Majmu' al-Fatawa - Ibn Taimiya - (5/488)

Majmu' al-FatawaIbn Taimiya

namely, remoteness and veiling. Remoteness and distancing are governed by His will, while boundaries and regions are veils belonging to His creation.”

He went on to say:

“‘He is Allah in the heavens and on earth.’

‘Then He rose over the Throne.’

‘And He is with you wherever you are.’

He is neither joined to creation nor separate from it, neither in contact with the universe nor distant from it. Rather, He stands alone in Himself, unique in His attributes. He is not paired with anything, nor is anything coupled with Him. He is nearer than anything, with a nearness that is His attribute, and He encompasses everything with an encompassing that is His attribute. He is with everything, above everything, before everything and behind everything, through His exaltedness and His closeness, which is His nearness. He is beyond the surrounding expanse that lies beyond the bearers of the Throne, and He is nearer than the jugular vein, which is the spirit. Yet He is above everything and encompasses everything.

In all this, He, exalted is He, is not a place for anything, nor is anything a place for Him. Nothing is like Him in any of this. He has no partner in His dominion, no helper in His creation, no equal among His servants, and none resembles Him in His bringing things into existence. He is First in His lastness, with a firstness that is His attribute; Last in His firstness, with a lastness that is His attribute; Hidden in His manifestness, with a hiddenness that is His nearness; and Manifest in His hiddenness, with a manifestness that is His exaltedness. He has always thus been First and will forever thus be Last; He has always thus been Hidden and will forever thus be Manifest.”

He went on to say:

“He is upon His Throne, as He has declared concerning Himself. The Throne is the uppermost boundary of His creation, but He is not bounded by His Throne. The Throne needs a place, whereas the Lord, mighty and majestic, has no need of it. As He, exalted is He, says:

‘The All-Merciful rose over the Throne.’

‘The All-Merciful’ is a name, and rising over the Throne

وَهُوَ الْبُعْدُ وَالْحَجْبُ فَالْبُعْدُ وَالْإِبْعَادُ حُكْمُ مَشِيئَتِهِ وَالْحُدُودُ وَالْأَقْطَارُ حُجُبُ بَرِيَّتِهِ. إلَى أَنْ قَالَ: {وَهُوَ اللَّهُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَفِي الْأَرْضِ} {ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ} {وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْ} غَيْرُ مُتَّصِلٍ بِالْخَلْقِ وَلَا مُفَارِقٍ وَغَيْرُ مُمَاسٍّ لِلْكَوْنِ وَلَا مُتَبَاعِدٍ بَلْ مُنْفَرِدٌ بِنَفْسِهِ مُتَوَحِّدٌ بِوَصْفِهِ لَا يَزْدَوِجُ إلَى شَيْءٍ وَلَا يَقْتَرِنُ بِهِ شَيْءٌ أَقْرَبُ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ بِقُرْبِ هُوَ وَصْفُهُ وَهُوَ مُحِيطٌ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ بِحَيْطَةِ هِيَ نَعْتُهُ وَهُوَ مَعَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَأَمَامَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَوَرَاءَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ؛ بِعُلُوِّهِ وَدُنُوِّهِ وَهُوَ قُرْبُهُ؛ فَهُوَ وَرَاءَ الْحَوْلِ الَّذِي هُوَ وَرَاءَ حَمَلَةِ الْعَرْشِ وَهُوَ أَقْرَبُ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ الَّذِي هُوَ الرُّوحُ وَهُوَ مَعَ ذَلِكَ فَوْقَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُوَ مُحِيطٌ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَلَيْسَ هُوَ تَعَالَى فِي هَذَا مَكَانًا لِشَيْءِ وَلَا مَكَانًا لَهُ شَيْءٌ وَلَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ فِي كُلِّ هَذَا شَيْءٌ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ فِي مُلْكِهِ وَلَا مُعِينَ لَهُ فِي خَلْقِهِ وَلَا نَظِيرَ لَهُ فِي عِبَادِهِ وَلَا شَبِيهَ لَهُ فِي إيجَادِهِ وَهُوَ أَوَّلٌ فِي آخريته بِأَوَّلِيَّةٍ هِيَ صِفَتُهُ وَآخِرٌ فِي أَوَّلِيَّتِهِ بآخرية هِيَ نَعْتُهُ وَبَاطِنٌ فِي ظُهُورِهِ بِبَاطِنِيَّةٍ هِيَ قُرْبُهُ وَظَاهِرٌ فِي بَاطِنِيَّتِهِ بِظُهُورِ هُوَ عُلُوُّهُ؛ لَمْ يَزَلْ كَذَلِكَ أَوَّلًا وَلَا يَزَالُ كَذَلِكَ آخِرًا وَلَمْ يَزَلْ كَذَلِكَ بَاطِنًا؛ وَلَا يَزَالُ كَذَلِكَ ظَاهِرًا. إلَى أَنْ قَالَ: هُوَ عَلَى عَرْشِهِ بِإِخْبَارِهِ لِنَفْسِهِ؛ فَالْعَرْشُ حَدُّ خَلْقِهِ الْأَعْلَى وَهُوَ غَيْرُ مَحْدُودٍ بِعَرْشِهِ؛ وَالْعَرْشُ مُحْتَاجٌ إلَى مَكَانٍ؛ وَالرَّبُّ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ غَيْرُ مُحْتَاجٍ إلَيْهِ؛ كَمَا قَالَ تَعَالَى: {الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَى} الرَّحْمَنُ اسْمٌ وَالِاسْتِوَاءُ