Al-Tafsīr al-Qayyim - Ibn al-Qayyim - (398)

Al-Tafsīr al-QayyimIbn al-Qayyim

they are content with and trust, giving them precedence over the Sunnah and the Quran. “There is nothing in their hearts but pride, whose aim they will never attain.” This pride arises from following their desires and from satanic arrogance, and it drives them to dispute Allah’s signs without any authority.

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The second category consists of people of ignorance and wrongdoing, who combine ignorance of what the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, brought with wronging themselves by following their desires. Of them Allah Most High says:

53:23 “They follow nothing but conjecture and what their souls desire, even though guidance has already come to them from their Lord.”

These people fall into two groups:

The first are those who imagine themselves to possess knowledge and guidance, although they are people of ignorance and misguidance. Their ignorance is compounded by their belief that they know: they are ignorant of the truth and hostile to its people; they champion falsehood, adhere to it, and ally themselves with its people.

58:18 “They think they have something to stand on. Indeed, it is they who are the liars.”

Because they believe things to be other than they really are, they resemble someone who sees a mirage, which a thirsty person mistakes for water until, upon reaching it, he finds nothing. Likewise, these people’s deeds and knowledge resemble a mirage that does not betray the one relying on it when he needs it most. His plight is not confined to mere disappointment and deprivation, as with someone who makes for a mirage but finds no water. Added to this is that he finds there the wisest of judges and the most just of all, glorified and exalted is He. He reckons up his knowledge and deeds and repays him in full, down to the weight of the smallest particles.

He turns to the deeds whose benefit that person had hoped for and makes them scattered dust, since they were neither sincerely devoted to Him nor in accordance with the Sunnah of His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Those false doubts that he imagined to be beneficial knowledge likewise become scattered dust. Thus his deeds and knowledge become sources of bitter regret for him.

قد رضوا بها واطمأنوا إليها، وقدموها على السنة والقرآن إِنْ فِي صُدُورِهِمْ إِلَّا كِبْرٌ ما هُمْ بِبالِغِيهِ أوجبه لهم اتباع الهوى، ونخوة الشيطان، وهم لأجله يجادلون في آيات الله بغير سلطان. فصل القسم الثاني: أهل الجهل والظلم، الذين جمعوا بين الجهل بما جاء به رسول الله ﷺ، والظلم لأنفسهم باتباع أهوائهم، الذين قال الله تعالى فيهم ٥٣: ٢٣ إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَما تَهْوَى الْأَنْفُسُ. وَلَقَدْ جاءَهُمْ مِنْ رَبِّهِمُ الْهُدى. وهؤلاء قسمان: أحدهما: الذين يحسبون أنهم على علم وهدى، وهم أهل الجهل والضلال، فهؤلاء أهل الجهل المركب، الذين يجهلون الحق ويعادون أهله، وينصرون الباطل ويوالونه، ويوالون أهله ٥٨: ١٨ وَيَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ عَلى شَيْءٍ، أَلا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْكاذِبُونَ. فهم لاعتقادهم الشيء على خلاف ما هو عليه بمنزلة رائي السراب، الذي يحسبه الظمآن ماء حتى إذا جاءه لم يجده شيئا. وهكذا هؤلاء أعمالهم وعلومهم بمنزلة السراب الذي لا يخون صاحبه أحوج ما هو إليه. ولم يقتصر على مجرد الخيبة والحرمان. كما هو حال من أمّ السراب فلم يجده ماء، بل انضاف إلى ذلك: أنه وجد عنده أحكم الحاكمين، وأعدل العادلين ﷾، فحسب له ما عنده من العلم والعمل، فوفاه إياه بمثاقيل الذر. وقدم إلى ما عمل من عمل يرجو نفعه، فجعله هباء منثورا، إذ لم يكن خالصا لوجهه، ولا على سنة رسوله ﷺ، وصارت تلك الشبهات الباطلة التي كان يظنها علوما نافعة كذلك هباء منثورا، فصارت أعماله وعلومه حسرات عليه.