al-Amīr ʿAbd al-Qādir b. Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Jazāʾirī · Kitāb al-Mawāqif fī baʿḍ ishārāt al-Qurʾān ilā al-asrār wa-l-maʿārif
المواقف
The Book of Stations
Mawqif 107 · Knowing the self and knowing the Lord
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 233, Damascus 1966, p. 234, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 231, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 232 (archive.org)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «مَنِ اهْتَدَىٰ فَإِنَّمَا يَهْتَدِي لِنَفْسِهِ وَمَنْ ضَلَّ فَإِنَّمَا يَضِلُّ عَلَيْهَا»
He, exalted is He, says: “Whoever is guided is guided only for his own self, and whoever goes astray goes astray only against it” (Q 17:15).
اعْلَمْ: أَنَّ مَنْ حَصَلَتْ لَهُ الْهِدَايَةُ؛ اهْتَدَى وَوَصَلَ اِلَى مَقْصُودِهِ• فَاِنَّمَا اهْتَدَى وَوَصَلَ اِلَى نَفْسِهِ لَا اِلَى غَيْرِهِ،
Know that whoever has obtained guidance, that is, has been guided and has reached what he sought, has been guided to and has reached only his own self, not anything other than it;
وَمَنْ ضَلَّ بِاَنْ لَمْ يَصِلْ اِلَى مَقْصُودِهِ وَلَا اهْتَدَى اِلَيْهِ؛ فَاِنَّمَا يَضِلُّ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ، أَيْ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ،
and whoever has gone astray, in that he has not reached what he sought nor been guided to it, goes astray only “against” his own self, that is, away from his own self,
«فَعَلَى» بِمَعْنَى «عَنْ»
so “ʿalā” (“against”) has the sense of “ʿan” (“away from”).
وَذَلِكَ لِأَنَّ نَفْسَ الْاِنْسَانِ وَرُوحَهُ هِيَ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ يَصِحُّ أَنْ يُعْلَمَ، وَتُقْصَدَ مَعْرِفَتُهُ، مِنْ حَقٍّ وَخَلْقٍ، وَجَوْهَرٍ وَعَرَضٍ، وَحَادِثٍ وَقَدِيمٍ،
That is because the self and spirit of the human being are everything that can rightly be known and whose knowledge can be sought: Real and creation, substance and accident, originated and eternal.
فَاِذَا طَلَبَ الْاِنْسَانُ الْهِدَايَةَ اِلَى شَيْءٍ لِيَعْرِفَهُ، وَوَصَلَ اِلَيْهِ وَعَرَفَهُ؛ فَذَلِكَ الشَّيْءُ نَفْسُهُ وَرُوحُهُ،
So when a human being seeks guidance to something in order to know it, and reaches it and knows it, that thing is his own self and spirit;
فَهِيَ الَّتِي تَصَوَّرَتْ لَهُ بِصُورَةِ ذَلِكَ الشَّيْءِ الْمَطْلُوبِ الْمُهْتَدَي اِلَيْهِ،
for it is the self that has taken on, for him, the form of that thing which is sought and to which he is guided,
اِذِ الْاِنْسَانُ مَتَى صَفَتْ رُوحُهُ وَنَفْسُهُ، وَتَزَكَّتْ بِاتِّبَاعِ الْكِتَابِ وَالسُّنَّةِ ظَاهِراً وَبَاطِناً، وَاسْتَعْمَلَتِ الرِّيَاضَةَ وَالْمُجَاهَدَةَ وَأَرَادَ أَنْ يَعْلَمَ شَيْئاً مِنَ الْأَشْيَاءِ؛ تَصَوَّرَتْ لَهُ رُوحُهُ بِصُورَةِ ذَلِكَ الشَّيْءِ الْمَطْلُوبِ عَلَى حَسَبِ مَا هُوَ، وَعَلَى حَسَبِ مَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ– تَعَالَى– مِنْ تَعْرِيفِهِ،
since, whenever a human being's spirit and self have become pure, have been purified by following the Book and the Sunna outwardly and inwardly, and have practised discipline and striving, and he wants to know some one of the things, his spirit takes on for him the form of that sought thing, according to what it is and according to what God, exalted is He, wills of making it known.
فَرُوحُ الْاِنْسَانِ خَالِيَةٌ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ، لَا نَقْشَ فِيهَا، لِأَنَّهَا أَمْرُ اللَّهِ– تَعَالَى– الْوَاحِدُ الَّذِي هُوَ كَلَمْحِ الْبَصَرِ،
So the human spirit is empty of everything, with no imprint in it, because it is the single command of God, exalted is He, which is like the glance of the eye;
وَالْمَعْلُومَاتُ فِي الْعَقْلِ بِالْقُوَّةِ،
and the objects of knowledge are in the intellect in potency.
