Al-Qawaid al-Hisan li-Tafsir al-Quran - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (45)

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

—namely, to worship Allah as though you were seeing Him; for if you do not see Him, He certainly sees you—and excellence toward all created beings in every possible form: through word and deed, personal influence, knowledge, wealth, and whatever else may be employed for good.
Likewise His words, “You have been distracted by your competition for increase” (at-Takāthur 102:1). The object of that competition is omitted so that the meaning covers everything over which people vie for abundance: power, wealth, prestige, landed property, children—indeed every object of human desire that diverts them from obeying Allah.
The same applies to His saying, “By time, indeed humankind is in loss” (al-ʿAṣr 103:1–2): mankind is in inevitable, comprehensive loss in every respect, except those who possess faith, perform righteous deeds, and counsel one another to truth and counsel one another to patience.
And in His statement, “So ask the people of remembrance if you do not know” (an-Naḥl 16:43), He names those who are to be asked but leaves unspecified the matter about which the question is posed, so that it embraces everything the servant needs but does not know.
In the same manner, His command to be patient, His love for the patient, His praise of them, and His declaration of their abundant reward—without restricting any particular kind—include all three forms of patience: persevering in obedience to Allah, refraining from disobedience, and bearing the painful decrees of Allah.
Conversely, His censure of the disbelievers, wrongdoers, defiantly disobedient, polytheists, hypocrites, aggressors, and the like is left unqualified, so it encompasses every aspect of those descriptions.
Among such unrestricted wording is His statement, “But if you are prevented” (al-Baqarah 2:196), which covers every kind of prevention; and His words, “If you fear [danger], then [pray] on foot or mounted” (al-Baqarah 2:239), which applies to every form of fear.
At other times He attaches qualifiers, and then the ruling is confined to the purpose for which the discourse was introduced.
Examples of this are plentiful; were we to list them all, the discussion would become lengthy. The door, however, has been opened for you, so walk this path that leads to the pleasant meadows of diverse branches of knowledge. ⦗1⦘

(1) Shaykh Ibn Uthaymin said: “Included under this principle is that a ruling linked to a particular attribute indicates that the attribute is the effective cause of that ruling. For example, when you say, ‘Indeed, the God-fearing are among gardens and springs’ [al-Hijr 15:45], this means: because of their God-consciousness. Thus, a ruling linked to an attribute indicates that the attribute is the cause of that ruling. It also indicates that the ruling applies as broadly as that attribute applies: it becomes stronger as the attribute becomes stronger and weaker as it becomes weaker.”

بأن تعبد الله كأنك تراه فإن لم تكن تراه فإنه يراك، والإحسان إلى المخلوقين بجميع وجوه الإحسان من قول وفعل وجاه، وعلم ومال وغيرها. وكذلك قوله تعالى: ﴿أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ﴾ [التكاثر:١] فحذف المتكاثَر به ليعم جميع ما يقصد الناس فيه المكاثرة: من الرياسات والأموال والجاه والضيعات والأولاد، وغيرها مما تتعلق به أغراض النفوس فيلهيها ذلك عن طاعة الله. وكذلك قوله تعالى ﴿وَالْعَصْرِ * إِنَّ الْإنْسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ﴾ [العصر:١، ٢] أي في خسارة لازمة من جميع الوجوه إلا من اتصف بالإيمان والعمل الصالح، والتواصي بالحق والتواصي بالصبر. وقوله ﴿فَاسْأَلوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لا تَعْلَمُونَ﴾ [النحل: ٤٣] فذكر المسئولين وأطلق المسئول عنه، ليعم كل ما يحتاجه العبد ولا يعلمه. وكذلك أمره تعالى بالصبر، ومحبته للصابرين، وثناؤه عليهم، وبيان كثرة أجورهم، من غير أن يقيد ذلك بنوع، ليشمل أنواع الصبر الثلاثة، وهي الصبر على طاعة الله، وعن معصية الله، وعلى أقدار الله المؤلمة. ومقابل ذلك ذمه للكافرين والظالمين والفاسقين والمشركين والمنافقين والمعتدين ونحوهم، من غير أن يقيده بشئ ليشمل جميع ذلك المعنى. ومن هذا قوله ﴿فَإِنْ أُحْصِرْتُمْ﴾ [البقرة: ١٩٦] ليشمل كل حصر، ومنه قوله ﴿فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ فَرِجَالاً أَوْ رُكْبَاناً﴾ [البقرة: ٢٣٩] ليعم كل خوف. وقد يقيد ذلك ببعض الأمور فيتقيد به ما سيق الكلام لأجله. وهذا شيء كثير لو ذهبنا نذكر أمثلة عليه لطالت، ولكن قد فتح لك الباب، فامش على هذا السبيل المفضي إلى رياض بهيجة من أصناف العلوم (١) .

(١) قال لشيخ ابن عثيمين: " يلتحق بهذه القاعدة أن الحكم المعلَّق بوصف يدل على علية ذلك الوصف فيه، فمثلا إذا قلت: " إن المتقين في جنات وعيون " [الحجر: ٤٥] أي من أجل تقواهم فالحكم المعلق بوصف يدل على علية ذلك الوصف لهذا الحكم ويدل أيضا على أنه يعم بعموم هذا الوصف وأنه يقوى كلما قوي ذاك الوصف ويضعف كلما ضعف "