The commentators side by side

﴿فهو مرآتك في رؤيتك نفسك وأنت مرآته في رؤية أسمائه﴾

Quotes words that differ from our text (wavy underline).

أي إذا انخلعت عن صفاتك وجردت ذاتك عن كل ما أمكن تجردك عنه شاهدت عينك في مرآة الحق . وذلك تجليه بصورة عينك ، وهو يرى ذاته فيك متصفة بصفاتها كالسمع والبصر وما يتعلق بهما من أحكام المسموعات والمبصرات . فإنها أحكام السميع والبصير ظهرت فيك من حيث أنك مظهر هذا بين الاسمين. ( وليست ) الأسماء ( سوى عينه كما علمت فاختلط الأمر وانبهم ) وهو أن المرئي غير عين الحق في صورة العبد . فيكون العبد مرآة الحق أو عين العبد في صورة الحق . فيكون الحق مرآة العبد

that is, when you have divested yourself of your attributes and stripped your essence of everything from which stripping is possible, you witness your own entity in the mirror of the Real — and that is His self-disclosure in the form of your entity. And He sees His own Essence in you, qualified by Its attributes, such as hearing and sight, and whatever pertains to them of the properties of things heard and things seen; for these are the properties of the All-Hearing and the All-Seeing, made manifest in you inasmuch as you are the locus of manifestation (maẓhar) [standing] between these two Names. (And the Names are) nothing (but His very Essence, as you have learned; so the matter becomes mixed and ambiguous) — namely, that what is seen is not other than the very Essence of the Real in the form of the servant. Thus the servant would be the mirror of the Real, or, [conversely], the very entity of the servant [is seen] in the form of the Real, and thus the Real would be the mirror of the servant

﴿فهو مرآتك في رؤيتك نفسك﴾

عند تجليه لك بصورة استعدادك

when He discloses Himself to you in the form of your preparedness,

﴿وأنت مرآته في رؤيته أسماءه وظهور أحكامها وليست﴾

الصورة المرئية في الحق وهي أنت

— the perceived form in the Real, which is you,

﴿سوى عينه﴾

فيكون العبد -على أي حال مرآة لعين الحق ، كما أن الحق مرآة لعينه ، فهو على هذا التقدير الإطلاقي مرآة يظهر فيها أسماؤه ، كما أن العبد مرآة يظهر فيها ذاته ، كما قال العطار: توني از روی ذات آئینه ی شاه .... شه از روي صفات آئینه تست توني من جوهر مرآة الملك %~% تحقق من سمات المرآة وإذ قد ظهر أن العين واحدة ، وحكم المدارك والمشاعر جعلها ذا اعتبارات ظواهر تارة ، ومظاهر أخرى ؛ أجمل الحال

Thus the servant, in any case, is a mirror for the entity (ʿayn) of the Real, just as the Real is a mirror for his entity. On this absolute reckoning He is a mirror in which His Names appear, just as the servant is a mirror in which His Essence appears, as al-ʿAṭṭār said: "You, in respect of essence (dhāt), are the mirror of the King… the King, in respect of attributes (ṣifāt), is your mirror." You are the substance of the mirror of the Sovereign — realize what befits the properties of the mirror. Now that it has become clear that the entity (ʿayn) is one, while the ruling property of the perceptive faculties and senses renders it possessed of various considerations — manifest forms (ẓawāhir) at one time, loci of manifestation (maẓāhir) at another — let the matter be summarized.

﴿سوى عينه﴾

بل هي عين الحق . وبه امتاز عن المرآة في المشاهدة فإن مرآة الحسي غير الصور المرئية فيه

— rather, it is the very identity of the Real. And by this it differs from the [ordinary] mirror in the visible world, for the sensory mirror is other than the forms seen in it.

