Al-Tafsīr al-Qayyim - Ibn al-Qayyim - (64)

Al-Tafsīr al-QayyimIbn al-Qayyim

and the establishment of the proof on the basis of which the obedient and the disobedient are judged.

Seventh, His being worshipped. He is to be worshipped only through what He loves and is pleased with, and creation has no way of knowing what He loves and is pleased with except through His messengers. Denying His messengers therefore amounts to denying that He is to be worshipped.

Eighth, His guiding to the straight path. This consists in knowing the truth and acting upon it, and it is the shortest path to the desired goal, for a straight line is the shortest line connecting two points. This can be known only through the messengers. Knowledge of it therefore necessarily depends on the messengers, even more than finding one’s way along a physical path depends on sound senses.

Ninth, His bestowing blessings upon those guided to the straight path. His blessing upon them was made complete only by sending messengers to them and making them receptive to the message and responsive to His call. This is the favor and blessing He reminds them of in His Book.

Tenth, the division of His creation into those blessed by Him, those who have incurred His wrath, and those who have gone astray. This division necessarily follows from their differences in knowing the truth and acting upon it: those who know it and act accordingly are the recipients of His blessings; those who know it but obstinately oppose it are those who have incurred His wrath; and those who are ignorant of it are those who have gone astray. This division arose only after the messengers were sent. Were it not for the messengers, they would have been a single community. Their division into these categories is therefore impossible without messengership. Yet this division is an undeniable reality; messengership is therefore necessary.

Through this line of reasoning and the preceding one, you have seen how it contains a refutation of those who deny bodily resurrection and the raising of bodies. You have also recognized how it necessarily entails the reality of reward and punishment, commands and prohibitions. This is the truth in accordance with which, and for the sake of which, the heavens and the earth, this world and the Hereafter were created. It is what creation and command entail; denying it amounts to denying both.

وقيام الحجة التي بسببها يدان المطيع والعاصي. السابع: كونه معبودا. فإنه لا يعبد إلّا بما يحبه ويرضاه، ولا سبيل للخلق إلى معرفة ما يحبه ويرضاه إلا من جهة رسله. فإنكار رسله إنكار لكونه معبودا. الثامن: كونه هاديا إلى الصراط المستقيم. وهو معرفة الحق والعمل به، وهو أقرب الطرق الموصلة إلى المطلوب. فإن الخط المستقيم: هو أقرب خط موصل بين نقطتين، وذلك لا يعلم إلا من جهة الرسل. فتوقفه على الرسل ضروري، أعظم من توقف الطريق الحسي على سلامة الحواس. التاسع: كونه منعما على أهل الهداية إلى الصراط المستقيم. فإن إنعامه عليهم إنما تم بإرسال الرسل إليهم، وجعلهم قابلين الرسالة مستجيبين لدعوته، وبذلك ذكرهم منته عليهم وإنعامه في كتابه. العاشر: انقسام خلقه إلى منعم عليهم، ومغضوب عليهم، وضالين، فإن هذا الانقسام ضروري بحسب انقسامهم في معرفة الحق، والعمل به: إلى عالم به عامل بموجبه، وهم أهل النعمة، وعالم به معاند له، وهم أهل الغضب. وجاهل به، وهم الضالون. وهذا الانقسام إنما نشأ بعد إرسال الرسل. فلولا الرسل لكانوا أمة واحدة. فانقسامهم إلى هذه الأقسام مستحيل بدون الرسالة. وهذا الانقسام ضروري بحسب الواقع. فالرسالة ضرورية. وقد تبين لك بهذه الطريق، والتي قبلها: بيان تضمنها للرد على من أنكر المعاد الجسماني، وقيامة الأبدان، وعرفت اقتضاءها ضرورة ثبوت الثواب والعقاب والأمر والنهى. وهو الحق الذي خلقت به وله السموات والأرض والدنيا والآخرة، وهو مقتضى الخلق والأمر، ونفيه نفي لهما.