Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (3/360)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

that Allah’s speech (1) never comes to an end and is never exhausted; rather, it has no end (2). Those who say that He speaks (3) by His will and power, with speech that subsists in His Essence, maintain that it has no end (4) in the future.

As for the past, they hold two views. Some say that it had a beginning in the past (5), whereas their leading authorities say that it had no beginning in the past (6), [just as it has no end in the future] (7). This entails the existence of words without end, from eternity past and into eternity future.

Speech is an attribute of perfection (8), and one who speaks by his will and power is more perfect than one who does not. Indeed, a speaker cannot rationally be conceived except in this way. Speech can only be an attribute of perfection if it subsists in the speaker. As for things separate from the Essence, He cannot be characterized by them at all, much less can they constitute an attribute of perfection or deficiency.

They said: “We know of no one among the Salaf—not the Companions, nor those who followed them in goodness, nor any of the other leading Muslims—who denied this principle or said that the existence of words without end, either in the past or in the future, is impossible. Nor did they say anything entailing its impossibility.”

(1) Manuscripts (N) and (M): “words.” (2) Manuscripts (N) and (M): “they have no end.” (3) Manuscripts (N) and (M): “a speaker”; manuscript (B): “does not speak.” (4) Manuscripts (N) and (M): “they have no end.” (5) Manuscript (A): “it has no end in His Essence”; manuscript (B): “it has no end in His Essence,” which is incorrect. (6) Manuscript (A): “it has no end in the past”; manuscript (B): “it has no end in the past,” which is incorrect. (7) The passage in square brackets is omitted from manuscripts (N) and (M). Manuscript (B) reads: “just as it has no end in the future.” (8) Manuscripts (N) and (M): “an attribute of Allah.”

عَلَى أَنَّ كَلَامَ (١) اللَّهِ لَا يَنْقَضِي وَلَا يَنْفَدُ، بَلْ لَا نِهَايَةَ لَهُ (٢) وَمَنْ قَالَ: إِنَّهُ يَتَكَلَّمُ (٣) بِمَشِيئَتِهِ وَقُدْرَتِهِ بِكَلَامٍ يَقُومُ بِذَاتِهِ، يَقُولُونَ: إِنَّهُ لَا نِهَايَةَ لَهُ (٤) فِي الْمُسْتَقْبَلِ. وَأَمَّا فِي الْمَاضِي فَلَهُمْ قَوْلَانِ: مِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَقُولُ: لَهَا بِدَايَةٌ فِي الْمَاضِي (٥) ، وَأَئِمَّتُهُمْ يَقُولُونَ: لَا بِدَايَةَ لَهَا فِي الْمَاضِي (٦) [كَمَا لَا نِهَايَةَ لَهَا فِي الْمُسْتَقْبَلِ] (٧) وَهَذَا يَسْتَلْزِمُ وُجُودَ مَا لَا نِهَايَةَ لَهُ أَزَلًا وَأَبَدًا مِنَ الْكَلِمَاتِ. وَالْكَلَامُ صِفَةُ كَمَالٍ (٨) ، وَالْمُتَكَلِّمُ بِمَشِيئَتِهِ وَقُدْرَتِهِ أَكْمَلُ مِمَّنْ لَا يَتَكَلَّمُ بِمَشِيئَتِهِ وَقُدْرَتِهِ، بَلْ لَا يُعْقَلُ مُتَكَلِّمٌ إِلَّا كَذَلِكَ. وَلَا يَكُونُ الْكَلَامُ صِفَةُ كَمَالٍ إِلَّا إِذَا قَامَ بِالْمُتَكَلِّمِ. وَأَمَّا الْأُمُورُ الْمُنْفَصِلَةُ عَنِ الذَّاتِ فَلَا يَتَّصِفُ بِهَا أَلْبَتَّةَ، فَضْلًا عَنْ أَنْ تَكُونَ صِفَةَ كَمَالٍ أَوْ نَقْصٍ. قَالُوا: وَلَمْ نَعْرِفْ عَنْ أَحَدٍ مِنَ السَّلَفِ لَا مِنَ الصَّحَابَةِ وَلَا مِنَ التَّابِعِينَ لَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ وَلَا غَيْرِهِمْ مِنْ أَئِمَّةِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مَنْ أَنْكَرَ هَذَا الْأَصْلَ، وَلَا قَالَ: إِنَّهُ يَمْتَنِعُ وُجُودُ كَلِمَاتٍ لَا نِهَايَةَ لَهَا لَا فِي الْمَاضِي وَلَا فِي الْمُسْتَقْبَلِ، وَلَا قَالُوا: مَا يَسْتَلْزِمُ امْتِنَاعَ هَذَا.

(١) ن، م: كَلِمَاتِ. (٢) ن، م: لَهَا. (٣) ن، م: مُتَكَلِّمٌ، ب: لَا يَتَكَلَّمُ. (٤) ن، م: لَهَا. (٥) أ: لَا نِهَايَةَ لَهَا بِذَاتِهِ، ب: لَا نِهَايَةَ لَهُ بِذَاتِهِ، وَهُوَ خَطَأٌ. (٦) أ: لَا نِهَايَةَ لَهَا فِي الْمَاضِي، ب: لَا نِهَايَةَ لَهُ فِي الْمَاضِي، وَهُوَ خَطَأٌ. (٧) مَا بَيْنَ الْمَعْقُوفَتَيْنِ سَاقِطٌ مِنْ (ن) ، (م) ، وَفِي (ب) : كَمَا لَا نِهَايَةَ لَهُ فِي الْمُسْتَقْبَلِ. (٨) ن، م: صِفَةٌ لِلَّهِ.