be the grandeur of what He has not described of Himself, glorified and exalted be He!

He went on to say:

Whatever He has described of Himself and named, we name exactly as He named it, and we do not burden ourselves with describing anything beyond that. Thus we name and portray only what He has named and portrayed of Himself; we do not presume to describe anything else. We neither reject what He has affirmed of Himself nor strain to know (6) what He has not described of Himself.

The rest of his discourse is in keeping with this: he clarifies that Allah has delineated certain attributes of Himself and maintained silence concerning others, as in his statement, for (7) your striving to know what He has not described of Himself is akin to your denial of what He has described. Just as you have deemed grave the rejection perpetrated by the deniers

(1) The text enclosed in parentheses is an addition from manuscript S. The original reads “ولهذا كان من أثبت. ولا يستقيم بها”, whereas manuscript T reads “هكذا فإن”. (2) Surah az-Zumar (39:67). (3) The original reads “علم”, a scribal error. The reading confirmed by manuscripts S and T has been presented above. (4) The original reads “al-a’immah” (the imams), a copyist’s error; manuscript T preserves the correct reading. (5) The text between parentheses is omitted in manuscript S. (6) In manuscript S it appears as “muwafāt”, a copying mistake. (7) In manuscript S it reads “fa”, a slip of the scribe.

[هكذا هو فإن] (١) الرؤية تستلزم ثبوت ذلك لا ريب، ولهذا كان من أثبت الرؤية ووافق الجهمي على نفي لوازمها، مخالفًا للفطرة العقلية عند عامة العقلاء المثبتة والنافية. ثم قال: لما ذكر قوله {وَالْأَرْضُ جَمِيعًا قَبْضَتُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَالسَّمَاوَاتُ مَطْوِيَّاتٌ بِيَمِينِهِ} (٢) فوالله ما دلهم على عظم (٣) ما وصف من نفسه، وما تحيط به قبضته [إلَّا صغر نظيرها منهم، فذكر أن ما دلت عليه الآية (٤) هو ما وصفه] (٥) من نفسه، وأن هذا الموصوف منه نظيره منهم صغير، فإذا كان هذا عظمة الذي هو صغير بالنسبة إلى ما لم يذكر، فكيف بعظمة ما لم يصف من نفسه سبحانه وتعالى؟!!. ثم قال: فما وصف من نفسه فسماه سميناه كما سماه، ولم نتكلف من صفة ما سواه، فذكر أنا نسمي ونصف ما سمى ووصف من نفسه، ولا نتكلف أن نصف منه ما سوى ذلك، لا نجحد الموصوف من نفسه ولا نتكلف معرفة (٦) ما لم يصفه من نفسه. وسائر كلامه يوافق هذا، يبين أنَّه وصف من نفسه موصوفات وسكت عما لم يصفه من نفسه كقوله: فإن (٧) تكلفك معرفة ما لم يصف من نفسه مثل إنكارك ما وصف منها، فكما أعظمت ما جحد الجاحدون

(١) ما بين المعقوفتين زيادة من: س. وقد دون في الأصل: ولهذا كان من أثبت. ولا يستقيم بها. وفي ط: هكذا فإن. (٢) سورة الزمر. الآية ٦٧. (٣) في الأصل: علم. وهو تصحيف. والمثبت من: س، ط. وتقدمت كما هو مثبت. (٤) في الأصل: الأئمة. وهو تصحيف. والمثبت من: ط. (٥) ما بين المعقوفتين ساقط من: س. (٦) في س: موفأت. وهو تصحيف. (٧) في س. فا. وهو سهو من الناسخ.