Al-Tisʿīniyya - Ibn Taimiya - (2/621)

Al-TisʿīniyyaIbn Taimiya

it becomes conceivable that the one who commands and informs has no command or report actually subsisting in him; in that case he can no longer prove that these meanings subsist in the Essence of Allah. Rather, one will say to him: Grant that they possess realities beyond the wording itself and beyond these utterances, yet why do you claim that the commander and forbider is the very One in whom those meanings reside, instead of merely the One who brings those meanings about?

Seventh Aspect: He has deviated from the well-known method followed by his own colleagues in this fundamental question. They maintain that the speaker is the one in whom speech inheres, and that the import of speech is request, deterrence, and judgment—as he himself has stated—(1) and they further say: It is impossible for that meaning to be originated either in something other than Him or within His own Essence, because His Essence cannot be a locus for temporal events. [By this they affirmed the pre-eternity of speech, arguing: If it were originated, it would have to arise within Himself, thereby making His Essence the locus of temporal events] (2)—and that is impossible—(3); or within something else, in which case it would be speech belonging to that locus; or in [no (4)] locus at all, which would entail an attribute subsisting by itself, and that too is impossible.

He turned away from that approach only after demonstrating that no proof exists for the impossibility of temporal events subsisting in Him; indeed, the difficulty presses equally upon every sect. It is plain that once the possibility of temporal events in Him is conceded, the doctrine of his companions on this matter collapses, and it becomes untenable to say that it is eternal. For once it is established that the speaker is the one in whom speech subsists, or it is established (5) that Allah is One who commands, forbids, and informs through a meaning that inheres in Him and not in something else, then—if it is permissible for that meaning to be originated while still remaining an attribute of Allah, as maintained by those who say that Allah speaks when He wills and is silent when He wills, as affirmed by the majority of Ahl—

(1) As noted, it is omitted in both the manuscript (S) and the printed edition (T). It was mentioned above for this reason in Nihayat al-ʿUqul (manuscript), folio 130. (2) The text enclosed in brackets is omitted in the manuscript (S). (3) The original reads “aw mahal,” which is a scribal error; the corrected reading is attested in both S and T. (4) The bracketed text is an addition in both S and T, retained here because the context requires it. (5) In the printed edition (T), it is included.

جاز أن يكون الآمر والمخبر لم يقم به خبر ولا أمر، لم يمكنه ثبوت هذه المعاني قائمة بذات الله، بل يقال له: هب أن لها معاني وراء الألفاظ ووراء هذه، لكن لم قلت: إن الآمر الناهي هو من قام به تلك المعاني، دون أن يكون من فعل تلك المعاني؟ الوجه السابع: أنَّه عدل عن الطريقة المشهورة لأصحابه في هذا الأصل، فإنهم يثبتون أن المتكلم من قام به الكلام، وأن معنى الكلام هو الطّلب والزجر والحكم -كما ذكره - (١) ثم يقولون: ولا يجوز أن يكون ذلك حادثًا في غيره لا في ذاته، لأنَّ ذاته لا تكون محلًا للحوادث [وبذلك أثبتوا قدم الكلام، فقالوا: لو كان محدثًا لكان إما أن يحدثه في نفسه فيكون محلًا للحوادث] (٢) وهو محال (٣) أو غيره فيكون كلامًا لذلك المحل، أو [لا (٤) ] محل فيلزم قيام الصفة بنفسها وهو محال، وإنَّما عدل عنها لأنه قد بين أنَّه لم يقم دليل على أن قيام الحوادث به محال، بل ذلك لازم لجميع الطوائف، ومن المعلوم أنَّه إذا جوز قيام الحوادث به، بطل قول أصحابه في هذه المسألة، وامتنع أن يقال: هو قديم، لأنَّه إذا ثبت أن المتكلم هو من قام به الكلام، أو ثبت (٥) أن الله آمر ناه مخبر بمعنى يقوم به لا بغيره، فإذا جاز أن يكون حادثًا ويكون صفة لله، كما يقوله من يقول: إن الله يتكلم إذا شاء ويسكت إذا شاء كما يقوله جماهير أهل

(١) كما ذكره: ساقطة من: س، ط. وتقدم ذكره لذلك في: نهاية العقول -مخطوط- اللوحة: ١٣٠. (٢) ما بين المعقوفتين ساقط من: س. (٣) في الأصل: أو محال. وهو تصحيف. والمثبت من: س، ط. (٤) ما بين المعقوفتين زيادة من: س، ط. وأثبتها لاقتضاء السياق لها. (٥) في ط: أثبت.