Zād al-Maʿād - Ibn al-Qayyim - (1/49)

Zād al-MaʿādIbn al-Qayyim

from these the fullest sources of bliss and joy. He has made the impure words, deeds, and character of the others their very torment and pain, and created (1) for them from these the greatest sources of punishment (2) and suffering. This manifests His consummate wisdom and all-conquering might, so that He may show His servants the perfection of His lordship, wisdom, knowledge, justice, and mercy, and make His enemies know that it was they who were liars and fabricators, not His righteous, truthful messengers. Allah Most High says:

“They swear by Allah their strongest oaths that Allah will not resurrect anyone who dies. But yes—it is a promise binding upon Him in truth, though most people do not know (38)—so that He may make clear to them that over which they differ, and so that those who disbelieve may know that they were” [al-Nahl: 38–39].

The point is that Allah Most High has given blessedness and wretchedness distinguishing signs by which they can be recognized. The blessed person is pure: only what is pure befits him (3); he does only what is pure, only what is pure proceeds from him, and he involves himself only with what is pure. The wretched person is impure: only what is impure befits him; he does only what is impure, and only what is impure proceeds from him. Thus, impurity pours forth from his heart onto his tongue and limbs. What is pure pours forth from his pure heart (4) onto his tongue and limbs. A person may contain both elements, and he belongs to whichever predominates in him. If Allah intends good for him, He purifies him of the impure element before he returns to Him, so that he comes to Him on the day of meeting already purified and has no need to be purified by the Fire,

(1) k and ʿ read: “wa-ansha’a” (and He created). (2) j and q read: “al-ʿadhāb” (torment). (3) k and ʿ read: “al-tayyib” (what is pure); someone also corrected j to this reading. (4) In j, “fa-l-khubth” (thus, impurity) is explicitly vocalized, although the two dots of a yā’ are also faintly visible between the bā’ and thā’. In s, the passage reads: “fa-l-khubthu … wa-l-tību yatafajjaru min qalbi al-tayyib” (thus, impurity … and purity pours forth from the pure person’s heart), with this vocalization. In n, it originally read: “fa-l-khabīth yatafajjar min qalbihi al-khubth ʿalā … qalbihi al-tīb” (as for the impure person, impurity pours forth from his heart onto … his heart, purity). This was changed to the reading adopted here.

منها أكمل أسباب النعيم والسرور. وجعل خبيثات أقوال الآخرين وأعمالهم وأخلاقهم هي عين عذابهم وآلامهم، فأنشأ (١) لهم منها أعظم أسباب العقاب (٢) والآلام؛ حكمةً بالغةً وعزةً قاهرةً، ليُرِيَ عبادَه كمالَ ربوبيته وكمالَ حكمته وعلمه وعدله ورحمته، ولِيُعلِمَ أعداءه أنهم كانوا هم الكاذبين المفترين، لا رسلُه البررة الصادقون. قال تعالى: ﴿وَأَقْسَمُوا بِاللَّهِ جَهْدَ أَيْمَانِهِمْ لَا يَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَمُوتُ بَلَى وَعْدًا عَلَيْهِ حَقًّا وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ (٣٨) لِيُبَيِّنَ لَهُمُ الَّذِي يَخْتَلِفُونَ فِيهِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا﴾ [النحل: ٣٨ - ٣٩]. والمقصود: أن الله تعالى جعل على السعادة والشقاوة عنوانًا يُعرَفان به. فالسعيد طيِّبٌ لا يليق به إلا طيِّب (٣)، ولا يأتي إلا طيِّبًا، ولا يصدر منه إلا طيِّب، ولا يلابس إلا طيِّبًا. والشقي خبيث لا يليق به إلا الخبيث، ولا يأتي إلا خبيثًا، ولا يصدر منه إلا الخبيث؛ فالخبيث يتفجَّر من قلبه على لسانه وجوارحه. والطيِّبُ يتفجَّر من قلبه الطيِّبُ (٤) على لسانه وجوارحه. وقد يكون في الرجل مادتان فأيهما غلب عليه كان من أهلها. فإن أراد الله به خيرًا طهَّره من المادة الخبيثة قبل الموافاة، فيوافيه يوم اللقاء مطهَّرًا فلا يحتاج إلى تطهيره بالنار،

(١) ك، ع: «وأنشأ». (٢) ج، ق: «العذاب». (٣) ك، ع: «الطيب»، وكذا أصلحه بعضهم في ج. (٤) في ج: «فالخُبْث» مضبوطًا، ولكن تلوح نقطتا الياء أيضًا بين الباء والثاء. والسياق في ص: «فالخُبْثُ ... والطِّيبُ يتفجَّر من قلب الطيِّب» كذا مضبوطًا. وكان في ن: «فالخبيث يتفجَّر من قلبه الخبثُ على ... قلبه الطِّيبُ» فغُيِّر إلى ما أثبت.