Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (270)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

(114, 115) “Should I seek a judge other than Allah, when it is He who has sent down to you the Book fully explained? Those to whom We gave the Scripture know that it has been sent down from your Lord in truth, so do not be among those who doubt. The Word of your Lord has been perfected in truth and justice. None can change His words, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.”

That is: Say, O Messenger, “Should I seek a judge other than Allah”—one to whom I would submit my disputes and by whose commands and prohibitions I would abide? Everything other than Allah is subject to judgment and is not itself the Judge. Every plan and judgment devised by a created being is marked by deficiency, defect, and injustice. The only One who must be taken as Judge is Allah alone, without partner, for creation and command belong to Him.

“He who has sent down to you the Book fully explained”; that is, it clearly sets forth what is lawful and unlawful, the rulings of the Sacred Law, and the foundations and branches of religion. Its exposition is unsurpassed, no proof is clearer than its proof, no judgment is better than its judgment, and no word is more upright than its word, for its rulings embody wisdom and mercy.

The people of the earlier scriptures—the Jews and Christians—acknowledge this and “know that it has been sent down from your Lord in truth.” The reports concerning this therefore concur. Thus, do not entertain any doubt about it, nor “be among those who doubt.”

He then described this detailed exposition, saying, “The Word of your Lord has been perfected in truth and justice”; that is, truthfulness in its accounts and justice in its commands and prohibitions. No accounts are more truthful than those of Allah, which He has placed in this mighty Book, and no commands or prohibitions are more just than His. “None can change His words” [for He has preserved and perfected them with the highest degree of truthfulness and the utmost truth; they cannot be altered, nor can anything better be proposed] (1).

“And He is the All-Hearing” of every voice, despite the diversity of languages and the manifold variety of needs; “the All-Knowing,” whose knowledge encompasses outward and inward matters, as well as the past and the future.

(1) An addition from the margin of manuscript B, in the shaykh’s handwriting—may Allah have mercy on him.

﴿١١٤، ١١٥﴾ ﴿أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ أَبْتَغِي حَكَمًا وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكِتَابَ مُفَصَّلا وَالَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ مُنَزَّلٌ مِنْ رَبِّكَ بِالْحَقِّ فَلا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ * وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقًا وَعَدْلا لا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ﴾ . أي: قل يا أيها الرسول ﴿أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ أَبْتَغِي حَكَمًا﴾ أحاكم إليه، وأتقيد بأوامره ونواهيه. فإن غير الله محكوم عليه لا حاكم. وكل تدبير وحكم للمخلوق فإنه مشتمل على النقص، والعيب، والجور، وإنما الذي يجب أن يتخذ حاكما، فهو الله وحده لا شريك له، الذي له الخلق والأمر. ﴿الَّذِي أَنزلَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكِتَابَ مُفَصَّلا﴾ أي: موضَّحا فيه الحلال والحرام، والأحكام الشرعية، وأصول الدين وفروعه، الذي لا بيان فوق بيانه، ولا برهان أجلى من برهانه، ولا أحسن منه حكما ولا أقوم قيلا لأن أحكامه مشتملة على الحكمة والرحمة. وأهل الكتب السابقة، من اليهود والنصارى، يعترفون بذلك ﴿ويَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ مُنزلٌ مِنْ رَبِّكَ بِالْحَقِّ﴾ ولهذا، تواطأت الإخبارات ﴿فَلا﴾ تشُكَّنَّ في ذلك ولا ﴿تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ﴾ . ثم وصف تفصيلها فقال: ﴿وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقًا وَعَدْلا﴾ أي: صدقا في الأخبار، وعدلا في الأمر والنهي. فلا أصدق من أخبار الله التي أودعها هذا الكتاب العزيز، ولا أعدل من أوامره ونواهيه ﴿لا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ﴾ [حيث حفظها وأحكمها بأعلى أنواع الصدق، وبغاية الحق، فلا يمكن تغييرها، ولا اقتراح أحسن منها] (١) . ﴿وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ﴾ لسائر الأصوات، باختلاف اللغات على تفنن الحاجات. ﴿الْعَلِيمُ﴾ الذي أحاط علمه بالظواهر والبواطن، والماضي والمستقبل.

(١) زيادة من هامش ب بخط الشيخ ﵀.