﴿فاختلط الأمر وانبهم؛ فمنا من جهل في علمه﴾

لغلبة حكم الإمكان والمظهرية عليه. فقال

due to the predominance, over him, of the ruling property of possibility (imkān) and of being a locus of manifestation (maẓhariyya). He said:

﴿فاختلط الأمر﴾

أي اختلط أمر المرئي وهو الصورة والمرآة وهو الحق في عين الناظر بسبب مشاهدته أن نفسه عین الحق إذ لا اختلاط في الواقع. (وأبهم) أي وأشكل على التمييز بينهما ولهذا اختلف أهل التجلي الذاتي بأن كان بعضه فوق بعض في رتب العلم بالله (فمنا) أي فمن أهل التجلي

i.e., the matter of the perceived thing — namely, the form — and the mirror — namely, the Real — became confused in the very eye of the beholder, because of his witnessing that his own self is the very identity of the Real, though there is no [actual] confusion in reality. (And it became obscure) i.e., and it became difficult to distinguish between the two; and for this reason the people of essential self-disclosure differed, some of them being above others in the ranks of knowledge of God. (So among us) i.e., so among the people of self-disclosure

﴿فمنا من جهل الأمر في علمه فقال : العجز عن درك الإدراك إدراك﴾

أي غاية الإدراك هو الاعتراف بالعجز عن إدراك الأمر كما هو وهو التحير المطلوب. في قوله : رب زدني تحير

that is, the utmost of comprehension is the acknowledgment of incapacity to comprehend the matter as it truly is — and this is the sought-after bewilderment (tahayyur), as in the saying: "My Lord, increase me in bewilderment"

﴿فمنا من جهل في علمه﴾

أي، تحير في التميز بين المراتب حال علمه بها. "فقال: "العجز عن درك الإدراك إدراك. و منا من علم أي، ميز بينهما

that is, he became bewildered in distinguishing between the levels while knowing them, and said: "Incapacity to attain comprehension is [itself] comprehension." And among us is one who knew — that is, he distinguished between them.

﴿من جهل في علمه﴾

بأمر المرئي أو علم نفسه ولم يعلم أنه عبد أو حق. ولم يحكم على المرئي حكمة من العبودية أو الربوبية نعجز في علمه

of the matter of the perceived thing, or knew himself [only in part] and did not know whether he is servant or Real, and did not determine, regarding the perceived thing, a judgment of servitude or lordship — being incapacitated in his knowledge.

﴿والعجز عن درك الإدراك إدراك﴾

مفصحا عما يقتضيه مشهده الذاتي من تعانق الأطراف وجمعية الأضداد. ( منا من علم) أن ذلك الجهل الذي في العلم هو منتهی مراتب العلم ، إلا أن القول بذلك الكلام يدل على عدم وصوله إلى هذا العلم

comprehension] expressing plainly what is required by his essential witnessing (mashhad dhātī) of the embracing of the extremes and the combining of opposites. [Text: among us is he who knows] that this ignorance within knowledge is the utmost of the degrees of knowledge — except that to state this in such words indicates that one has not attained to this knowledge,

﴿فقال العجز عن درك الإدراك إدراك﴾

فالتقاعد والعجز عن درك ما يعجز عن إدراكه غاية الإدراك . فالعجز أعلى المقام في حق هذا المشرب لا في الواقع فهو عالم وجاهل من أن الرؤية تعطي العلم لكنه لم يعلم أي شيء هو

perception"] For withholding and incapacity to attain what one is incapable of perceiving is the utmost limit of perception. So incapacity is the highest station with respect to this taste (mashrab) - not in actual fact, for he [who says this] is both knowing and ignorant, in that vision gives knowledge, yet he did not know what thing it was.

﴿ومنا من علم ولم يقل مثل هذا﴾

Quotes words that differ from our text (wavy underline).

أي علم أن الحق من حيث ذاته مرآة عين العبد أي لذاته ، والعبد مرآة الحق باعتبار أسمائه . ولم يقل بالعجز

that is, he knew that the Real, in terms of His Essence, is the mirror of the entity of the servant — that is, for His own sake — while the servant is the mirror of the Real with respect to His Names; and he did not speak of incapacity

