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 138 · “Let not your wealth distract you from remembrance”
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 309, Damascus 1966, p. 310, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 300, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 301 (archive.org)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لاَ تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلاَ أَوْلاَدُكُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ».
He, exalted is He, said: "O you who believe, let not your wealth nor your children distract you from the remembrance of God" (Q 63:9).
امْتِثَالُ النَّهْيِ عَنِ الْمَنْهِيِّ عَنْهُ يَحْصُلُ بِفِعْلِ الضِّدِّ، اِذَا لَا تَكْلِيفَ اِلَاّ بِفِعْلٍ،
Compliance with the prohibition of what is prohibited comes about by doing its opposite, since there is no legal obligation except to an act;
يُقَالُ: لَهَا بِالشَّيْءِ، أَحَبَّهُ وَرَضِيَ بِهِ.
One says: lahā bi-the thing, meaning he loved it and was content with it;
وَلَهَا عَنْهُ: أَعْرَضَ.
and lahā ʿan it: he turned away from it.
وَالْمَأْمُورُ فِي ضِمْنِ النَّهْيِ صِنْفَانِ مِنَ النَّاسِ: مُؤْمِنٌ مَحْضٌ، وَمُؤْمِنٌ مَجَازاً، أَوْ بِالنَّظَرِ اِلَى الْأَصْلِ أَوْ بِالنَّظَرِ اِلَى بَعْضِ مَا وَجَبَ الْاِيمَانُ بِهِ دُونَ بَعْضٍ،
Those commanded within the prohibition are two kinds of people: the pure believer, and the believer figuratively, either with regard to the origin or with regard to some, and not all, of what faith must be held in;
أَيْ لَاتَنْظُرُوا اِلَى أَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَوْلَادِكُمْ نَظَراً يَشْغَلُكُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ، فَتَلْهُوا وَتُعْرِضُوا اَوْ تَنْسَوْا.
that is: do not look at your wealth and your children with a look that occupies you away from the remembrance of God, so that you become diverted and turn away or forget.
بَلِ انْظُرُوا اِلَيْهِمْ نَظَراً يَكُونُ ذِكْرَ اللَّهِ- تَعَالَى-.
Rather, look at them with a look that is the remembrance of God, exalted is He.
فَالْمُؤْمِنُ الْمَحْضُ مَنْهِيٌّ مِنْ مَقَامِ اِيمَانِهِ.
The pure believer is under the prohibition from the station of his faith.
وَهُوَ أَنْ يَنْظُرَ اِلَى أَمْوَالِهِ وَأَوْلَادِهِ وَجَمِيعِ مَا أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ بِهِ عَلَيْهِ، بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ، بِحَمْدِهِ وَشُكْرِهِ.
That is, he is to look at his wealth, his children and all that God has bestowed on him with the remembrance of God, with praising and thanking Him;
وَأَنَّهُ- تَعَالَى- مُتَفَضِّلٌ مَنَّانٌ فِيمَا أَعْطَى، وَأَنَّ أَحَداً لَايَسْتَحِقُّ عَلَى اللَّهِ- تَعَالَى- شَيْئاً مِمَّا أَنْعَمَ.
and that He, exalted is He, is gracious and bountiful in what He has given, and that no one has a claim on God, exalted is He, to anything of what He has bestowed.
وَالْمُؤْمِنُ مَجَازاً؛ مَنْهِيٌّ مِنْ مَقَامِ مَعْرِفَتِهِ وَمُشَاهَدَتِهِ، مَأْمُورٌ بِاَنْ يَرَى أَمْوَالَهُ وَأَوْلَادَهُ وَجَمِيعَ مَا أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ بِهِ عَلَيْهِ، تَجَلِّيَاتٍ مِنْ تَجَلِّيَاتِ الْحَقِّ- تَعَالَى- عَلَيْهِ، وَظُهُورَاتٍ مِنْ ظُهُورَاتِهِ- تَعَالَى- لَدَيْهِ،
The believer figuratively is under the prohibition from the station of his knowledge and his beholding. He is commanded to see his wealth, his children and all that God has bestowed on him as self-disclosures among the self-disclosures of the Real, exalted is He, to him, and manifestations among His manifestations, exalted is He, before him;
فَيُشَاهِدُ الْمُنْعِمَ فِي النِّعْمَةِ، فَهُوَ لَايَرَى اِلَّا الْحَقَّ- تَعَالَى-، وَلَا يَلْتَذُّ اِلَاّ بِالْحَقِّ،
so he beholds the Bestower in the blessing; he sees nothing but the Real, exalted is He, and takes pleasure only in the Real.
