Hidāyat al-Ḥayārā - Ibn al-Qayyim - (الكتاب/449)

Hidāyat al-ḤayārāIbn al-Qayyim

For this very reason (1) Allah sent His messengers, “so that they might bring mankind” (2) out of darkness into light. Whoever responds to them emerges into spaciousness, brightness, and radiance; whereas whoever refuses remains confined to the constriction and gloom in which he was created—namely, the darkness of innate disposition, the darkness of ignorance, the darkness of passion, and the darkness of heedlessness toward his own soul, its perfection, and the means to its happiness in this life and the next.

All of these (3) are layers of darkness in which the servant is born, so Allah dispatched His messengers to draw him out of them into the light (4) of knowledge, understanding, faith, and guidance, without which the soul can never find true happiness. Whoever is denied this light is denied his portion, his completeness, and his felicity, and he comes to flounder amid darknesses, one upon another: his entrance is darkness, his exit is darkness, his speech is darkness, his action is darkness, his intention is darkness. He gropes about in the murk of his temperament, his desires, and his ignorance; his heart is dark, and his face (5) is dark, for he persists in the original darkness, and nothing of words, deeds, aims, or beliefs suits him except their darkness.

Should even a glimmer of the prophetic light reach him, it would be like the sun shining upon the eyes of a bat (6).

= Al-Ummah, vol. 7, p. 401, who graded the report “hasan.” Al-Hakim, vol. 1, pp. 30-31, said: “This is a sahih (sound) hadith transmitted by the leading authorities; al-Bukhari and Muslim relied on all of its narrators, though they did not record it, and I know of no defect in it.” Al-Dhahabi added: “It meets their criteria and has no flaw,” and Ibn Hibban likewise classed it as sahih. See al-Haythami, Mawarid al-Zam’an, p. 449. (1) In manuscripts Ṣ and Gh the reading is: “wa-kadhālika” (likewise). (2) In Gh: “li-l-nās li-yukhrijuhum” (for the people, to lead them out). (3) In Gh and Ṣ: “jamī‘uhā” (all of it). (4) Omitted in Ṣ and D. (5) Omitted in J. (6) In B, Gh, and J: “baṣā’ir” (insights).

ولذلك (١) بَعَثَ اللهُ رُسُلَه (لِيُخْرِجُوا النَّاسَ) (٢) من الظُّلماتِ إلى النُّور، فمَنْ أجابهم: خرجَ إلى الفَضَاءِ والنُّورِ والضِّياءِ، ومَنْ لم يُجبْهم: بَقِيَ في الضِّيق والظُّلْمَةِ التي خُلِق فيها، وهي: ظلمة الطَّبْع، وَظلمة الجهلِ، وظلمة الهوى، وظلمة الغَفْلة عن نفسه وكمالها، وما تسعد به في معاشِهَا ومَعَادِهَا. فهذه كلُّها (٣) ظلماتٌ، خُلِقَ فيها العبد، فَبَعَثَ اللهُ رسلَه لإخراجه منها إلى نور (٤) العِلْم والمعرفةِ والإيمان والهدى الذي لا سعادةَ للنفس بدونه البتَّة، فمن أخطاه هذا النورُ: أخطأه حظُّه وكمالُه وسعادتُه، وصار يتقلَّب في ظلماتٍ بعضُها فوق بعض، فمدخلُه ظلمةٌ، ومخرجُه ظلمةٌ، وقولُه ظلمةٌ، وعَمَلُه ظلمةٌ، وقَصْدُه ظلمةٌ، وهو متخبِّطٌ في ظلماتِ طبعِه وهواهُ وجهلِهِ، وقَلْبُه مظلمٌ، ووجهُه (٥) مظلمٌ، لأنه يبقى على الظلمةِ الأصليَّةِ، ولا يناسِبُه من الأقوالِ والأعمالِ والإرادة والعقائد إلا ظلماتُها. فلو أشْرَقَ له شيءٌ من نور النبوَّة لكان بمنزلة إشراقِ الشمس على بصر (٦) الخُفَّاش.

= الأمة: (٧/ ٤٠١) وقال: "هذا حديث حسن"، والحاكم: (١/ ٣٠ - ٣١). وقال: "هذا حديث صحيح تداوله الأئمة، وقد احتجا بجميع رواته، ثم لم يخرجاه، ولا أعلم له علة". وقال الذهبي: "على شرطهما ولا علة له"، وصححه ابن حبان. انظر: "موارد الظمآن" للهيثمي، ص (٤٤٩). (١) في "ص، غ": "وكذلك". (٢) في "غ": "للناس ليخرجوهم". (٣) في "غ، ص": "جميعها". (٤) ساقط من "ص، د". (٥) ساقط من "ج". (٦) في "ب، غ، ج": "بصائر".