Zād al-Maʿād - Ibn al-Qayyim - (2/430)

Zād al-MaʿādIbn al-Qayyim

and His setting his enemies against him is a force (1) that drives him to Him (2).

In short, no station is fitting for the servant other than the one in which he has been placed (3). His praiseworthiness and wisdom have placed him (4) in his station: no other is fitting for him, nor is it right for him to move beyond it. Allah knows best where to bestow His gifts and bounty, and “Allah knows best where to place His messages” [al-Anʿām: 124].

“And so We have tried some of them through others, so that they may say, ‘Are these the ones whom Allah has favoured from among us?’ Does Allah not know best those who are grateful?” [al-Anʿām: 53].

He, glorified be He, knows best where to bestow bounty, where to grant special favour, and where to withhold. In accordance with His praiseworthiness and wisdom, He gives; and in accordance with His praiseworthiness and wisdom, He withholds. For anyone whom withholding brings back to neediness (5) before Him, humility before Him, and loving entreaty of Him, that withholding becomes a gift. For anyone whom His giving distracts and cuts off from Him, that giving becomes deprivation. Everything that distracts (6) the servant from Allah is a bane to him, and everything that brings him back to Him is a mercy to him.

The Lord Most High wills that His servant act, yet the action does not take place until He, glorified be He, wills to help him. He has willed that we remain steadfast and make our way to Him, and He has informed us that this intended outcome does not come about until He wills to help us attain it and wills it for us. These, then, are (7)

(1) Sād, Kāf, Jīm: “siyāt (whips).” (2) Sād, Kāf, Jīm: “bihā ilayhi (by them to Him).” (3) “Fīhi (in it)” is absent from Tā. (4) Kāf: “aqāmat-hu (placed him).” (5) Kāf: “wa-l-iftiqār (and neediness).” (6) Kāf: “ashghala (distracts).” (7) Kāf: “fa-mā.” Sād: “wa-mimmā (and among what).” Mīm-Bā: “fīhimā (in them both).”

وتسليطه أعداءَه عليه سائقٌ (١) يَسُوقه إليه (٢). وبالجملة فلا يليق بالعبد غيرُ ما أُقيم فيه (٣)، وحمدُه وحكمتُه أقاماه (٤) في مقامه الذي لا يليق به سواه، ولا يَحْسُنُ أن يتخطَّاه، والله أعلم حيثُ يجعل مواقعَ عطائه وفضله، و ﴿اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ حَيْثُ يَجْعَلُ رِسَالَاتِهِ﴾ [الأنعام: ١٢٤]، ﴿وَكَذَلِكَ فَتَنَّا بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ لِيَقُولُوا أَهَؤُلَاءِ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ بَيْنِنَا أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِأَعْلَمَ بِالشَّاكِرِينَ﴾ [الأنعام: ٥٣]. فهو سبحانه أعلمُ بمواقع الفضل، ومحالِّ التَّخصيص، ومحالِّ الحرمان، فبحمده وحكمته أعطى، وبحمده وحكمته حَرَمَ، فمن ردَّه المنعُ إلى الافتقار (٥) إليه والتَّذلُّل له وتملُّقِه= انقلبَ في حقِّه عطاءً، ومن شَغَلَه عطاؤه وقَطَعَه عنه= انقلب في حقِّه منعًا، فكلُّ ما شَغلَ (٦) العبدَ عن الله فهو مشؤومٌ عليه، وكلُّ ما ردَّه إليه فهو رحمةٌ به. فالرَّبُّ تعالى يريد من عبده أن يفعل، ولا يقع الفعل حتَّى يريد سبحانه من نفسه أن يُعِينه، فهو سبحانه أراد منَّا الاستقامةَ وإيجادَ السَّبيل إليه، وأخبرنا أنَّ هذا المراد لا يقع حتَّى يُريد من نفسه إعانتَنا عليها ومشيئتَها لنا، فهما (٧)

(١) ص، ك، ج: «سياط». (٢) ص، ك، ج: «بها إليه». (٣) «فيه» ليست في ط. (٤) ك: «أقامته». (٥) ك: «والافتقار». (٦) ك: «أشغل». (٧) ك: «فما». ص: «ومما». مب: «فيهما».