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 114 · “They wronged themselves”
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 249, Damascus 1966, p. 250, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 247, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 248 (archive.org)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «وَمَا ظَلَمْنَاهُمْ وَلَٰكِنْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ».
He, exalted is He, said: “We did not wrong them, but they wronged themselves” (Q 11:101).
وَقَالَ: «وَمَا ظَلَمَهُمُ اللَّهُ».
And He said: “God did not wrong them” (Q 3:117; 16:33).
وَنَحْوَهَا مِنَ الْآيَاتِ الَّتِي تُثْبِتُ ظُلْمَ النَّفْسِ لِنَفْسِهَا، فَاِنَّ صَاحِبَ النَّفْسِ لَيْسَ مُغَايِراً لِنَفْسِهِ حَتَّى يَكُونَ هُنَاكَ ظَالِمٌ وَمَظْلُومٌ،
and the like of these among the verses that affirm the soul's wronging of itself. For the possessor of the soul is not other than his soul, such that there would be a wronger and a wronged;
يَعْنِي اَنَّ الْوَاقِعَ بِهِمْ، مِمَّا لَايُلَائِمُ طِبَاعَهُمْ، مِمَّا يُظَنُّ أَنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ أَهْلٍ لَهُ وَلَا مُسْتَحِقِّينَهُ، وَاَنَّهُ– تَعَالَى– ظَلَمَهُمْ بِذَلِكَ.
That is to say: what befalls them is of the kind that does not suit their natures, of the kind they are thought to be unfit for and undeserving of, and [it is thought] that He, exalted is He, wronged them by it.
فَمَا هُوَ الْأَمْرُ كَمَا ظُنَّ، بَلْ اِنْ كَانَ ذَلِكَ ظُلْماً عَلَى سَبِيلِ الْفَرْضِ؛ فَمَا هُوَ مِنْهُ– تَعَالَى–، وَاِنَّمَا ذَلِكَ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَأَعْيَانِهِمُ الثَّابِتَةِ، فَاِنَّهَا طَلَبَتْ ذَلِكَ بِاسْتِعْدَادِهَا،
But the matter is not as was thought. Rather, if that were wrong (by way of supposition), it would not be from Him, exalted is He; it is only from their own selves and their fixed entities, for these asked for it through their preparedness.
فَلَيْسَ لِلَّهِ– تَعَالَى– اِلَاّ اِعْطَاءُ الْوُجُودِ لِمَا طَلَبُوهُ بِاسْتِعْدَادِهِمْ،
God, exalted is He, has nothing but the giving of existence to what they asked for through their preparedness.
وَبِهَذَا كَانَتِ الْحُجَّةُ الْبَالِغَةُ لَهُ– تَعَالَى– عَلَيْهِمْ،
and by this the conclusive argument belongs to Him, exalted is He, against them.
وَلَيْسَ بَيْنَ قَوْلِهِ: «فَلِلَّهِ الْحُجَّةُ الْبَالِغَةُ⁽¹⁾». وَقَوْلِهِ: «فَلَوْ شَاءَ لَهَدَاكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ⁽¹⁾». تَنَافٍ، كَمَا يُتَوَهَّمُ، حَتَّى يَقُولُوا: لِمَ لَمْ تَشَأْ هِدَايَتَنَا جَمِيعاً؟
Between His words “To God belongs the conclusive argument” (Q 6:149) and His words “Had He willed, He would have guided you all” (Q 6:149) there is no contradiction, as is imagined, such that they might say: “Why did You not will to guide us all?”
