Al-Tisʿīniyya - Ibn Taimiya - (3/820)

Al-TisʿīniyyaIbn Taimiya

despite their variety, point to the attributes they denote while the One being named remains the same? As for speech, the meaning of one utterance is certainly not the meaning of another. It must be understood that our purpose is not an absolute negation; rather, we deny the claim of universality. For we (1) do not deny that two statements may coincide in meaning, and that Allah—exalted is He—may reveal to a prophet, in the prophet’s own language (2), the very meaning He revealed to another, so that the meaning is one while the wording differs. This (3) occurs very frequently. Hence we have never denied that the meanings of words can overlap; what we repudiate is the assertion that all the meanings of the words of the Scriptures are identical, forming a single meaning, that the meaning of what was revealed to this prophet is exactly that same meaning, and that every expression in the Quran conveys one and the same meaning—the meaning of āyat al-dayn (the Verse of Debt), the meaning of āyat al-kursī (the Throne Verse), so that the meaning of “Say: ‘He is Allah, One’” (112:1) is the very same as the meaning of “Perish the hands of Abu Lahab, and may he perish!” (111:1), and likewise the meaning of the al-muʿawwidhatayn (the two surahs of seeking refuge). Were such a claim presented to a child with the least discernment, his intuitive reason would immediately recognize it as outrageous falsehood. Reflect, then, on how they went astray in imagining that the meanings (5) of the Names of Allah constitute a single meaning (6) on account of the unity of the One named, and how they fell into an even greater error (7) by maintaining that the speech Allah revealed possesses but one meaning (8), a single meaning (9), and that its various designations differ only because of the diversity of tongues (10), thereby likening His speech to His Names. Had that speech been a single meaning endowed with multiple attributes, they would have

(1) In the original manuscript (S) the reading is “fa'inna,” whereas the printed edition (T) attests “ta,” which agrees with the preceding first-person plural pronoun. (2) Both the manuscript and the printed edition read “baligha.” (3) In the printed edition (T) the reading is “wa hadha.” (4) In the printed edition (T) the reading is “sura.” (5) Both the manuscript and the printed edition read “ma'na.” (6) In the original manuscript (S) the reading is “wahidan”; the correct reading is attested in the printed edition (T). (7) Both the manuscript and the printed edition read “dalal.” (8) In the original manuscript (S) the reading is “fa'inna ma'nahu,” though the passage is coherent without “fa'inna.” (9) In the manuscript (S) the reading is “wahidan.” (10) Both the manuscript and the printed edition read “takhtalif.”

ما دلت عليه من الصفات والمسمى واحد؟ وأما الكلام فيكون معنى هذا الكلام ليس هو معنى الآخر، وينبغي أن يعلم أنه ليس مقصودنا عموم النفي، بل مقصودنا نفي العموم، فإنا (١) لا ننكر أن الكلامين قد يتفقان في المعنى، وقد ينزل الله -سبحانه- على نبي بلغته (٢) المعنى الذي أنزله على الآخر، فيكون المعنى واحدًا واللفظ مختلفًا، هذا (٣) كثير جدًّا، فإنا نحن لم ننكر أن معاني الألفاظ تتفق، لكن المنكر أن يقال: جميع معاني ألفاظ الكتب متفقة، وهي معنى واحد، وإن معنى ما أنزل على هذا النبي هو بعينه ذلك المعنى، وأن جميع ألفاظ القرآن معناها واحد، ومعنى آية (٤) الدين، ومعنى آية الكرسي، وإذ معنى {قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ} معنى {تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ} ومعنى المعوذتين، وهذا لو عرض على من له أدنى تمييز من الصبيان لعلم ببديهة عقله أنه من أعظم الباطل، فتدبر كيف ضلوا في زعمهم أن معاني (٥) أسماء الله معنى واحد (٦) ، لاتحاد المسمى، ثم ضلوا أعظم ضلالة (٧) في أن كلام الله الذي أنزله معناه (٨) . واحد (٩) ، وإنما اختلف (١٠) أسماؤه لاختلاف الألسنة، وشبهوه بالأسماء، فلو كان الكلام معنى واحدًا وله صفات متعددة، لكانوا قد

(١) في الأصل، س: فإنه. والمثبت من: ط. للتناسب مع ضمير المتكلمين السابق. (٢) في س، ط: بلغة. (٣) في ط: وهذا. (٤) في ط: سورة. (٥) في س، ط: معنى. (٦) في الأصل، س: واحدًا. وأثبت الصواب منم: ط. (٧) في س، ط: ضلال. (٨) في الأصل، س: فإن معناه. والكلام يستقيم بدون "فإن". (٩) في س: واحدًا. (١٠) في س، ط: تختلف.