he then brings forth what no one else has produced, presenting arguments that gladden the hearts of all who are eager to base their views on sound evidence.”
As for the external proofs, they are many. Among them are the following:
- Imām Ibn al-Qayyim himself refers to the book in several of his celebrated works. For instance, he says in Madārij al-Sālikīn (4/306): “In the same way, interpreting the verses and aḥādīth concerning the divine attributes so that they are stripped of their real meanings is of a piece with the reinterpretation of the verses and reports that speak of the Hereafter—indeed, it is even further removed for many reasons which I have mentioned in the book al-Ṣawāʿiq al-Mursala ʿalā al-Jahmiyya wa-l-Muʿaṭṭila.”
He also writes in Ighāthat al-Lahfān (2/526): “This is indicated by Allah’s attributing that stratagem to Himself when He said, ‘Thus did We plot for Joseph; he could not have taken his brother under the king’s law except that Allah so willed’ (Yūsuf 12:76). The Exalted ascribes to Himself the noblest of these meanings—those that embody wisdom, truth, correctness, and just recompense for the wrong-doer—for that is the height of justice and truth … as we have expanded upon and fully discussed in the book al-Ṣawāʿiq.”
And in al-Kāfiya al-Shāfiya (p. 517) he declares:
“Twenty arguments refute the claim that ‘He dominated,’
yet never depart from what the Qur’an imparts.
A separate work I have devoted to them—
the writing of an erudite, God-fearing scholar.
We listed forty further ways as well,
dismantling that claim with lucid proof.
They are in al-Ṣawāʿiq; should you seek to verify them,
they lie plain to all—hidden only from the blind.”