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 172 · The sun rising from its setting
In briefAI
Starting from Q 6:158, where no soul profits from its faith on the day some of the Lord's signs come, the Emir says there is a sun in figure and a sun in reality. The sun in reality, the Real, rises from the soul, its place of setting, when the soul is known: “Whoever knows himself knows his Lord.” For the one it rises on, ordinary repentance and faith no longer apply, since beholding replaces them. His inward states change while his outward life stays within the Law.
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 381, Damascus 1966, p. 382, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 361, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 362 (archive.org)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «يَوْمَ يَأْتِي بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ لَا يَنْفَعُ نَفْساً أَيْمَانُهَا»
He, exalted is He, said: “On the day when some of your Lord’s signs come, no soul will be profited by its faith” (Q 6:158).
وَوَرَدَ فِي الْأَخْبَارِ الصَّحِيحَةِ أَنَّ ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ هُوَ يَوْمُ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا،
It has come in the sound reports that that day is the day the sun rises from its place of setting.
فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ هُنَاكَ شَمْساً حَقِيقَةً، وَشَمْساً مَجَازاً، وَكِلَاهُمَا بِطُلُوعِهِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهِ يُغْلِقُ بَابَ التَّوْبَةِ، وَلَا يَنْفَعُ نَفْساً اِيمَانُهَا.
Know, then, that there is a sun in reality and a sun in figure, and each of them, by its rising from its place of setting, shuts the door of repentance, and no soul is profited by its faith.
فَأَمَّا الشَّمْسُ مَجَازاً فَهُوَالْكَوْكَبُ النَّهَارِيُّ، الَّذِي هُوَ مَعْدِنُ الْأَنْوَارِ الْحِسِّيَّةِوَطُلُوعُهُ مِنْمَغْرِبِهِ وَمَا يَتْبَعُ ذَلِكَمَشْهُورٌ عِنْدَ الْجُمْهُورِ.
As for the sun in figure, it is the daytime star, the mine of the sensory lights; its rising from its place of setting, and what follows upon that, is well known to the generality.
وَأَمَّا الشَّمْسُ حَقِيقَةً وَهِيَ أَصْلُ الْأَنْوَارِ الْحِسِّيَّةِ وَالْمَعْنَوِيَّةِ، كَمَا قَالَ: «اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَٰوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ»
As for the sun in reality, which is the root of the sensory lights and the lights of meaning, as He said: “God is the light of the heavens and the earth” (Q 24:35),
فَطُلُوعُهُ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهِ هُوَ انْكِشَافُهُ وَاِشْرَاقُهُ مِنْ مَحَلِّ غُرُوبِهِ وَانْحِجَابِهِ وَاسْتِتَارِهِ، وَهِيَ النَّفْسُ، فَاِنَّهَا حِجَابُ شَمْسِ الْحَقِيقَةِ وَمَغْرِبُهَا،
its rising from its place of setting is its unveiling and its shining forth from the very locus of its setting, its veiling and its concealment; and that locus is the soul, for the soul is the veil of the sun of the Reality and its place of setting.
وَطُلُوعُهَا مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا الَّذِي هُوَ النَّفْسُ هُوَ مَعْرِفَتُهَا مِنْهَا: «مَنْ عَرَفَ نَفْسَهُ عَرَفَ رَبَّهُ».
And its rising from its place of setting, which is the soul, is its being known from the soul: “Whoever knows himself knows his Lord.”
فَصَارَ الْمَغْرِبُ مَطْلَعاً وَمَشْرِقاً، وَهَذِهِ الْآيَةُ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ كُلِّ آيَةٍ،
So the place of setting became a place of rising and of dawning, and this sign is greater than every sign;
وَلَا مَغِيبَ لِشَمْسِ الْحَقِيقَةِ بَعْدَ طُلُوعِهَا مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا، فَاِنَّ مَغْرِبَهَا هُوَ الَّذِي كَانَ يَحْجُبُهَا وَيَسْتُرُهَا، وَقَدْ صَارَ هُوَ مَشْرِقَهَا وَمَطْلَعَهَا.
and the sun of the Reality has no setting after its rising from its place of setting, for its place of setting was what used to veil and conceal it, and it has now become its place of dawning and of rising.
فَلَا مَغِيبَ لَهَا أَبَداً، كَمَا قِيلَ: اِنَّ شَمْسَ النَّهَارِ تَغْرُبُ بِاللَّيْلِ، وَشَمْسُ الْقُلُوبِ لَيْسَتْ تَغِيبُ
So it never sets, as has been said: “The sun of the day sets at night, but the sun of hearts does not set.”
وَحِينَئِذٍ يُغْلَقُ بَابُ التَّوْبَةِ الْمَعْرُوفَةِ، عَنْ هَذَا الَّذِي طَلَعَتْ عَلَيْهِ الشَّمْسُ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا، لِأَنَّ التَّوْبَةَ رُجُوعٌ، وَالَّذِي طَلَعَتْ عَلَيْهِ شَمْسُ الْحَقِيقَةِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا؟ الى مَنْ يَرْجِعُ؟
And then the door of repentance as commonly known is shut for this one upon whom the sun has risen from its place of setting, because repentance is a return; and the one upon whom the sun of the Reality has risen from its place of setting: to whom would he return?
