Al-Tafsīr al-Qayyim - Ibn al-Qayyim - (195)

Al-Tafsīr al-QayyimIbn al-Qayyim

If you say, “I have understood how to reason from His words and His creation. Explain to me, then, how to reason from His names and attributes, for this is something unfamiliar to us in our discussions and books.”

I reply: Indeed, by the life of Allah, it is as you say; yet this form of reasoning is far loftier and more sublime. For the Lord Most High is the One whose existence is demonstrated, while His signs furnish the evidence and proof.

Know, then, that Allah, glorified be He, is in reality the One who points to Himself through His signs. He is truly the Guide of His servants through the indications and signs He has established for them. He has implanted in innate dispositions untainted by blind imitation, negation of His attributes, and rejection the knowledge that He is perfect in His names and attributes, possesses every perfection, and is free from every fault and deficiency.

All perfection, majesty, splendor, might, greatness, and grandeur are inseparable from His essence; it is impossible for Him to be otherwise. Life in all its fullness is His; all knowledge is His; all power is His. Hearing, sight, will, volition, mercy, self-sufficiency, generosity, beneficence, and goodness all belong exclusively to Him and subsist in Him. The perfection of His that remains hidden from creation is vastly greater than what they know of Him. Indeed, what they know bears no proportion to what they do not know.

Among the aspects of His transcendent perfection are His awareness of everything and His witnessing it: not a single detail or particle of it, inward or outward, escapes Him. Such being His nature, how can it be fitting for His servants to associate others with Him, worship others alongside Him, and set up another god beside Him? And how could it be consistent with His perfection to allow someone to persist in telling the gravest lies about Him and misrepresenting the truth concerning Him, then grant that person victory in doing so, support him, cause his message to prevail, raise his standing, answer his supplication, destroy his enemy, and manifest through him signs and proofs beyond the capacity of human beings to match—all while that person is lying about Him, fabricating falsehoods, and spreading corruption on earth?

It is well known that His witnessing all things and His power over all things,

فإن قلت: قد فهمت الاستدلال بكلماته، والاستدلال بمخلوقاته، فبين لي كيفية الاستدلال بأسمائه وصفاته. فإن ذلك أمر لا عهد لنا به في تخاطبنا وكتبنا. قلت: أجل، وهو لعمر الله كما ذكرت، وشأنه أجل وأعلى. فإن الرب تعالى هو المدلول عليه وآياته هي الدليل والبرهان. فاعلم أن الله سبحانه- في الحقيقة- هو الدال على نفسه بآياته. فهو الدليل لعباده في الحقيقة بما نصبه لهم من الدلالات والآيات. وقد أودع في الفطر التي لم تتنجس بالتقليد والتعطيل والجحود: أنه سبحانه الكامل في أسمائه وصفاته، وأنه الموصوف بكل كمال، المنزه عن كل عيب ونقص. فالكمال كله والجلال، والبهاء والعزة والعظمة والكبرياء: كله من لوازم ذاته، يستحيل أن يكون على غيره ذلك. فالحياة كلها له، والعلم كله له، والقدرة كلها له، والسمع، والبصر والإرادة، والمشيئة والرحمة، والغناء والجود، والإحسان والبر: كله خاص له، قائم به. وما خفي على الخلق من كماله أعظم وأعظم مما عرفوه منه، بل لا نسبة لما عرفوه من ذلك إلى ما لم يعرفوه. ومن كماله المقدس: اطلاعه على كل شيء، وشهادته عليه. بحيث لا يغيب عنه وجه من وجوه تفاصيله، ولا ذرة من ذراته باطنا وظاهرا. ومن هذا شأنه، كيف يليق بالعباد أن يشركوا به غيره، وأن يعبدوا معه غيره، ويجعلوا معه إلها آخر؟ وكيف يليق بكماله أن يقرّ من يكذب عليه أعظم الكذب، ويخبر عنه بخلاف ما الأمر عليه، ثم ينصره على ذلك، ويؤيده ويعلي كلمته، ويرفع شأنه ويجيب دعوته، ويهلك عدوه، ويظهر على يديه من الآيات والبراهين ما يعجز عن مثله قوى البشر؟ وهو مع ذلك كاذب عليه مفتر، ساع في الأرض بالفساد. ومعلوم أن شهادته سبحانه على كل شيء، وقدرته على كل شيء،