Al-Fawāʾid - Ibn al-Qayyim - (الكتاب/181)

Al-FawāʾidIbn al-Qayyim

times their like, whereas the recompense for forbidden acts is but a single equivalent. This proves that carrying out what He commands is dearer to Him than abstaining from what He forbids; for had the matter been the reverse, a sin would have been recorded as ten and a good deed as one, or at least the two would have been made equal.

Sixteenth approach: The purpose regarding anything prohibited is that it be eradicated and never come into existence—whether one consciously intends that or not, whether it ever crosses one’s mind or not; the aim is simply that it never be. By contrast, the purpose of a commanded act is for it to exist, to be brought into being, and to serve as a means of drawing near to Him in both intention and deed.

The heart of the issue is this: the presence of what He has asked to bring into existence is dearer to Him than the absence of what He has asked to annihilate; and the absence of what He loves is more hateful to Him than the presence of what He detests. Accordingly, His love for the performance of what He commands is greater than His loathing for the commission of what He forbids.

This is clarified by the seventeenth approach: performing what He loves, the help granted toward it, its reward, and the praise and commendation that follow all proceed from His mercy. Committing what He hates, its requital, and the blame, pain, and punishment that ensue all stem from His wrath. His mercy precedes His wrath and prevails over it; everything that issues from the attribute of mercy dominates whatever issues from the attribute of wrath. Indeed, He—glorified be He—is ever and only Merciful, and His mercy is intrinsic to His very essence, just like His knowledge, power, life, hearing, sight, and beneficence; it is impossible for Him to be otherwise. His wrath, however, is not intrinsic to His essence; He is not permanently angry with an unceasing anger. Rather, as His messengers—the most knowledgeable of creation concerning Him—will say on the Day of Resurrection: “My Lord has become angry today with an anger the like of which He has never had before and will never have again.” (1) His mercy has encompassed all things, whereas His wrath has not encompassed all

(1) This is an excerpt from the well-known hadith on intercession; it is cited by al-Bukhari, no. 4712, and Muslim, no. 194, on the authority of Abu Hurayra.

أمثالِ فعلِها، وجزاءُ المنهيَّات مثلٌ واحدٌ، وهذا يدلُّ على أن فعل ما أمر به أحبُّ إليه من ترك ما نهى عنه، ولو كان الأمرُ بالعكس لكانت السيئةُ بعشرةٍ والحسنةُ بواحدةٍ أو تساويَا. الوجه السادس عشر: أنَّ المنهيَّ عنه المقصودُ إعدامُه وأن لا يدخل في الوجود، سواءٌ نوى ذلك أو لم يَنْوه، وسواءٌ خطر بباله أو لم يخطر؛ فالمقصود أن لا يكون، وأما المأمورُ به فالمقصودُ كونه وإيجادُه والتقرُّبُ به نيةً وفعلًا. وسرُّ المسألة: أنَّ وجود ما طلب إيجادَهُ أحبُّ إليه من عدم ما طلب إعدامهُ، وعدم ما أحبَّه أكره إليه من وجود ما يُبْغِضُهُ؛ فمحبتُه لفعل ما أمر به أعظمُ من كراهته لفعل ما نهى عنه. يوضحُه الوجهُ السابع عشر: أنَّ فعل ما يُحِبُّه والإعانة عليه وجزاءه وما يترتَّبُ عليه من المدح والثناء من رحمته، وفعل ما يكرهه وجزاءه وما يترتَّبُ عليه من الذَّمِّ والألم والعقاب من غضبه، ورحمتُه سابقةٌ على غضبه غالبةٌ له، وكل ما كان من صفةِ الرحمة فهو غالبٌ لما كان من صفة الغضب؛ فإنَّه سبحانه لا يكون إلَّا رحيمًا، ورحمتُهُ من لوازم ذاته؛ كعلمه وقدرته وحياته وسمعه وبصره وإحسانه، فيستحيل أن يكون على خلاف ذلك، وليس كذلك غضبه، فإنه ليس من لوازم ذاته، ولا يكون غضبانَ دائمًا غضبًا لا يُتَصَوَّرُ انفكاكُه، بل يقولُ رُسُلُه وأعلمُ الخلق به يوم القيامة: "إن ربي قد غضبَ اليوم غضبًا لم يَغْضَبْ قبله مثله ولن يغضب بعده مثله" (١)، ورحمته وسعت كلَّ شيءٍ وغضبُهُ لم يسع كلَّ

(١) قطعة من حديث الشفاعة المشهور، وقد أخرجه البخاري (٤٧١٢) ومسلم (١٩٤) عن أبي هريرة.