Mukhtasar al-Uluww lil-Ali al-Azim - A-Dhahabi - (251)

Mukhtasar al-Uluww lil-Ali al-AzimA-Dhahabi

—and Allah, sublime is His majesty, is exalted above His Throne. What shows that He is in the heaven, high above His Throne, is His statement, “Do you feel secure from Him who is in the heaven?” (67:16); His statement, “O Jesus, I will cause you to die and raise you to Myself” (3:55); His statement, “Unto Him ascend the good words” (35:10); and His statement, “then it ascends to Him” (32:5).

Al-Balkhī1 claimed that Allah’s istiwāʾ over the Throne means His subjugating it, taking his cue from the Arab saying, “Bishr istawā over Iraq,” that is, he took control of it. He went on to say that the Throne signifies sovereignty. One replies to him: What prevents you from affirming that the Throne of the All-Merciful is a created body which He commanded His angels to bear, as He said, “And on that Day eight shall bear your Lord’s Throne above them” (69:17)?

Umayyah says:

Glorify Allah, for He alone deserves all glory;
Our Lord in the heaven has grown supremely great.2
By the loftiest structure that outstripped mankind,
He set a couch above the heaven on high.

He then said: One proof that istiwāʾ here cannot mean “subjugation” is that, were that the case, there would be no reason to single out the Throne for it to the exclusion of the rest of creation, since He has mastery over the Throne and over all creatures alike; the Throne enjoys no special distinction in that regard. The falsity of his claim is thus evident.

It is further said to him: istiwāʾ is not the same as istīlāʾ, which the Arabs use in the phrase “So-and-so istawā over such-and-such,” meaning he gained control of it after previously lacking control. Because the Exalted Creator cannot be described as attaining dominion after not having it, the meaning of istiwāʾ must not be redirected to istīlāʾ.

He then cited what Naftawayh related to him from Dāwūd ibn ʿAlī from Ibn al-Aʿrābī—which has already been mentioned3—and then said:

(1) I have not been able to identify him; further investigation is required. It occurs to me that he might be al-Thalji, Muhammad ibn Shujaʿ al-Hanafi, notorious for fabricating hadith and for doctrinal innovation; his biography appears in al-Mizan. Another possibility is Abu Hashim al-Balkhi—personal name Nasr—a Shiʿi Muʿtazili contemporary of the subject, as indicated by al-Aʿlam and other sources. In the manuscript the nisba is carelessly written as “al-Salmi.” Allah knows best. (2) The manuscript reads: “adha.” (3) See biographical entry no. 67.

جل جلاله عال على عرشه يدلك على أنه في السماء عال على عرشه قوله: ﴿أَأَمِنْتُمْ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاء﴾ وقوله: ﴿يَا عِيسَى إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ﴾ وقوله: ﴿إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ الْكَلِمُ الطَّيِّب﴾ وقوله: ﴿ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْه﴾ وزعم البلخي١ أن استواء الله على العرش هو الاستيلاء عليه، مأخوذ من قول العرب: استوى بشر على العراق، أي: استولى عليها، وقال: إن العرش يكون الملك، فيقال له: ما أنكرت أن يكون عرش الرحمن جسماً خلقه، وأمر ملائكته بحمله، قال: ﴿وَيَحْمِلُ عَرْشَ رَبِّكَ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ ثَمَانِيَة﴾ وأمية يقول: مجدوا الله فهو للمجد أهل ... ربنا في السماء أمسى٢ كبيرا بالبناء الأعلى الذي سبق الناس ... وسوى فوق السماء سريرا قال: ومما يدل على أن الاستواء ههنا ليس بالاستيلاء، أنه لو كان كذلك لم يكن ينبغي أن يخص العرش بالاستيلاء عليه دون سائر خلقه، إذ هو مستول عل العرش وعلى الخلق، ليس للعرش مزية على ما وصفته، فبان بذلك فساد قوله. ثم يقال له أيضاً: إن الاستواء ليس هو الاستيلاء الذي هو من قول العرب: استوى فلان على كذا، أي: استولى، إذا تمكن منه بعد أن لم يكن متمكناً، فلما كان الباري ﷿ لا يوصف بالتمكن بعد أن لم يكن متمكناً، لم يصرف معنى الاستواء إلى الاستيلاء. ثم ذكر ما حدثه نفطويه عن داود بن علي عن ابن الإعرابي وقد مر٣ ثم قال:

١ لم أعرفه، فلينظر من هو؟ ويدور في البال أنه لعله "الثلجي" وهو محمد بن شجاع الحنفي المعروف بالوضع والابتداع. وترجمته في "الميزان" ويحتمل أنه أبو هاشم البلخي واسمه نصر، وهو شيعي معتزلي معاصر للمترجم كما يؤخذ من "الأعلام" وغيره. وهذه النسبة في المخطوطة هكذا "السلمي" على الإهمال، والله أعلم. ٢ في المخطوطة: "أضحى". ٣ في الترجمة رقم "٦٧".