Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (626)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

(1–3) “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. Alif Lām Mīm. Do people think that they will be left merely because they say, ‘We believe,’ without being tested? We certainly tested those before them. Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.”

Allah Most High tells us of [the perfection of] His wisdom. His wisdom does not dictate that all who say, “I am a believer,” and claim faith for themselves should be allowed to remain free of trials and tribulations, with nothing befalling them that might unsettle their faith and its branches. If that were so, the truthful would not be distinguished from the liars, nor those who uphold the truth from those who uphold falsehood. Rather, His established way and practice among earlier peoples and within this ummah is to test them through prosperity and adversity, hardship and ease, willingness and reluctance, wealth and poverty, by sometimes giving their enemies the upper hand over them, by requiring them to strive against their enemies in word and deed, and by other such trials. All these ultimately come down to the trial of specious doubts that conflict with one’s creed and desires that conflict with one’s will.

Whoever, when specious doubts arise, remains firm in faith without wavering and repels them (1) with the truth he possesses; and, when desires arise that impel and entice him toward acts of disobedience and sin or turn him away from what Allah and His Messenger have commanded, acts in accordance with faith and strives against his desires—this demonstrates the genuineness and soundness of his faith.

But if specious doubts, when they arise, sow uncertainty and misgiving in a person’s heart, and desires, when they present themselves, turn him toward sins or divert him from obligatory duties, this demonstrates that his faith is neither sound nor genuine.

People occupy degrees in this regard known only to Allah, some to a lesser and others to a greater degree. We therefore ask Allah Most High to make us firm with the firm word in the life of this world and in the Hereafter, and to keep our hearts steadfast upon His religion. Testing and examination are to souls like a furnace: they bring out both their dross and their purity.

(1) Thus in manuscript B; manuscript A reads: “and repels it.”

﴿١-٣﴾ ﴿بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ الم * أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لا يُفْتَنُونَ * وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ﴾ . يخبر تعالى عن [تمام] حكمته وأن حكمته لا تقتضي أن كل من قال " إنه مؤمن " وادعى لنفسه الإيمان، أن يبقوا في حالة يسلمون فيها من الفتن والمحن، ولا يعرض لهم ما يشوش عليهم إيمانهم وفروعه، فإنهم لو كان الأمر كذلك، لم يتميز الصادق من الكاذب، والمحق من المبطل، ولكن سنته وعادته في الأولين وفي هذه الأمة، أن يبتليهم بالسراء والضراء، والعسر واليسر، والمنشط والمكره، والغنى والفقر، وإدالة الأعداء عليهم في بعض الأحيان، ومجاهدة الأعداء بالقول والعمل ونحو ذلك من الفتن، التي ترجع كلها إلى فتنة الشبهات المعارضة للعقيدة، والشهوات المعارضة للإرادة، فمن كان عند ورود الشبهات يثبت إيمانه ولا يتزلزل، ويدفعها (١) بما معه من الحق وعند ورود الشهوات الموجبة والداعية إلى المعاصي والذنوب، أو الصارفة عن ما أمر الله به ورسوله، يعمل بمقتضى الإيمان، ويجاهد شهوته، دل ذلك على صدق إيمانه وصحته. ومن كان عند ورود الشبهات تؤثر في قلبه شكا وريبا، وعند اعتراض الشهوات تصرفه إلى المعاصي أو تصدفه عن الواجبات، دلَّ ذلك على عدم صحة إيمانه وصدقه. والناس في هذا المقام درجات لا يحصيها إلا الله، فمستقل ومستكثر، فنسأل الله تعالى أن يثبتنا بالقول الثابت في الحياة الدنيا وفي الآخرة، وأن يثبت قلوبنا على دينه، فالابتلاء والامتحان للنفوس بمنزلة الكير، يخرج خبثها وطيبها.

(١) كذا في ب وفي أ: ويدفعه.