Al-Iklīl fī al-Mutashābih wa-al-Taʾwīl - Ibn Taimiya - (31)

Among the terms that share with it the lesser derivation is āl, for the āl of a man are those who revert to him. For that reason the word is used only with a person of stature, such that the noun to which it is annexed is greater than the annexed noun itself and is suited to have an āl return to him—āl Ibrāhīm (the Household of Abraham), āl Lūṭ (the Household of Lot), āl Firʿawn (the Household of Pharaoh)—unlike the broader word ahl.

As for awwal, it takes the Afʿal pattern, for its feminine form is ūlā, just as one says Jumādā al-ūlā.

The Qur’an states, “His is the praise in the first and the last” (28:70). Some have claimed that the word follows the Foʿal pattern and that its feminine would therefore be awlah, but such a claim needs evidence from authentic Arab usage. Indeed, the fact that the word is diptote shows that it is on the Afʿal pattern, not Foʿal, for nouns on the Foʿal pattern—kawthar, jawhar, and the like—are fully declinable.

The one who precedes others is called awwal—Allah knows best—because everything that comes after reverts to him and is built upon what he has set down; he is the foundation and the pillar for what follows. The form itself is one of preference, not a mere descriptive adjective like akbar/kubrā or aṣghar/ṣughrā, and it is certainly not of the aḥmar/ḥamrāʾ type used for colours and defects.

Hence they say, “I visited him the day before yesterday” (lit., “from the first of yesterday”). The Qur’an likewise says, “A mosque founded on piety from the very first day” (9:108); “I am the first of the Muslims” (6:14); and “Do not be the first to disbelieve in it” (2:41).

When it is said, “He is the first of them,” it means that he has surpassed them in precedence, for each person looks back to the one immediately before him, relying on him, while the pioneer is the point to which they all return. Whoever gets ahead in an action and is then taken as a model by those who come after him is the forerunner to whom everyone ultimately reverts; thus the description awwal carries overtones of eminence and being followed.

The word al-awl suggests return and reversion, whereas al-awwal points to initiation and beginning. It differs from the mere notion of returning, for a person is called awwal only in relation to what follows him: one says “the first of the Muslims” or “the first day,” so

ومما يوافقه في اشتقاقه الأصغر " الآل " فإن آل الشخص من يئول إليه؛ ولهذا لا يستعمل إلا في عظيم بحيث يكون المضاف إليه أعظم من المضاف يصلح أن يئول إليه الآل كآل إبراهيم وآل لوط وآل فرعون بخلاف الأهل والأول أفعل لأنهم قالوا في تأنيثه أولى كما قالوا جمادى الأولى. وفي القصص: {له الحمد في الأولى والآخرة} ومن الناس من يقول: فوعل ويقول: أولة. إلا أن هذا يحتاج إلى شاهد من كلام العرب؛ بل عدم صرفه يدل على أنه أفعل لا فوعل فإن فوعل مثل كوثر وجوهر مصروف، سمي المتقدم أول - والله أعلم - لأن ما بعده يئول إليه ويبنى عليه فهو أس لما بعده وقاعدة له. والصيغة صيغة تفضيل لا صفة مثل أكبر وكبرى وأصغر وصغرى لا من باب أحمر وحمراء؛ ولهذا يقولون: جئته من أول أمس وقال: {لمسجد أسس على التقوى من أول يوم} {وأنا أول المسلمين} {ولا تكونوا أول كافر به} فإذا قيل هذا أول هؤلاء فهو الذي فضل عليهم في الأول لأن كل واحد يرجع إلى ما قبله فيعتمد عليه وهذا السابق كلهم يئول إليه فإن من تقدم في فعل فاستن به من بعده كان السابق الذي يئول الكل إليه فالأول له وصف السؤدد والاتباع. ولفظ " الأول " مشعر بالرجوع والعود و " الأول " مشعر بالابتداء والمبتدأ؛ خلاف العائد لأنه إنما كان أولا لما بعده فإنه يقال: أول المسلمين وأول يوم فما