Al-Tafsīr al-Qayyim - Ibn al-Qayyim - (42)

Al-Tafsīr al-QayyimIbn al-Qayyim

a messenger who, by His permission, reveals what He wills.”

He thus distinguishes between speaking by revelation, speaking through sending a messenger, and speaking from behind a veil.

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The second rank: revelation exclusive to the prophets. Allah Most High says:

4:163 “Indeed, We have revealed to you as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him.”

He also says:

42:51 “It is not for a human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a veil”—to the end of the verse.

In this verse, He makes revelation a category of speech, whereas in the verse in Sūrat al-Nisā’ He presents it as a category distinct from speech. These are two different perspectives: revelation is distinct from speech in the specific sense of speaking without an intermediary, but falls within speech in the general sense of conveying meaning through various means. Linguistically, revelation means swift, hidden communication. Its verb takes the forms wahā and awhā. Ru’yah said:

… He communicated with it, and it came to rest.

It has several categories, as we shall explain.

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The third rank: sending an angelic messenger to a human messenger, who then receives through him, from Allah, whatever the angel has been commanded to convey.

These three ranks belong exclusively to the prophets; no one else receives them. This angelic messenger may appear to the human messenger as a man whom he sees with his own eyes and who speaks to him. He may also see the angel in the form in which he was created. Or the angel may enter into him and reveal to him whatever he reveals, then disengage from him—that is, withdraw. All three occurred with our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

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The fourth rank: receiving inspired communication. This is below the rank of revelation exclusive to the prophets, and below the rank of those of consummate truthfulness. It was granted to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Among the nations before you were men who received inspired communication. If there is anyone in this

رَسُولًا فَيُوحِيَ بِإِذْنِهِ ما يَشاءُ ففرق بين تكليم الوحي، والتكليم بإرسال الرسول، والتكليم من وراء حجاب. فصل المرتبة الثانية: مرتبة الوحي المختص بالأنبياء. قال الله تعالى: ٤: ١٦٣ إِنَّا أَوْحَيْنا إِلَيْكَ كَما أَوْحَيْنا إِلى نُوحٍ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ وقال: ٤٢: ٥١ وَما كانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَنْ يُكَلِّمَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَّا وَحْياً أَوْ مِنْ وَراءِ حِجابٍ- الآية فجعل الوحي في هذه الآية قسما من أقسام التكليم وجعله في آية النساء قسيما للتكليم، وذلك باعتبارين: فإنه قسيم التكليم الخاص الذي بلا واسطة، وقسم من التكليم العام الذي هو إيصال المعنى بطرق متعددة، والوحي في اللغة: هو الإعلام السريع الخفي، ويقال في فعله: وحى، وأوحى- قال رؤية ... وحى لها فاستقرت وهو أقسام، كما سنذكره. فصل المرتبة الثالثة: إرسال الرسول الملكي إلى الرسول البشري. فيوحي إليه عن الله ما أمره أن يوصله إليه. فهذه المراتب الثلاث خاصة بالأنبياء، لا تكون لغيرهم، ثم هذا الرسول الملكي قد يتمثل للرسول البشري رجلا، يراه عيانا ويخاطبه، وقد يراه على صورته التي خلق عليها، وقد يدخل فيه الملك، ويوحي إليه ما يوحيه، ثم يفصم عنه، أي يقلع. والثلاثة حصلت لنبينا ﷺ. فصل المرتبة الرابعة: مرتبة التحديث. وهذه دون مرتبة الوحي الخاص، وتكون دون مرتبة الصديقين، كما كانت لعمر بن الخطاب ﵁، كما قال النبي ﷺ: «إنه كان في الأمم قبلكم محدّثون، فإن يكن في هذه