16
, most (1) hadith scholars—including Abū al-Hasan al-Dāraqutnī, Abū Nuaym al-Asbahānī, Abū Bakr al-Ājurrī, and others—having collected its transmission routes (2).
(* The compilers of the Sahih collections (3) transmitted this through multiple routes which give anyone acquainted with them certain knowledge (4) that the Messenger of Allah [- may Allah bless him and grant him peace -] (5) did say this *) (6).
Another group said that He is seen, [but not] (7) in any direction: neither in front of the beholder nor behind him, neither to his right nor to his left, and neither above nor below him. This is the well-known position among the later (8) Asharites, for it is based on their disagreement over whether the Creator [Most High] (9) is above the Throne.
Al-Asharī and his early followers would say:
“He is above the Throne in His Essence, and despite that (10), He is not a body (11).”
(1) The word “most” is added only in manuscript N.
(2) Brockelmann states (*History of Arabic Literature*, 3/211) that al-Dāraqutnī composed a work collecting the texts in the Book of Allah and the hadiths concerning the vision of the Creator. A manuscript copy is held at the Escorial. He also states (3/209) that al-Ājurrī composed *The Book of Affirming the Beholding of Allah in the Hereafter*, of which a manuscript copy is held at the Zāhiriyya Library. His *al-Sharīʿa* contains a chapter bearing this title; see pp. [0–9]51–270, ed. Hāmid al-Fiqī, 1369 AH/1950 CE.
(3) Manuscript N reads: *ashāb al-Bukhārī wa-Muslim* (“the associates of al-Bukhārī and Muslim”); M reads: *ashāb al-Sahīh ka-l-Bukhārī wa-Muslim* (“the compilers of Sahīh works, such as al-Bukhārī and Muslim”).
(4) The word *al-qatʿī* (“certain”) is added in manuscripts N and M.
(5) The words “may Allah bless him and grant him peace” are absent from manuscript N.
(6) The passage between the asterisks is absent from manuscripts A and B.
(7) The word “not” is absent from manuscripts N and M.
(8) The word “later” is absent from manuscript ʿ.
(9) The words “Most High” are absent from manuscripts N and M.
(10) Manuscripts B and A read: “and despite that.”
(11) The following is written opposite this passage in the margin of manuscript ʿ: “I say: Among those who hold that He, Most High, is above the Throne in His Essence is Abū Zayd, in his famous *Risāla*. The scholars who have written commentaries on this *Risāla* may number more than three hundred. It is exceedingly well known in the Maghreb, where its author was called ‘the Little Mālik.’”
جَمَعَ طُرُقَهَا أَكْثَرُ
(١)
أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ بِالْحَدِيثِ، كَأَبِي الْحَسَنِ الدَّارَقُطْنِيِّ وَأَبِي نُعَيْمٍ الْأَصْبَهَانِيِّ وَأَبِي بَكْرٍ الْآجُرِّيِّ وَغَيْرِهِمْ
(٢)
.
(* وَقَدْ أَخْرَجَ أَصْحَابُ الصَّحِيحِ (٣)
ذَلِكَ مِنْ وُجُوهٍ مُتَعَدِّدَةٍ تُوجِبُ لِمَنْ كَانَ عَارِفًا بِهَا الْعِلْمَ الْقَطْعِيَّ
(٤)
بِأَنَّ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ
[- صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ -]
(٥)
قَالَ ذَلِكَ *)
(٦)
.
وَقَالَتْ طَائِفَةٌ:
إِنَّهُ يُرَى
[لَا]
(٧)
فِي جِهَةٍ، لَا أَمَامَ الرَّائِي وَلَا خَلْفَهُ، وَلَا عَنْ يَمِينِهِ وَلَا عَنْ يَسَارِهِ، وَلَا فَوْقَهُ وَلَا تَحْتَهُ. وَهَذَا هُوَ الْمَشْهُورُ عِنْدَ مُتَأَخِّرِي
(٨)
الْأَشْعَرِيَّةِ فَإِنَّ هَذَا مَبْنِيٌ عَلَى اخْتِلَافِهِمْ فِي كَوْنِ الْبَارِئِ
[تَعَالَى]
(٩)
فَوْقِ الْعَرْشِ.
فَالْأَشْعَرِيُّ وَقُدَمَاءُ أَصْحَابِهِ كَانُوا يَقُولُونَ:
إِنَّهُ بِذَاتِهِ فَوْقَ الْعَرْشِ، وَهُوَ مَعَ ذَلِكَ
(١٠)
لَيْسَ بِجِسْمٍ
(١١)
.
(١) أَكْثَرُ: زِيَادَةٌ فِي (ن) فَقَطْ.
(٢) ذَكَرَ بُرُوكِلْمَانُ (تَارِيخُ الْأَدَبِ الْعَرَبِيِّ ٣/٢١١) أَنْ لِلدَّارَقُطْنِيِّ كِتَابًا جَمَعَ فِيهِ مَا وَرَدَ مِنَ النُّصُوصِ الْوَارِدَةِ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ وَالْأَحَادِيثِ الْمُتَعَلِّقَةِ بِرُؤْيَةِ الْبَارِي، وَمِنْهُ نُسْخَةٌ خَطِّيَّةٌ فِي الْإِسْكُورِيَالِ، كَمَا ذَكَرَ (٣/٢٠٩) أَنَّ لِلْآجُرِّيِّ كِتَابَ التَّصْدِيقِ بِالنَّظَرِ إِلَى اللَّهِ فِي الْآخِرَةِ، وَمِنْهُ نُسْخَةٌ خَطِّيَّةٌ فِي الظَّاهِرِيَّةِ، وَفِي كِتَابِ " الشَّرِيعَةِ " لَهُ بَابٌ بِهَذَا الْعُنْوَانِ، ص [٠ - ٩] ٥١ - ٢٧٠، ط. حَامِد الْفِقِي ١٣٦٩/١٩٥٠.
(٣) ن: أَصْحَابُ الْبُخَارِيِّ وَمُسْلِمٍ ; م: أَصْحَابُ الصَّحِيحِ كَالْبُخَارِيِّ وَمُسْلِمٍ.
(٤) الْقَطْعِيَّ: زِيَادَةٌ فِي (ن) ، (م) .
(٥) صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ن) .
(٦) مَا بَيْنَ النَّجْمَتَيْنِ سَاقِطٌ مِنْ (أ) ، (ب) .
(٧) لَا: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ن) ، (م) .
(٨) مُتَأَخِّرِي: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ع) .
(٩) تَعَالَى: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ن) ، (م) .
(١٠) ب، أ: وَمَعَ ذَلِكَ.
(١١) كُتِبَ مُقَابِلًا لِهَذَا الْمَوْضِعِ فِي هَامِشِ (ع) : " قُلْتُ: وَمِمَّنْ يَقُولُ بِكَوْنِهِ تَعَالَى فَوْقَ الْعَرْشِ بِذَاتِهِ أَبُو زَيْدٍ فِي رِسَالَتِهِ الْمَشْهُورَةِ عِنْدَهُمْ. وَقَدْ يَنِيفُ مَنْ شَرَحَ هَذِهِ الرِّسَالَةَ مِنَ الْعُلَمَاءِ عَلَى ثَلَاثِمِائَةٍ، وَهِيَ فِي غَايَةِ الشُّهْرَةِ عِنْدَ الْمَغَارِبَةِ وَكَانُوا يَقُولُونَ لِمُؤَلِّفِهَا مَالِكٌ الصَّغِيرُ ".