﴿ومنا من علم فلم يقل مثل هذا، بل أعطاه العلم السكوت﴾

لأن المحجوبين لا يقبلون ما يقول وهم الأكثرون ولهم الحكم، فرأى أن السكوت أولى، فكتم ما عنده وهو قادر على الكلام . وأما قوله رضي الله عنه: وليس هذا العلم إلا الخاتم الرسل وخاتم الأولياء." فإني أقول أيضا: إن خاتم الرسل هو أيضا خاتم الأولياء وإن من جاء بعده من أمته ممن حصل له مرتبة خاتم الأولياء هو أيضا خاتم الأولياء، ولا يقدح تعدد الأشخاص إذا كانت المرتبة واحدة ولو كانت الأشخاص بلا نهاية في العدد. وقد قال قائلهم شعرا : لو أنهم ألف ألف في عددهم ....... عادوا إلى واحد فرد بلا عدد فما لخاتم الأولياء مزية في الختمية إلا أن كان بالسبق" الزماني ولا أثر له " إلا إنا نعلم أن الولاية مرتبتها فوق مرتبة النبوة، والنبوة مرتبتها فوق مرتبة الرسالة. فإذا جمعت الثلاثة لواحد كما جمعت لرسول الله، صلى الله عليه وسلم، فهو ولي نبي رسول إلا أن ولايته فوق نبوته، ونبوته فوق رسالته، لأن الولاية هي حاله، عليه السلام، عندما قال: «لي وقت لا يسعني فيه غير ربي» فهو يلي الحق ويأخذ عن الحق تعالی بلا واسطة الملك. وفي مرتبة النبوة يأخذ عن الحق تعالی بواسطة الملك والنبوة مشتقة من الإنباء وهو الإخبار بواسطة جبرائيل، عليه السلام. لكن نبوته فوق رسالته لأن النبوة حديثها حديث جبرائيل معه، عليه السلام، وأما الرسالة، فحديثها حديث البشر فلا يخفى أن النبوة أعلى وقد ذكر الشيخ هذا المعنى في بيت شعر وهو قوله: مقام النبوة في برزخ ...... دوين الولي وفوق الرسول ومراده ما ذكرناه وقوله: حتى أن الرسل لا يرونه متى رأوه إلا من مشكاة خاتم الأولياء، أمره سهل مما ذكرناه، لأن الرسل من كونهم رسلا هم تحت مرتبة خاتم الأولياء لكن إذا كانوا في مرتبة خاتم الأولياء فالمشكاة المذكورة لهم. والولاية كما قال الشيخ: لا ينقطع وكلام الشيخ فيما بقي واضح. وقوله في تفضيل عمر في قصة أسارى بدر : هو أن النبي، صلى الله عليه وسلم، شاور الصحابة، رضي الله عنهم، في قتل الأسرى فأشار عليه أبوبكر أن يأخذ منهم الفدية ويطلقهم. فقال عمر بن الخطاب: ما أرى إلا أن يضرب رقابهم. فقال له أبو بكر: ما تزال یا عمر تعارضني فيما أقوله، فأنزل الله الآية الكريمة توافق رأي عمر وهي قوله تعالى: "ما كان لنبي أن يكون له أسرى حتى يثخن في الأرض تریدون عرض الدنيا والله يريد الآخرة والله عزيز حکيم لولا كتاب من الله سبق لكم فيما أخذتم عذاب عظيم" (الأنفال: 67 – 68). فرجح الله تعالى رأي عمر بن الخطاب مع أن ابوبکر، رضي الله عنه، أفضل منه ولم يقدح ذلك في كونه يرجح عليه عمر ، رضي الله عنه. وأما تأبير النخل فهي قضية قال لهم فيها رسول الله، صلى الله عليه وسلم: "ما أرى في ترككم تأبيره مضرة تحصل له"، فتركوا تأبير النخل، ففسدت ثماره. فقالوا لرسول الله، صلى الله عليه وسلم، فقال: «أنتم أعلم بامور دنیاکم وأنا أعلم بأمر ديني». فقد كانوا أعلم بهذه المسألة ولم يقدح ذلك في كون رسول الله، صلى الله عليه وسلم، أعظم قدرا من كل البشر، فكذلك قضية ختم الأولياء فيما ذكره، رضي الله عنه. قوله رضي الله عنه: ولما مثل النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم النبوة بالحائط من اللبن وقد كمل سوی موضع لبنة، فكان، صلى الله عليه وسلم، تلك اللبنة. غير أنه، صلى الله عليه وسلم، لا يراها إلا كما قال لبنة واحدة. وأما خاتم الأولياء فلا بد له من هذه الرؤيا، فیری ما مثله به رسول الله ، صلى الله عليه وسلم، ويرى في الحائط موضع لبنتين، واللبن من ذهب وفضة" . قوله رضي الله عنه

