Al-Tafsīr al-Qayyim - Ibn al-Qayyim - (614)

Al-Tafsīr al-QayyimIbn al-Qayyim

Section

With this understood, let us discuss the evils from which refuge is sought in these two surahs.

The first is evil in general, mentioned in His words: “From the evil of what He has created.” Here, mā (“what”) can only be a relative pronoun. In this verse, evil is attributed to the created thing—the product of His act—not to the exalted Lord’s act of creation and bringing into being, which contains no evil whatsoever. Evil enters into none of His attributes or acts, just as it cannot attach to His Essence—blessed and exalted is He. His Essence possesses absolute perfection, without deficiency of any kind. Likewise, His attributes possess absolute perfection and complete majesty, without any fault or deficiency whatsoever. His acts, too, are all pure good, containing no evil at all. Were He, glorified is He, to do evil, a name would be derived for Him from it, His names would not all be Most Beautiful, and He would be characterized accordingly. Exalted and holy is our Lord, far above that!

His dealing justly with His servants and punishing those among them who deserve punishment is pure good, for it is nothing but justice and wisdom. It is evil only in relation to them. Thus, evil lies in its relation to them and its presence within them, not in His act that subsists in Him, exalted is He. We do not deny that evil exists in the things He brings into being that are distinct from Him, for He is the Creator of good and evil.

There are, however, two points you should keep in mind.

First: whatever is evil or contains evil can only be something He brings into being that is distinct from Him. It cannot be an attribute of His or one of His acts.

Second: its being evil is relative and depends on its relation to something else. It is good insofar as it is the object of the Lord’s action and creation, and evil insofar as it relates to those for whom it is evil. It therefore has two aspects. In one respect it is good: the respect in which it is attributed to the Creator—glorified and exalted is He—as something He creates, brings into being, and wills. This is because of the profound wisdom it contains, knowledge of which He has reserved to Himself, disclosing whatever He wills of it to whomever He wills among His creation; and most people’s minds are too limited to grasp

فصل فإذا عرف هذا فلنتكلم على الشرور المستعاذ منها في هاتين السورتين. الشر الأول: العام في قوله مِنْ شَرِّ ما خَلَقَ و «ما» هاهنا موصولة ليس إلا. والشر مسند في الآية إلى المخلوق المفعول، لا إلى خلق الرب تعالى الذي هو فعله وتكوينه، فإنه لا شرفيه بوجه ما. فإن الشر لا يدخل في شيء من صفاته، ولا في أفعاله، كما لا يلحق ذاته ﵎. فإن ذاته لها الكمال المطلق، الذي لا نقص فيه بوجه من الوجوه. وأوصافه كذلك لها الكمال المطلق والجلال التام، ولا عيب فيها ولا نقص بوجه ما، وكذلك أفعاله كلها خيرات محضة، لا شر فيها أصلا، ولو فعل الشر سبحانه لاشتق له منه اسم، ولم تكن أسماؤه كلها حسنى، ولعاد إليه منه حكم، تعالى ربنا وتقدس عن ذلك. وما يفعله من العدل بعباده، وعقوبة من يستق العقوبة منهم: هو خير محض إذ هو محض العدل والحكمة، وإنما يكون شرا بالنسبة إليهم. فالشر وقع في تعلقه بهم وقيامه بهم، لا في فعله القائم به تعالى. ونحن لا ننكر أن الشر يكون في مفعولاته المنفصلة فإنه خالق الخير والشر. ولكن هنا أمران ينبغي أن يكونا منك على بال. أحدهما: أن ما هو شر، أو متضمن للشر، فإنه لا يكون إلا مفعولا منفصلا لا يكون وصفا له، ولا فعلا من أفعاله. الثاني: أن كونه شرا هو أمر نسبي إضافي، فهو خير من جهة تعلق فعل الرب وتكوينه به، وشر من جهة نسبته إلى من هو شر في حقه. فله وجهان، هو من أحدهما خير، وهو الوجه الذي نسب منه إلى الخالق ﷾ خلقا وتكوينا ومشيئة، لما فيه من الحكمة البالغة التي استأثر بعلمها، وأطلع من شاء من خلقه على ما شاء منها، وأكثر الناس تضيق عقولهم عن