فَاِنَّهُ مَا انْتَفَتْ مَشِيئَتُهُ هِدَايَةَ الْجَمِيعِ؟ اِلَاّ لِانْتِفَاءِ تَعَلُّقِ الْعِلْمِ الْقَدِيمِ بِذَلِكَ،
For His will to guide all was absent only because the eternal knowledge did not attach to that,
اِذِ الْعِلْمُ يَتْبَعُ الْمَعْلُومَ، وَيَتَعَلَّقُ بِهِ عَلَى مَاهُوَ عَلَيْهِ، فَاِنَّهُ صِفَةُ انْكِشَافٍ، وَحِكَايَةٌ لِلْمَعْلُومِ مَا هُوَ صِفَةَ تَأْثِيرٍ،
since knowledge follows the known and attaches to it as it is. For it is an attribute of disclosure and a reporting of the known, not an attribute of effecting.
وَالْمَعْلُومُ هُوَ أَنَّ مِنْكُمْ مُهْتَدِياً وَمِنْكُمْ ضَالّاً،
And what is known is that among you there are some rightly guided and some astray;
فَانْتَفَتْ مَشِيئَتُهُ هِدَايَةَ جَمِيعِكُمْ، لِانْتِفَاءِ تَعَلُّقِ الْعِلْمِ بِهِدَايَةِ جَمِيعِكُمْ، وَانْتَفَى تَعَلُّقُ الْعِلْمِ بِهِدَايَةِ جَمِيعِكُمْ، لِكَوْنِكُمْ مُخْتَلِفِينَ فِي الِاسْتِعْدَادِ،
so His will to guide all of you was absent because knowledge did not attach to the guidance of all of you; and knowledge did not attach to the guidance of all of you because you differ in preparedness.
فَمِنْكُمْ مُسْتَعِدٌّ لِلْهُدَى، وَمِنْكُمْ مُسْتَعِدٌّ لِلضَّلَالَةِ،
Among you some are prepared for guidance, and among you some are prepared for misguidance.
وَالِاسْتِعْدَادُ؛ لَا عِلَّةَ لَهُ، فَاِنَّهُ مِنْ سِرِّ الْقَدَرِ،
And preparedness has no cause, for it belongs to the secret of destiny.
وَاِلَى هَذَا الْمَنْحَى يُشِيرُ قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: «إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ⁽²⁾».
To this line of thought His words, exalted is He, allude: “God does not change what is in a people until they change what is in themselves” (Q 13:11).
أَيْ أَنَّهُ تَعَالَى، لَا يُغَيِّرُ حَالَ قَوْمٍ أَوْ أَحَدٍ، وَيَنْقُلُهُمْ مِنْ حَالَةٍ اِلَى حَالَةٍ أَدْنَى أَوْ أَعْلَى، فِي الظَّاهِرِ، حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا ذَلِكَ بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ،
That is, He, exalted is He, does not change the state of a people, or of anyone, moving them outwardly from one state to a lower or higher one, until they change that by themselves,
بِمَعْنَى يَطْلُبُونَ بِاسْتِعْدَادِهِمْ، فِي الْبَاطِنِ، مِنَ الْحَقِّ– تَعَالَى– اِيجَادَ تِلْكَ الْحَالَةِ الْمُنْتَقَلِ اِلَيْهَا، وَهُوَ مَعْنَى التَّغْيِيرِ،
in the sense that, inwardly, they ask the Real, exalted is He, through their preparedness, to bring into existence the state to which they are moved; and that is the meaning of “changing.”
فَلَيْسَ لِلْحَقِّ– تَعَالَى– اِلَاّ اِعْطَاءُ الْوُجُودِ لِتِلْكَ الْحَالَةِ الْمُنْتَقَلِ اِلَيْهَا، بِطَلَبِهِمُ الِاسْتِعْدَادِيِّ، وَاِرَادَتِهِمْ لِذَلِكَ.
The Real, exalted is He, has nothing but the giving of existence to that state to which they are moved, at their request made through preparedness and their willing of it.
وَهَكَذَا عَلَى الدَّوَامِ فِي جَمِيعِ الْأَحْوَالِ، فِي جَمِيعِ الْمَخْلُوقَاتِ، فَمَا حَكَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرُ أَنْفُسِهِمْ.
And so it is perpetually, in all states, in all created things: nothing has passed judgment on them but their own selves.
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