فَالْأَوَّلُ يَرَى النِّعْمَةَ.
The first sees the blessing,
وَالثَّانِي يَرَى الْمُنْعِمَ.
and the second sees the Bestower.
أَوْ قُلْ: الْأَوَّلُ يَرَى الْأَثَرَ، وَالثَّانِي يَرَى الْمُؤَثِّرَ.
Or say: the first sees the effect, and the second sees the One who produces the effect.
أَوْ قُلْ: الْأَوَّلُ يَرَى الْأِسْمَ، وَالثَّانِي يَرَى الْمُسَمَّى،
Or say: the first sees the name, and the second sees the Named.
أَوْ قُلْ: الْأَوَّلُ، يَذْكُرُهُ ذِكْرَ الْقَلْبِ وَاللِّسَانِ، وَالثَّانِي يَذْكُرُهُ ذِكْرَ السِّرِّ،
Or say: the first remembers Him with the remembrance of the heart and the tongue, and the second remembers Him with the remembrance of the secret.
فَالْأَوَّلُ النِّعْمَةُ فِي حَقِّهِ شَهْوَةٌ طَبِيعِيَّةٌ، وَالثَّانِي النِّعْمَةُ فِي حَقِّهِ لَذَّةٌ رُوحَانِيَّةٌ،
For the first, the blessing in his case is a natural appetite; for the second, the blessing in his case is a spiritual pleasure;
فَلَا يَلْتَذُّ اِلَاّ بِاللَّهِ، وَلَا يُحِبُّ اِلَاّ اللَّهَ فِي كُلِّ مَا تَجَلَّى لَهُ وَظَهَرَ،
so he takes pleasure only in God, and loves only God in all that discloses itself to him and appears.
وَصَاحِبُ هَذَا الشُّهُودِ لَا يَزْهَدُ فِي شَيْءٍ مَوْجُودٍ، وَكَيْفَ يَزْهَدُ فِي شَيْءٍ يَشْهَدُ فِيهِ مَحْبُوبَهُ،
The one who has this beholding does not renounce any existing thing; and how should he renounce a thing in which he beholds his Beloved?
وَطَهَارَةُ الْقَلْبِ، اِنَّمَا هِيَ بِالْمُرَاقَبَةِ وَالْحُضُورِ،
The purity of the heart lies only in watchfulness and presence.
فَالنِّعَمُ وَاللَّذَّاتُ كُلُّهَا، اِذَا لَمْ تَحُلْ بَيْنَ الْقَلْبِ وَبَيْنَ مُرَاقَبَتِهِ وَحُضُورِهِ مَعَ اللَّهِ– تَعَالَى– لَاتَضُرُّ،
So blessings and pleasures, all of them, if they do not come between the heart and its watchfulness and its presence with God, exalted is He, do no harm;
وَالْقَلْبُ بَاقٍ عَلَى أَصْلِ طَهَارَتِهِ، اِذِ الْمَقْصُودُ مِنَ الْقَلْبِ حَاضِرٌ،
and the heart remains in its original purity, since what is intended of the heart is present.
وَحِينَئِذٍ لَا يُبَالِى بِالشَّهَوَاتِ كَانَتْ مَا كَانَتْ، بَلْ وَلَوْ مِنْ حَرَامٍ اِذَا كَانَ مُعْتَقِداً لِحُرْمَتِهَا، فَاِنَّهَا لَا تَحْجُبُهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ هِيَ.
Then he pays no heed to appetites, whatever they may be, indeed even if they come from what is forbidden, provided he holds them to be forbidden, for in themselves they do not veil him.
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