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 146 · “It is We who inherit the earth”
Context: when the Emir says there is “no lord and no god” if creatures are supposed absent, he means that the names of lordship and divinity have no object then. It describes the state before creation; it does not deny God.
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 329, Damascus 1966, p. 330, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 316, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 317 (archive.org)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَرِثُ الْأَرْضَ وَمَنْ عَلَيْهَا وَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ»
God Most High has said: "It is We who will inherit the earth and whoever is upon it, and to Us they will be returned" (Q 19:40).
مِنْ اَسْمَائِهِ– تَعَالَى– الْوَارِثُ.
Among His names, Most High is He, is al-Wārith, the Heir.
وَهُوَ الَّذِي تَرْجِعُ اِلَيْهِ الْأَمْلَاكُ، بَعْدَ فَنَاءِ الْمُلاَّكِ،
He is the one to whom possessions return after the passing away of their owners,
وَمِيرَاثُهُ– تَعَالَى– لِلْأَرْضِ وَمَنْ عَلَيْهَا؛ هُوَ بِرَفْعِ نِسْبَتِهِ الْمِلْكِيَّةِ الَّتِي كَانَتْ لِلْمَخْلُوقَاتِ، وَهِيَ الِانْتِفَاعَاتُ،
and His inheritance, Most High is He, of the earth and whoever is upon it consists in the lifting of its relation of ownership that belonged to created beings, and that is the usufructs,
وَأَمَّا الْأَعْيَانُ؛ فَهِيَ مِلْكُ خَالِقِهَا– تَعَالَى–، لَامِلْكَ لِمَخْلُوقٍ عَلَيْهَا.
As for the things themselves, they are the property of their Creator, Most High is He; no created being has ownership over them.
فَلَا تُمْلَكُ اِلاَّ الِانْتِفَاعَاتُ، وَلَا يُبَاعُ وَلَا يُشْتَرَي اِلاَّ هِيَ، لَا الْأَعْيَانُ.
So nothing is owned but the usufructs, and nothing is sold or bought but they, not the things themselves.
وَلِهَذَا مَنَعَ الشَّــارِعُ مِنْ بَيْعِ الْأَعْيَـانِ اِذَا عَدِمَتْ مِنَ الِانْتِفَاعَاتِ الْمَقْصُودَةِ مِنْهَا.
For this reason the Lawgiver forbade the sale of things when they are devoid of the benefits intended from them.
وَمَنَعَ مِنْ بَيْعِ جَمِيعِ الْأَعْيَانِ الَّتِي لَا يُنْتَفَعُ بِهَا فِي شَيْءٍ مِنْ أَنْوَاعِ الِانْتِفَاعَاتِ الْمُبَاحَةِ:
and he forbade the sale of all things that are of no use for any of the permitted kinds of benefit:
«وَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ» وَذَلِكَ يَوْمَ قَوْلِهِ– تَعَالَى–: «لِمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ»
"And to Us they will be returned" (Q 19:40): that is on the day of His saying, Most High is He, "Whose is the dominion today?" (Q 40:16).
وَذَكَرَ ثَلَاثَةَ أَسْمَاءٍ اللَّهُ، وَهُوَ الِاسْمُ الْجَامِعُ، وَهُوَ الْوَارِثُ فِي الْحَقِيقَةِ لَا الْوَاحِدُ وَلَا الْقَهَّارُ، اِذْ أَسْمَاءُ الْأُلُوهِيَّةِ وَالرُّبُوبِيَّةِ تَخْتَفِي بِاخْتِفَاءِ آثَارِهَا•
And He mentioned three names: Allāh, which is the all-comprehensive name, and it is the Heir in reality, not al-Wāḥid nor al-Qahhār, since the names of divinity and lordship become hidden with the hiding of their traces.
وَهُمُ الْمَأْلُوهُونَ وَالْمَرْبُوبُونَ، لِأَنَّ بِزَوَالِ الْمَأْلُوهِ تَخْتَفِي نِسْبَةُ الْاِلَهِيَّةِ، وَبِزَوَالِ الْمَرْبُوبِ تَخْتَفِي نِسْبَةُ الرُّبُوبِيَّةِ، فَلَا رَبٌّ وَلَا مَرْبُوبٌ، وَلَا اِلَهٌ وَلَا مَأْلُوهٌ، تَقْدِيراً كَمَا هُوَ الْأَمْرُ قَبْلَ اِيجَادِ الْعَالَمِ•
These traces are those subject to divinity and those subject to lordship, because with the disappearance of the one subject to divinity the relation of divinity becomes hidden, and with the disappearance of the one subject to lordship the relation of lordship becomes hidden; so there is no lord and no one subject to lordship, no god and no one subject to divinity, by supposition, just as the matter stands before the bringing of the world into existence.
وَالْوَاحِدُ وَهُوَ مِنْ أَسْمَاءِ الذَّاتِ، وَذَلِكَ يُفِيدُ غِنَاهُ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَ، اِذْ ذَلِكَ مُقْتَضَي الذَّاتِ الْعَلِيَّةِ،
And al-Wāḥid, the One: it is among the names of the Essence, and that conveys His independence of the worlds, since that is what the exalted Essence requires;
وَالْقَهَّارُ وَهُوَ مِنْ أَسْمَاءِ الصِّفَاتِ، وَذَلِكَ يُفِيدُ اِعْدَامَ الْعَالَمِ وَفَنَاءَهُ، فَاِنَّ مَا أَفْنَاهُ اِلاَّ بِتَوَجُّهِهِ عَلَيْهِ بِأَسْمَاءِ الْجَلَالِ كَالْقَهَّارِ وَنَحْوِهِ،
and al-Qahhār, the All-Subduing: it is among the names of the attributes, and that conveys the reduction of the world to nonexistence and its annihilation, for He annihilated it only by turning toward it with the names of majesty, such as al-Qahhār and the like;
ثُمَّ تَتَجَلَّى أَسْمَاءُ الرَّحْمَةِ وَالْجَمَالِ، وَتَطْلُبُ ظُهُورَ آثَارِهَا فَيُعِيدُ الْعَالَمَ، لَا آلَهَ اِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ•
then the names of mercy and beauty disclose themselves and demand the appearing of their traces, and so He brings the world back. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise.
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