authority (al-ḥukm); so he saw that silence was more fitting, and concealed what he possessed while being capable of speech. As for his saying, may God be pleased with him: 'And this knowledge belongs to none but the Seal of the Messengers and the Seal of the Saints' — I say also: the Seal of the Messengers is also the Seal of the Saints, and whoever comes after him from his community, among those who attain the rank of the Seal of the Saints, is likewise the Seal of the Saints. The multiplicity of persons does not detract [from this], provided the rank is one, even if the persons were infinite in number. As one of them said in verse: 'Even if they were a thousand thousand in number, they would return to a single one, without number.' The Seal of the Saints has no distinguishing merit in sealship except that of temporal precedence, which has no effect [on rank] — except that we know that the rank of sainthood is above the rank of prophethood, and the rank of prophethood is above the rank of messengership. So when the three are combined in one person, as they were combined in the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, he is [at once] a saint, a prophet, and a messenger — except that his sainthood is above his prophethood, and his prophethood is above his messengership. For sainthood is his state, peace be upon him, when he said: 'I have a time in which nothing contains me but my Lord' — for therein he is intimate with (yalī) the Real and receives from the Real, exalted is He, without the mediation of the angel. In the rank of prophethood he receives from the Real, exalted is He, through the mediation of the angel; and nubuwwa (prophethood) is derived from inbāʾ (informing), which is the conveying of report through the mediation of Gabriel, peace be upon him. But his prophethood is above his messengership, because prophethood's discourse is discourse [received] together with Gabriel, peace be upon him, whereas messengership's discourse is discourse [directed] to human beings — so it is not hidden that prophethood is higher. The Shaykh mentioned this meaning in a line of verse, saying: 'The station of prophethood is in an isthmus (barzakh), a little below sainthood and above messengership' — and his intent is what we have mentioned. As for his saying that even the messengers do not see it, when they do see it, except from the niche of the Seal of the Saints — this matter is easy [to resolve] from what we have mentioned, because the messengers, insofar as they are messengers, are beneath the rank of the Seal of the Saints; but when they are [considered] in the rank of the Seal of the Saints, then the aforementioned niche belongs to them. And sainthood, as the Shaykh said, never ends. The Shaykh's discourse in what remains is clear. As for his statement concerning the superiority of ʿUmar in the story of the prisoners of Badr: the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, consulted the Companions, may God be pleased with them, regarding the killing of the prisoners. Abū Bakr advised him to take ransom from them and release them. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: 'I see nothing but that their necks be struck.' Abū Bakr said to him: 'You persist, O ʿUmar, in opposing what I say.' Then God sent down the noble verse concurring with ʿUmar's view, namely His saying, exalted is He: 'It is not for a prophet to have captives until he has thoroughly subdued the land. You desire the goods of this world, while God desires the Hereafter. God is Mighty, Wise. Had it not been for a prior decree from God, a great punishment would have befallen you for what you took' (al-Anfāl 8:67–68). Thus God, exalted is He, gave preponderance to the view of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, even though Abū Bakr, may God be pleased with him, is superior to him — and this did not detract from ʿUmar's view being given preponderance over his, may God be pleased with him. As for the pollination of the palm trees, it is the case in which the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said to them: 'I do not think that your leaving off its pollination would cause it harm.' So they left off pollinating the palms, and their fruit spoiled. They mentioned this to the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, and he said: 'You know better the affairs of your worldly life, and I know better the affairs of my religion.' So they were more knowledgeable in this matter, and this did not detract from the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, being greater in rank than all mankind. Likewise is the matter of the sealing of sainthood in what he, may God be pleased with him, mentioned. His statement, may God be pleased with him: And when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, likened prophethood to a wall of bricks that was completed except for the place of one brick, he, peace and blessings be upon him, was that brick — except that he, peace and blessings be upon him, sees it only, as he said, as a single brick. As for the Seal of the Saints, he must necessarily have this vision, so he sees what the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, likened it to, and sees in the wall the place of two bricks, the bricks being of gold and silver. His statement, may God be pleased with him

﴿ومنا من علم﴾

الأمر على ما هو عليه فعلم أن نفسه عین الحق من وجه وغيره من وجه . فميز بينهما في كل مقام (فلم يقل بمثل هذا) أي بمثل ما قال من جهال في علمه. (وهو) أي عدم قول من علم

the matter as it truly is, and so knew that his own self is identical with the Real (al-Ḥaqq) from one respect, and other than Him from another respect. He thus distinguished between the two in every station ("and he did not say the like of this") - that is, the like of what the ignorant one said in his [claim to] knowledge. ("And it") - that is, the not-speaking of the one who knew -

﴿فلم يقل بمثل هذا وهو أعلى القول﴾

أي، هذا السكوت وعدم القول بمثله أعلى مرتبة من ذلك القول، لأن فيه إظهار العجز

that is, this silence and the withholding of such a statement is a higher station than that statement, because in it there is a display of incapacity.