فَاِنَّهُ انْكَشَفَتْ لَهُ الْمَعِيَّةُ الْآلَهِيَّةُ، وَالْاِحَاطَةُ الرَّبَّانِيَّةُ، فَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ مَنْ يَرْجِعُ اِلَيْهِ،
For the divine withness and the lordly encompassing have been unveiled to him, so there was no one for him to return to;
فَقَدِ انْمَحَقَتِ الْأَغْيَارُ، وَاتَّحَدَتِ الْأَنْوَارُ، فَلَمْ يَبْقَ اِلاَّ اللَّهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ، لَهُ الْحُكْمُ وَاِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ،
for the others have been effaced and the lights have become one, and nothing remains but God, the One, the All-Compelling: “His is the judgement, and to Him you will be returned” (Q 28:88),
فَهَذَا قَدْ رَجَعَ فِي الدُّنْيَا قَبْلَ الْآخِرَةِ، وَقَامَتْ قِيَامَتُهُ،
so this one has returned in this world before the next, and his resurrection has come about;
بَلْ تَلْزَمُهُ التَّوْبَةُ مِنَ التَّوْبَةِ الْمَعْرُوفَةِ عِنْدَ الْعُمُومِ، فَاِنَّهَا قَدْ صَارَتْ بِالنِّسْبَةِ لِصَاحِبِ هَذَا الْمَقَامِ خَطَأً وَذَنْباً وَجَهْلاً، اِذْ حَسَنَاتُ الْأَبْرَارِ سَيِّئَاتُ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ،
rather, he is bound to repent of the repentance known among the common people, for with respect to the one at this station it has become an error, a sin and ignorance, since the good deeds of the pious are the bad deeds of those brought near;
وَلَا يَنْفَعُهُ اِيمَانُهُ حِينَئِذٍ، فَاِنَّ نَفْعَ الْاِيمَانِ حَالَةَ الْحِجَابِ قَبْلَ الشُّهُودِ وَالْعِيَانِ، وَطُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ الَّتِي لَايُحْتَاجُ مَعَهَا بُرْهَانٌ،
and then his faith does not profit him, for faith profits in the state of the veil, before beholding and direct sight and before the rising of the sun with which no proof is needed;
فَاِذَا صَارَ الْغَيْبُ شَهَادَةً، وَالْخَبَرُ مُعَايَنَةً؟ لَايَنْفَعُ نَفْساً اِيمَانُهَا، وَاِنَّمَا يَنْفَعُهَا شُهُودُهَا وَعِيَانُهَا،
and when the unseen has become the visible, and report has become eyewitness seeing, “no soul is profited by its faith”; what profits it is only its beholding and its direct sight;
فَتَتَبَدَّلُ أَحْوَالُهَا وَنِيَّاتُهَا وَمَقَاصِدُهَا، الَّتِي كَانَتْ لَهَا حَالَةَ اِيمَانِهَا، اِلَى أَحْوَالٍ وَنِيَّاتٍ وَمَقَاصِدَ غَيْرِهَا•
so its states, intentions and aims, which it had in the state of its faith, are exchanged for other states, intentions and aims.
أَعْنِي تَغَيُّرَ أَحْوَالِهَا الْبَاطِنَةِ، وَأَمَّا الظَّاهِرَةُ فَلَا يَتَغَيَّرُ مِنْهُ وَلَا قُلَامَةُ ظُفْرٍ، بَلْ يَبْقَى عَلَى أَحْوَالِهِ الظَّاهِرَةِ الْمَرْضِيَّةِ شَرْعاً، وَعَلَى طَرِيقَتِهِ الْمَمْدُوحَةِ عُرْفاً وَطَبْعاً، وَعَلَى حِرْفَتِهِ الْمُبَاحَةِ الْمُنَاسِبَةِ لِحَالِهِ وَمَقَامِهِ، عِنْدَ أَمْثَالِهِ•
I mean the change of its inward states. As for the outward ones, not so much as a nail-paring of him changes; rather, he remains in his outward states approved by the Law, in his way of life praised by custom and by nature, and in his permitted trade, fitting his state and station among his peers.
هَذِهِ حَالَةُ الْعَارِفِينَ بَعْدَ فَتْحِ بَابِ الْمَعْرِفَةِ لَهُمْ، وَطُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ لَهُمْ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا•
This is the state of the knowers after the door of knowledge has been opened to them and the sun has risen for them from its place of setting.
وَغَيْرُ هَذَا تَصَنُّعٌ•
Anything other than this is affectation.
وَلَأَنْ يَلْقَى الْعَبْدُ رَبَّهُ بِجَمِيعِ الذُّنُوبِ سِوَى الشِّرْكِ، أَهْوَنُ مِنْ أَنْ يَلْقَاهُ بِذَرَّةٍ مِنَ التَّصَنُّعِ لِلْخَلْقِ•
That the servant should meet his Lord with every sin except associating partners with Him is lighter than that he should meet Him with an atom of affectation before creatures.
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