فَاِذَا امْتَزَجَ الْعَقْلُ بِالرُّوحِ امْتِزَاجاً مَعْنَوِيّاً؛ ظَهَرَتِ الْعُلُومُ فِي النَّفْسِ وَتَصَوَّرَتْ بِهَا، حَتَّى الْحَقُّ– تَعَالَى–، وَمَا يَسْتَحِقُّهُ مِنْ نُعُوتِ الْكَمَالِ،
So when the intellect mingles with the spirit in a mingling of meaning, the sciences appear in the self and take form by it, even the Real, exalted is He, and the attributes of perfection He deserves.
فَكُلُّ ذَلِكَ اِنَّمَا هُوَ لِلنَّفْسِ وَالرُّوحِ،
All of that belongs only to the self and the spirit;
فَهِيَ الَّتِي تَصَوَّرَتْ بِمُسَمَّى الْحَقِّ– تَعَالَى– وَاجِبِ الْوُجُودِ حَتَّى عُلِمَ وَعُرِفَ بِجَمِيعِ مَايَجِبُ لَهُ مِنَ الْكَمَالَاتِ،
for it is the self that took on the form of what is named “the Real”, exalted is He, the Necessary of Existence, so that He was known and recognised with all the perfections that are necessarily His;
وَطَالِبُ الْحَقِّ– تَعَالَى–، اِذَا اهْتَدَى وَوَصَلَ؛ يَجِدُ الطَّالِبَ عَيْنَ الْمَطْلُوبِ•
And the seeker of the Real, exalted is He, when he is guided and arrives, finds the seeker to be the very identity of the sought.
وَاِلَيْهِ يُشِيرُ خَبَرُ: «مَنْ عَرَفَ نَفْسَهُ عَرَفَ رَبَّهُ»•
And to this the report points: “Whoever knows his self knows his Lord.”
فَالْفَتْحُ الَّذِي يَذْكُرُهُ الْقَوْمُ– رِضْوَانُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِمْ– هُوَ أَنْ يَكْشِفَ– تَعَالَى– لِلْعَبْدِ أَنَّهُ هُوَ مِنْ غَيْرِ حُلُولٍ وَلَا اتِّحَادٍ،
So the opening that the Folk, God's good pleasure be upon them, speak of is that He, exalted is He, unveils to the servant that he is He, without indwelling or union,
وَأَنَّ الرَّبَّ رَبٌّ وَالْعَبْدَ عَبْدٌ، لَا يَصِيرُ الرَّبُّ عَبْداً وَلَا الْعَبْدُ رَبّاً، فَاِنَّ قَلْبَ الْحَقَايِقِ مُحَالٌ،
and that the Lord is Lord and the servant is servant: the Lord does not become a servant, nor the servant a Lord, for the inversion of realities is impossible.
وَجَمِيعُ الْأَوَامِرِ وَالنَّوَاهِي الشَّرْعِيَّةِ؛ اِنَّمَا هِيَ مَوْضُوعَةٌ لِرَفْعِ الْحِجَابِ عَنِ الْعَبْدِ، حَتَّى يَصِلُوا اِلَى رَبِّهِمْ وُصُولَ عِلْمٍ، بِرَفْعِ النِّسَبِ وَالِاعْتِبَارَاتِ الْحِسِّيَّةِ وَالْعَقْلِيَّةِ،
And all the commands and prohibitions of the Law were laid down only to lift the veil from the servant, so that they may reach their Lord with an arrival of knowledge, through the lifting of sensory and rational relations and considerations;
اِذْ هِيَ كُلُّهَا– عِنْدَ التَّحَقُّقِ– نِسَبٌ لَا عَيْنَ لَهَا فِي الْوُجُودِ الْحَقِّ،
since all of them, upon realisation, are relations that have no entity in true existence;
وَلَكِنَّ الْآفَةَ الطَّارِئَةَ عَلَى الْأَبْصَارِ صَيَّرَتْهُ يَرَى الْوَاحِدَ اثْنَيْنِ،
but the affliction that has befallen the eyes has made him see the One as two.
فَسُبْحَانَ مُقَلِّبِ الْأَبْصَارِ وَالْبَصَائِرِ•
So glory be to the Turner of eyes and inner sights!
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