Al-Qawaid al-Hisan li-Tafsir al-Quran - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (28)

Al-Qawaid al-Hisan li-Tafsir al-QuranAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

the greatest of blessings, as though He were saying, “O you upon whom Allah has bestowed His grace.”

The first perspective, then, is a call for them to complete their faith and perfect it through both its outward and inward prescriptions.

The second is a call for them to show gratitude for the blessing of faith by spelling out what that gratitude entails—namely, full submission to His commands and His prohibitions.

At times He summons the believers to goodness and forbids them from evil by mentioning the fruits of good deeds and their praiseworthy, immediate and eventual consequences, and by recalling the effects of evil and its grievous repercussions in this world and the Hereafter.

At other times He invites them by reminding them of His diverse favors and abundant blessings, for blessings require gratitude, and gratitude is nothing but fulfilling the rights of faith.

Sometimes He calls them through promise and threat, speaking of the reward Allah has prepared for obedient believers and the punishment awaiting those who disobey.

Sometimes He summons them by referring to His most beautiful names and to the tremendous right He has over His servants: that they worship Him outwardly and inwardly, devote themselves exclusively to Him, and call upon Him by His most beautiful names and exalted attributes.

Indeed, all acts of worship are forms of gratitude to Allah—magnifying, exalting, venerating, honoring, and showing affection to Him, thereby drawing nearer to Him.

At times He calls them so that they may take Him alone as their patron, refuge, shelter, sanctuary, and final recourse in all affairs, turning back to Him in every circumstance. He informs them that this is the very root of a servant’s happiness, rectitude, and success; for if he does not enter into Allah’s guardianship and special protection, his enemy—who only seeks his misery—will assume charge of him, filling him with false hopes and deceiving him until he forfeits every benefit and advantage and is cast into destruction.

All of this is expounded in the Qur’an in varied and comprehensive expressions.

أجل المنن، أي: يا من مَنَّ الله عليهم فالوجه الأول: دعوة لهم أن يتمموا إيمانهم، ويكملوه بالشرائع الظاهرة والباطن. والوجه الثاني: دعوة لهم إلى شكر نعمة الإيمان، ببيان تفصيل هذا الشكر، وهو الانقياد التام لأمره ونهيه، وتارة يدعوا المؤمنين إلى الخير، وينهاهم عن الشر، بذكر آثار الخير، وعواقبه الحميدة العاجلة والآجلة، وبذكر آثار الشر، وعواقبه الوخيمة في الدنيا والآخرة. وتارة يدعوهم إلى ذلك بذكر نعمه المتنوعة، وآلائه الجزيلة، وإن النعم تقتضي فهم القيام بشكرها، وشكرها هو القيام بحقوق الإيمان. وتارة يدعوهم إلى ذلك بالترغيب والترهيب، ويذكر ما أعد الله للمؤمنين الطائعين من الثواب وما للعصاة من العقاب. وتارة يدعوهم إلى ذلك بذكر ما له من الأسماء الحسنى، وما له من الحق العظيم على عباده، وأن حقه عليهم أن يقوموا بعبوديته ظاهراً وباطناً، ويتعبدوا له وحده، ويدعوه بأسمائه الحسنى وصفاته المقدسة. فالعبادات كلها شكر لله وتعظيم وتكبير، وإجلال وإكرام، وتودد إليه، وتقرب منه. وتارة يدعوهم إلى ذلك، لأجل أن يتخذوه وحده ولياً وملجأ، وملاذا ومَعاذا، ومفزعا إليه في الأمور كلها، وينيبوا إليه في كل حال، ويخبرهم أن هذا هو أصل سعادة العبد وصلاحه وفلاحه، وأنه إن لم يدخل في ولاية الله وتوليه الخاص تولاه عدوه الذي يريد له الشر والشقاء، ويمنيه ويغره، حتى يفوِّته المنافع والمصالح ويوقعه في المهالك. وهذا كله مبسوط في القرآن بعبارات متنوعة.