Tafsir Al-Qurtubi - Al-Qurtubi - (1/91)

Tafsir Al-QurtubiAl-Qurtubi

Twelfth Point
Al-Aʿmash related, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil, from ʿAbdullāh, who said: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him) recounted:

“I once saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at al-Ṣafā, facing a figure that had taken the shape of an elephant while he was cursing it. I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, whom are you cursing?’ He replied, ‘This is the accursed Satan.’

“I then said, ‘Enemy of Allah! By Allah, I shall kill you and bring the community relief from you.’

“He retorted, ‘Is this the recompense I receive from you?’

“I asked, ‘And what recompense do you expect from me, enemy of Allah?’

“He answered, ‘By Allah, no one has ever hated you except that I shared in his father’s act when he was with his mother in her womb.’ ”

[Discussion of] the Basmalah — containing twenty-seven issues

Sūrat al-Fātiḥah • Verse 1

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful (1)

His, Exalted is He, saying:

First Issue
The scholars have said: “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful” is an oath sworn by our Lord and placed at the head of every sūrah. Through it He swears to His servants: “O My servants, what I have set forth for you in this sūrah is the very truth, and I shall fulfil for you everything I have guaranteed therein of My promise, My kindness, and My beneficence.” Moreover, “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful” is something Allah Most High revealed in our scripture and bestowed in particular upon this community after the time of Solomon (peace be upon him).

Some scholars said: The phrase “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful” contains the whole of the Sacred Law, for it points to the Divine Essence and to the Divine Attributes—and this is correct.

Second Issue
Saʿīd ibn Abī Sukaynah said: “It has reached me that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him) once observed a man writing ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful’ and said to him: ‘Beautify it, for a man once beautified it and was forgiven.’ ”

Saʿīd continued: “I have also been informed of a man who saw a sheet on which ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful’ was written; he kissed it, placed it upon his eyes, and was forgiven. A similar sense is found in the story of Bishr al-Ḥāfī: when he lifted a scrap of paper bearing the basmalah and perfumed it, his own name was ennobled. Al-Qushayrī mentioned this.

Al-Nasāʾī transmitted, on the authority of Abū al-Malīḥ, from the riding companion of the Messenger of Allah

الثانية عشر رَوَى الْأَعْمَشُ عَنْ أَبِي وَائِلٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ قَالَ قَالَ عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ: رَأَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عِنْدَ الصَّفَا وَهُوَ مُقْبِلٌ عَلَى شَخْصٍ فِي صُورَةِ الْفِيلِ وَهُوَ يَلْعَنُهُ، قُلْتُ: وَمَنْ هَذَا الَّذِي تَلْعَنُهُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ؟ قَالَ: " هَذَا الشَّيْطَانُ الرَّجِيمُ" فَقُلْتُ: يَا عَدُوَّ اللَّهِ: وَاللَّهِ لِأَقْتُلَنَّكَ وَلَأُرِيحَنَّ الْأُمَّةَ مِنْكَ، قَالَ: مَا هَذَا جَزَائِي مِنْكَ، قُلْتُ: وَمَا جَزَاؤُكَ مِنِّي يَا عَدُوَّ اللَّهِ؟ قَالَ: وَاللَّهِ مَا أَبْغَضَكَ أَحَدٌ قَطُّ إِلَّا شَرِكْتُ أَبَاهُ فِي رَحِمِ أمه. [الكلام في] البسملة وفيها سبع وعشرون مسألة [سورة الفاتحة (١) : آيَةً ١] بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ (١) قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: الْأُولَى قَالَ الْعُلَمَاءُ: " بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ" قَسَمٌ مِنْ رَبِّنَا أَنْزَلَهُ عِنْدَ رَأْسِ كُلِّ سُورَةٍ، يُقْسِمُ لِعِبَادِهِ إِنَّ هَذَا الَّذِي وَضَعْتُ لَكُمْ يَا عِبَادِي فِي هَذِهِ السُّورَةِ حَقٌّ، وإني أوفي لَكُمْ بِجَمِيعِ مَا ضَمَّنْتُ فِي هَذِهِ السُّورَةِ مِنْ وَعْدِي وَلُطْفِي وَبِرِّي. وَ " بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ" مِمَّا أَنْزَلَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فِي كِتَابِنَا وَعَلَى هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ خُصُوصًا بَعْدَ سُلَيْمَانَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ. وَقَالَ بَعْضُ الْعُلَمَاءِ: إِنَّ " بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ" تَضَمَّنَتْ جَمِيعَ الشَّرْعِ، لِأَنَّهَا تَدُلُّ عَلَى الذَّاتِ وَعَلَى الصِّفَاتِ، وَهَذَا صَحِيحٌ. الثَّانِيَةُ قَالَ سَعِيدُ بْنُ أَبِي سُكَيْنَةَ: بَلَغَنِي أَنَّ عَلِيَّ بْنَ أَبِي طَالِبٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ نَظَرَ إِلَى رَجُلٍ يَكْتُبُ " بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ" فَقَالَ لَهُ: جَوِّدْهَا فَإِنَّ رَجُلًا جودها فغفر له. قال سيعد: وَبَلَغَنِي أَنَّ رَجُلَا نَظَرَ إِلَى قِرْطَاسٍ فِيهِ " بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ" فَقَبَّلَهُ وَوَضَعَهُ عَلَى عَيْنَيْهِ فَغُفِرَ لَهُ. وَمِنْ هَذَا الْمَعْنَى قِصَّةُ بِشْرٍ الْحَافِي، فَإِنَّهُ لَمَّا رَفَعَ الرُّقْعَةَ الَّتِي فيها بسم اللَّهِ وَطَيَّبَهَا طُيِّبَ اسْمُهُ «١» ، ذَكَرَهُ الْقُشَيْرِيُّ. وَرَوَى النَّسَائِيُّ عَنْ أَبِي الْمَلِيحِ عَنْ رِدْفِ رَسُولِ الله

(١). نص القصة كما في وفيات الأعيان والرسالة القشيرية:" ... وسبب توبته أنه أصاب في الطريق ورقة مكتوبا فيها اسم الله عز وجل وقد وطئتها الأقدام، فأخذها واشترى بدراهم كانت معه غالية فطيب بها الورقة وجعلها في شق حائط، فرأى في النوم كأن قائلا يقول له: يا بشر، طيبت اسمي لأطيبنك في الدنيا والآخرة فلما انتبه من نومه تاب.