﴿فلم يقل مثل ذلك﴾

Quotes words that differ from our text (wavy underline).

مع أنه هو الكلام الكاشف عن كنه مقتضى هذا الموطن

did not say the like of that] even though it is the very statement that unveils the inmost reality of what this station requires.

﴿وهو أعلى القول﴾

أي من القول بالعجز لأنه علم حقيقة الأمر على ما هو عليه ( فلم يعطه العلم العجز كالأول بل أعطاه العلم السكوت ما أعطاه العجز ) أي من العارفين من تحير في التمييز بين مرئية الحقية والعبدية ، ومنهم من سكت ولم يتحير ولم يقل بالعجز وهو أعلى

that is, higher than the saying about incapacity, since he knew the reality of the matter as it truly is (so knowledge did not give him incapacity, as it did the former; rather, knowledge gave him silence, not incapacity) that is, among the knowers (ʿārifūn) there is one who was bewildered in distinguishing between the vision proper to the Real and that proper to the servant, and among them is one who remained silent and was not bewildered and did not speak of incapacity — and this is the higher [station]

﴿وهو أعلى القول ، بل أعطاه العلم السكوت ، ما أعطاه العجز﴾

لعدم انقهاره تحت أحكام الإمكان ومظهريته الخلقية ؛

because he was not overcome by the rulings of possibility and his createdly being a locus of manifestation.

﴿أعلى القول﴾

أي قوله من عجز في علمه

that is, than the saying of the one who was incapable in his knowledge.

﴿بل أعطاه العلم السكوت ما أعطاه العجز﴾

أي، أعطاه علمه بالمراتب أن يسكت ولا يضطرب كما أعطى العلم الآخر العجز

] that is, his knowledge of the levels gave him [the ability] to be silent and not be agitated, just as the other knowledge gave [the other person] incapacity.

﴿بل أعطاه العلم السكوت﴾

أي بل أعطى علم من علم السكوت (كما اعطاء العجز) ، أي كما أعطى علم من جهل العجز. والعلم الذي أعطى السكوت أعلى مرتبة من العلم الذي أعطى العجز . فكيف لم يكن السكوت أعلى من القول (وهذا) أي الذي أعطى علمه السكوت ولم يظهر العجز

that is, rather, silence gave knowledge to the one who knew ("just as incapacity gave [knowledge]") - that is, just as incapacity gave knowledge to the one who was ignorant. And the knowledge that silence gave is a higher rank than the knowledge that incapacity gave. So how could silence not be higher than speech? ("And this one") - that is, the one whose knowledge was given by silence and who did not manifest incapacity -

﴿وهذا هو أعلى عالم باللَّه وليس هذا العلم﴾

Quotes words that differ from our text (wavy underline).

بالأصالة

originally/properly

﴿وهذا هو أعلى عالم بالله﴾

لأنه يعرف المراتب والمقامات ويعطى حق كل مقام في مقامه

because he knows the levels and stations and gives to each station its due right within its own station.

﴿وهذا هو أعلى عالم بالله﴾

حيث لم ينقهر بقوة استعداده الذاتي لمقتضيات ذلك المشهد العظيم من تجاذب الأطراف المتعانقة ، وتخالف أحكامها المتضادة ، بل أحاط بالكل علما ، ولم يتأثر من تلك الأحكام وهو أعلى عالم بالله . في العلم الخاص بخاتم الأولياء

inasmuch as he was not overcome, through the strength of his essential preparedness (istiʿdād dhātī), by what that tremendous witnessing requires — the mutual attraction of embracing extremes and the divergence of their opposing rulings — but rather encompassed the whole in knowledge and was not affected by those rulings; and he is the most knowing of God, [this pertains] to the knowledge peculiar to the Seal of the Saints.

﴿هو أعلى عالم بالله﴾

و مراتب تجلياته والتمييز بينها. وليس هذا العلم الذي يعطي صاحبه السكوت بالأصالة

and of the levels of His self-disclosures and the distinguishing among them. And this knowledge, which imposes silence upon its possessor, does not belong originally [to anyone]

﴿هو أعلى عالم بالله﴾

من الصنف الآخر

of the other kind.