Al-Tafsīr al-Qayyim - Ibn al-Qayyim - (616)

Al-Tafsīr al-QayyimIbn al-Qayyim

Thus, the evil is the punishment he suffers. As for what is attributed to the Lord in this—His will, intent, and action—it is goodness and wisdom itself.

Do not let a thick veil keep you from understanding this momentous truth and this secret, which gives you insight into divine decree and opens the way to Allah and to knowing His wisdom, mercy, and kindness toward His creation. Just as He, glorified is He, is the Kind, the Merciful, the Loving, and the Beneficent, He is also the All-Wise, the Sovereign, and the Just. His wisdom does not contradict His mercy. Rather, He places His mercy, goodness, and kindness where they belong, and His punishment, justice, retribution, and might where they belong. Both are entailed by His might and wisdom, for He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. It does not befit His wisdom to bestow His pleasure and mercy where punishment and anger belong, nor to inflict His anger and punishment where His pleasure and mercy belong.

Pay no heed to the claim of someone veiled from Allah by a thick veil: that these two courses are entirely equal in relation to Him, with no difference whatsoever, and that everything is merely a matter of will, without cause or wisdom.

Reflect on the Quran from beginning to end, and you will find that it fully refutes this claim, rejects it most emphatically, and declares the Lord far above it. Thus, the Most High says:

68: 35, 36 “Shall We then treat the Muslims like the criminals? What is wrong with you? How do you judge?”

And He says:

45: 21 “Or do those who commit evil deeds think that We will make them like those who believe and do righteous deeds, equal in their life and their death? How evil is their judgment!”

And He says:

38: 28 “Or shall We treat those who believe and do righteous deeds like those who spread corruption on earth? Or shall We treat the God-fearing like the wicked?”

He, glorified is He, thus rebukes those who entertain this evil thought about Him and declares Himself far above it.

This shows that sound human nature and sound reason recognize that such a thing cannot be and does not befit His wisdom, might, and divinity. There is no god but Him; exalted is He, far above what the ignorant say.

Allah has endowed His servants’ minds with an innate sense that it is abhorrent to put punishment and retribution in the place of

فالشر: ما قام به من تلك العقوبة. وأما ما نسب إلى الرب منها من المشيئة والإرادة والفعل فهو عين الخير والحكمة. فلا يغلظ حجابك عن فهم هذا النبأ العظيم. والسر الذي يطلعك على مسألة القدر ويفتح لك الطريق إلى الله، ومعرفة حكمته ورحمته، وإحسانه إلى خلقه، وأنه سبحانه: كما أنه البر الرحيم الودود المحسن، فهو الحكيم الملك العدل، فلا تناقض حكمته رحمته. بل يضع رحمته وبره وإحسانه موضعه، ويضع عقوبته وعدله وانتقامه وبأسه موضعه، وكلاهما مقتضى عزته وحكمته وهو العزيز الحكيم، فلا يليق بحكمته أن يضع رضاه ورحمته موضع العقوبة والغضب، ولا أن يضع غضبه وعقوبته موضع رضاه ورحمته. ولا يلتفت إلى قول من غلظ حجابه عن الله: إن الأمرين بالنسبة إليه على حد سواء، ولا فرق أصلا، وإنما هو محض المشيئة بلا سبب ولا حكمة. وتأمل القرآن من أوله إلى آخره كيف تجده كفيلا بالرد على هذه المقالة، وإنكارها أشد الإنكار، وتنزيه الرب نفسه عنها، كقوله تعالى: ٦٨: ٣٥، ٣٦ أَفَنَجْعَلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ كَالْمُجْرِمِينَ ما لَكُمْ كَيْفَ تَحْكُمُونَ؟ وقوله: ٤٥: ٢١ أَمْ حَسِبَ الَّذِينَ اجْتَرَحُوا السَّيِّئاتِ أَنْ نَجْعَلَهُمْ كَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحاتِ سَواءً مَحْياهُمْ وَمَماتُهُمْ ساءَ ما يَحْكُمُونَ وقوله: ٣٨: ٢٨ أَمْ نَجْعَلُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحاتِ كَالْمُفْسِدِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ، أَمْ نَجْعَلُ الْمُتَّقِينَ كَالْفُجَّارِ فأنكر سبحانه على من ظن به هذا الظن السيء، ونزه نفسه عنه. فدل على أنه مستقر في الفطر والعقول السليمة: أن هذا لا يكون ولا يليق بحكمته وعزته وإلهيته لا إله إلا هو، تعالى عما يقول الجاهلون علوا كبيرا. وقد فطر الله عقول عباده على استقباح وضع العقوبة والانتقام في موضع