Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (14/351)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

‘Praise belongs to Allah, the One who exalts Islam by His victory, humiliates shirk (idolatry) by His overpowering might, directs all affairs by His command, perpetuates His favors through gratitude, (1) and lures the unbelievers onward by His subtle plan; who has allotted the days to alternate among peoples in perfect justice, has reserved the ultimate triumph for the God-fearing through His bounty, has spread His shade of mercy over His servants, and has made His religion prevail over every other religion. He is the Subduer above His slaves—none can withstand Him; the Manifest over His creation—none can challenge Him; the Commander who decrees whatever He wills—none can appeal His judgment; the Judge who rules as He desires—none can repel His sentence.

I praise Him for the victory and manifest dominance He has granted, (2) for the honor He has bestowed upon His friends and the aid He has given His supporters, and for His cleansing (3) of His Sacred House from the impurities and defilements of idolatry—praise that saturates the innermost secret and the outward proclamation alike. (4)

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, without partner—the One, the Eternal Refuge, who neither begets nor is begotten and to whom no one is comparable—bearing witness from a heart purified by tawḥīd (monotheism) and thereby pleasing its Lord. I also bear witness that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger, the remover of doubt, (5) the demolisher of shirk, the rejecter (6) of falsehood, the one whom Allah transported by night from the Sacred Mosque to this al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, and from within it caused to ascend (7) to the highest heavens, to the Lote-tree of the Utmost Boundary, near which lies the Garden of Refuge: “The sight did not swerve, nor did it transgress.” (Qur’an 53:17)

May Allah bless him, (8) his successor the Truthful, the first to hasten to faith; the Commander of the Believers ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, who was the first to remove from this House the emblem of the crosses; the Commander of the Believers ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, Possessor of the Two Lights and compiler of the Qur’an; the Commander of the Believers ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, the one who shook the foundations of shirk and smashed the idols; (9) and likewise his family, his Companions (10) and all who follow them with excellence.

He then proceeded with an exhortation (11) in which he congratulated those present on what Allah had enabled their hands to accomplish in opening Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), whose qualities are such-and-such. He enumerated its virtues and noble distinctions, (12) stating that it is the First of the Two Qiblahs, the second of the two mosques, and the third of the three sacred sanctuaries; that journeys are not undertaken after the two great mosques except to it, nor are solemn oaths of allegiance clasped after the two holy precincts except upon it. It was to this sanctuary that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was transported by night from the Sacred Mosque; here he led in prayer the nearest angels, as well as the honored prophets and messengers. From it his ascension to the heavens commenced; he then returned to it and journeyed from it to the Sacred Mosque upon al-Burāq. It is a land…"

(1) T reads “wa mazeed.” Al-Rawdatayn, vol. 2, p. 110. (2) T reads “min talihi wa hatlihi allathee azhara” (“from its dew and rainfall which He revealed”). (3) T reads “wa mutahhir bayt al-maqdis” (“and purifier of Bayt al-Maqdis” [Jerusalem]). (4) T reads “ajhāruh” (“its loud recitations”). (5) T reads “al-shukr,” which is a scribal error. (6) The phrase is corrupted in the primary sources; the reading here follows T. (7) From T alone. (8) Absent in T. (9) T reads “al-awthān” (idols). (10) B reads “wa asḥābih” (“and its companions”). (11) A, B read “ala ma” (“according to what”). (12) B reads “maāthirihi wa faḍā’ilihi” (“its merits and virtues”).

"الحمد لله معزّ الإسلام بنصره، ومذلّ الشرك بقهره، ومصرّف الأمور بأمره، ومديم (١) النعم بشكره، ومستدرج الكافرين بمكره، الذي قدّر الأيام، دولًا بعَدْله، وجعل العاقبة للمتقين بفضله، وأفاض على عباده من ظلّه، وأظهر دينه على الديّن كله، القاهر فوق عباده فلا يمانع، والظاهر على خليقته فلا ينازع، والآمر بما يشاء فلا يراجَع، والحاكم بما يريد فلا يدافَع. أحمده على إِظفاره وإِظهاره (٢) ، وإِعزازه لأوليائه ونصره لأنصاره، وتطهيره (٣) بيته المقدس من أدناس الشرك وأوضاره، حمد من استشعر الحمد باطن سرِّه وظاهر جهاره (٤) ، وأشهد أن لا إِله إِلا الله وحده لا شريك له الأحد الصمد، الذي لم يلد ولم يولد، ولم يكن له كفوًا أحد، شهادة مَنْ طهَّر بالتوحيد قلبَه، وأرضى به ربَّه، وأشهد أن محمدًا عبده ورسوله رافع الشكّ (٥) وداحض الشرك، ورافض (٦) الإفك، الذي أسرى به من المسجد الحرام إِلى هذا المسجد الأقصى، وعرج به فيه (٧) إِلى السموات العلى، إِلى سدرة المنتهى عندها جنة المأوى ﴿مَا زَاغَ الْبَصَرُ وَمَا طَغَى﴾ [النجم: ١٧] [صلى الله عليه] (٨) وعلى خليفته الصدِّيق السابق إِلى الإيمان، وعلى أمير المؤمنين عمر بن الخطاب أول مَنْ رفع عن هذا البيت شعارَ الصُّلبان، وعلى أمير المؤمنين عثمان بن عفان ذي النورين جامع القرآن، وعلى أمير المؤمنين علي بن أبي طالب مزلزل الشرك، ومكسّر الأوثان (٩) ، وعلى آله وصحبة (١٠) والتابعين لهم بإِحسان. ثم ذكر الموعظة وهي مشتملة على تغبيط الحاضرين بما (١١) يسّره الله على أيديهم من فتح بيت المقدس، الذي من شأنه كذا وكذا، فذكر فضائله ومآثره (١٢) ، وأنه أُولى القبلتين، وثاني المسجدين، وثالث الحرمين، لا تُشَدُّ الرّحالُ بعد المسجدين إِلا إِليه، ولا تعقد الخناصر بعد المَوْطنين إِلا عليه، وإِليه أُسْرِيَ برسول الله ﷺ من المسجد الحرام، وصلى فيه بالملائكة المقرَّبين والأنبياء والرسل الكرام، ومنه كان المعراج إِلى السموات، ثم عاد إِليه ثم سار منه إِلى المسجد الحرام على البراق، وهو أرض

(١) ط: ومزيد. الروضتين (٢/ ١١٠). (٢) ط: من طله وهطله الذي أظهر. (٣) ط: ومطهر بيت المقدس. (٤) ط: أجهاره. (٥) ط: الشكر. وهو تصحيف. (٦) العبارة مضطربة في الأصول، وما هنا عن ط. (٧) عن ط وحدها. (٨) ليس في ط. (٩) ط: الأوثان. (١٠) ب: وأصحابه. (١١) أ، ب: على ما. (١٢) ب: مآثره وفضائله.