Zād al-Maʿād - Ibn al-Qayyim - (1/31)

Zād al-MaʿādIbn al-Qayyim

and Allah knows these recipients better than you do. If (1) all entities were intrinsically alike, as these people claim, this would offer no refutation (2) of their view.

The same applies to the words of the Most High:

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

That is, He, glorified be He, knows best who will thank Him for His blessings and who will not; He therefore singles out the former for His grace and bestows His favor upon them. Not everyone is fit to thank Him, to receive His favor, or to be singled out for His honor.

Thus, the very entities that Allah has singled out and chosen (3)—whether objects, places, persons, or other things—possess inherent qualities and attributes absent from others. It is because of these that Allah has singled them out, and He, glorified be He, is the One who endowed them (4) with those qualities. He is the One who bestowed those qualities upon them (5) and singled them out by choosing them. The former is His creation; the latter is His choice.

“And your Lord creates what He wills and chooses.” [al-Qasas: 68]

How plainly false is the view that the site of the Sacred House is equal to all other places, that the Black Stone itself is equal to all other stones on earth, and that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is intrinsically equal to anyone else—and that any superiority in these cases comes only from matters external to their intrinsic nature

(1) Qāf, Mīm-Bā’, Nūn: “wa-law (and if).” (2) All witnesses except Qāf read “raddan (a refutation),” an erroneous usage that remains common: putting the subject of kāna in the accusative when its predicate is a prepositional or adverbial phrase. (3) All witnesses except Sād and Jīm read “Allah chose and selected it.” I preferred the adopted reading because the author places selection before choice shortly before this passage and again below. (4) Qāf, Mīm-Bā’, Nūn: “faddalahā (He favored them).” This variant is also recorded in the margin of ‘Ayn. (5) “fa-huwa … al-sifāt (He is … the qualities)” is omitted from the printed editions.

والله أعلم بهذه المحالِّ منكم. فلو (١) كانت الذوات متساويةً كما قال هؤلاء لم يكن في ذلك ردٌّ (٢) عليهم. وكذلك قوله تعالى: ﴿وَكَذَلِكَ فَتَنَّا بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ لِيَقُولُوا أَهَؤُلَاءِ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ بَيْنِنَا أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِأَعْلَمَ بِالشَّاكِرِينَ﴾ [الأنعام: ٥٣] أي هو سبحانه أعلم بمن يشكره على نعمته، فيخُصُّه بفضله ويمُنُّ عليه، ممن لا يشكره. فليس كلُّ محلٍّ يصلح لشكره، واحتمال منته، والتخصيص بكرامته. فذواتُ ما اصطفاه الله واختاره (٣) من الأعيان والأماكن والأشخاص وغيرها مشتملةٌ على صفات وأمور قائمة بها ليست في غيرها، ولأجلها اصطفاها الله، وهو سبحانه الذي خصَّها (٤) بتلك الصفات؛ فهو الذي أعطاها الصفات (٥)، وخصَّها بالاختيار. فهذا خلقه، وهذا اختياره. ﴿وَرَبُّكَ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَيَخْتَارُ﴾ [القصص: ٦٨]. وما أبيَنَ بطلانَ رأي يقضي بأنَّ مكانَ البيت الحرام مساوٍ لسائر الأمكنة، وذاتَ الحجر الأسود مساوية لسائر حجارة الأرض، وذاتَ رسول الله ﷺ مساوية لذات غيره؛ وإنما التفضيل في ذلك بأمور خارجة عن الذات

(١) ق، مب، ن: «ولو». (٢) ما عدا ق: «ردًّا»، وهو لحن لا يزال شائعًا، أعني: نصب اسم «كان» إذا كان خبرها شبه جملة. (٣) ما عدا ص، ج: «اختاره الله واصطفاه»، ورجَّحت ما أثبت لتقديم المؤلف الاصطفاء على الاختيار قبل قليل وفيما يأتي. (٤) ق، مب، ن: «فضَّلها»، وقد ذكرت هذه النسخة في حاشية ع. (٥) «فهو ... الصفات» ساقط من النسخ المطبوعة.