Al-Fawāʾid - Ibn al-Qayyim - (الكتاب/37)

Al-FawāʾidIbn al-Qayyim

—is a means of seeking closeness through His attributes and actions, for these are what His Names embody.

• His words, “that You make the Quran the spring of my heart and the light of my chest,” liken the Quran to spring rain. Al-rabīʿ is the rain that revives the earth; the Prophet compared the Quran to it because it quickens hearts. Allah likewise compares it to rain, pairing the water that gives life with the light that brings illumination and radiance. He unites the two in His saying, “He sends down water from the sky, so that valleys flow according to their measure; the torrent carries a swelling foam…” (13:17), and in His saying, “Their likeness is that of one who kindled a fire; when it lit up what was around him, Allah took away their light” (2:17), followed by, “or like a rain-storm from the sky” (2:19). Again He says, “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His light…” (24:35), and then, “Do you not see that Allah drives the clouds, then joins them together…” (24:43).

Thus the supplication asks that his heart be enlivened by the springtime of the Quran and that his chest be illuminated by it, so that life and light come together for him. Allah says, “Is one who was dead and We gave him life and set for him a light by which he walks among the people like one who is in layers of darkness, unable to come out of them?” (6:122).

Because the chest is wider than the heart, the light that reaches the chest then flows into the heart, having first entered the broader space. And since the life of the body and all its limbs depends on the life of the heart, that life passes from the heart to the chest and then to the limbs; therefore the Prophet asked that life be granted to it through the ‘spring’ that is its source.

Grief, worry and distress oppose the life and illumination of the heart, so he asked that their removal come about through the Quran, for in that case they are least likely to return. If they depart because of health, worldly fortune, social standing, a spouse or a child, they will come back whenever those causes vanish.

As for the unpleasant feeling that reaches the heart: if it concerns something in the past, it produces

وسيلةٌ بصفاتِهِ وأفعالِهِ التي هي مدلولُ أسمائِهِ. • وقولُهُ: "أنْ تجعل القُرْان ربيعَ قلبي ونورَ صدري": الربيعُ: المطرُ الذي يُحيي الأرض؛ شبَّه القرآن به لحياة القلوب به، وكذلك شبَّهَهُ الله بالمطر، وجمع بين الماء الذي تحصُلُ به الحياةُ والنور الذي تحصل به الإضاءة والإشراق؛ كما جمع بينهما سبحانه في قوله: ﴿أَنْزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَسَالتْ أَوْدِيَةٌ بِقَدَرِهَا فَاحْتَمَلَ السَّيلُ زَبَدًا رَابِيًا وَمِمَّا يُوقِدُونَ عَلَيهِ فِي النَّارِ ابْتِغَاءَ حِلْيَةٍ﴾ [الرعد: ١٧]. وفي قوله: ﴿مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا فَلَمَّا أَضَاءَتْ مَا حَوْلَهُ ذَهَبَ اللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمْ﴾ [البقرة: ١٧]، ثم قال: ﴿أَوْ كَصَيِّبٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ﴾ [البقرة: ١٩]. وفي قوله: ﴿اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ﴾ الآيات [النور: ٣٥]. ثم قال: ﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُزْجِي سَحَابًا ثُمَّ يُؤَلِّفُ بَينَهُ﴾ الآية [النور: ٤٣]. فتضمَّنَ الدعاءُ أن يُحيي قلبه بربيع القرآن وأن يُنَوِّرَ به صدرهُ فتجتمع له الحياةُ والنورُ؛ قال تعالى: ﴿أَوَمَنْ كَانَ مَيتًا فَأَحْيَينَاهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُ نُورًا يَمْشِي بِهِ فِي النَّاسِ كَمَنْ مَثَلُهُ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ لَيسَ بِخَارِجٍ مِنْهَا﴾ [الأنعام: ١٢٢]. ولما كان الصدرُ أوسع من القلب؛ كان النورُ الحاصلُ له يَسرِي منهُ إلى القلب؛ لأنَّه قد حصل لما هو أوسعُ منه. ولما كانتْ حياةُ البدنِ والجوارح كلِّها بحياة القلب، تَسرِي الحياةُ منه إلى الصدرِ ثم إلى الجوارح؛ سألَ الحياة له بالربيع الذي هو مادتُها. ولما كان الحُزْنُ والهمُّ والغمُّ يُضادُّ حياة القلبِ واستنارتَهُ؛ سألَ أن يكون ذَهابُها بالقرآن؛ فإنَّها أحرى أن لا تعود، وأما إذا ذَهبتْ بغير القرآن من صحةٍ أو دنيا أو جاهٍ أو زوجةٍ أو ولدٍ؛ فإنَّها تعودُ بذهاب ذلك. والمكروه الواردُ على القلب: إن كان من أمرٍ ماضٍ؛ أحدث