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 184 · “Had God known any good in them”
In briefAI
Starting from Q 8:23, “Had God known any good in them, He would have made them hear”, the Emir reads the verse through preparedness. God's knowledge follows what is known, so He gives each one only what that one's preparedness asked for. Had He made them hear against their preparedness, they would turn away, since the inversion of realities is impossible. Whoever finds good should praise God, and whoever finds evil should blame only himself. Scholars of the outward are confused by the verse because their intellects veil them.
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 405, Damascus 1966, p. 406, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 382, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 383, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 384 (archive.org)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «وَلَوْ عَلِمَ ٱللَّهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْراً لَأَسْمَعَهُمْ وَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ لَتَوَلَّوْا وَهُمْ مُعْرِضُونَ».
He, exalted, said: "Had God known any good in them, He would have made them hear; and had He made them hear, they would have turned away, averse" (Q 8:23).
يَعْنِي لَوْ تَمَيَّزَ لِلْعِلْمِ الذَّاتِيِّ، الَّذِي هُوَ الْعِلْمُ الْفِعْلِيُّ، وَهُوَ عِلْمُ حَضْرَةِ اللَّهِ، أَوَّلُ التَّعَيُّنَاتِ؛ خَيْرٌ مِنْ حَقَائِقِهِمْ، الَّتِي هُمْ عَلَيْهَا وَاسْتِعْدَادَاتِهِمْ، الَّتِي لَايَجْرُونَ اِلاَّ اِلَيْهَا، وَهِيَ الْحَاصِلَةُ بِالْفَيْضِ الْأَقْدَسِ؛ لَأَسْمَعَهُمْ– خَلَقَ فِيهِمْ، وَلَهُمْ– سَمَاعَ الْهِدَايَةِ.
He means: had any good been distinguished, for the essential knowledge (which is the active knowledge, namely the knowledge of the Presence of Allāh, the first of the determinations), in their realities, on which they are, and in their preparednesses, towards which alone they run (these being what is obtained through the most holy effusion), He would have made them hear, that is, created in them and for them, the hearing of guidance.
وَهُوَ مَا يَحْصُلُ بِالْفَيْضِ الْمُقَدَّسِ.
And that is what comes about through the holy effusion.
وَلَوْ عَلَى سَبِيلِ فَرْضِ الْمُحَالِ، وَهُوَ غَيْرُ وَاقِعٍ.
This holds even if only by way of supposing the impossible, and it does not occur.
وَاِنَّمَا هَذَا اِخْبَارٌ بِأَنَّ شَرَّهُمْ اِنَّمَا جَاءَهُمْ مِنِ اسْتِعْدَادِهِمْ.
This is only a report that their evil came to them only from their preparedness,
وَاَنَّهُ لَايَقْبَلُ اِلاّ مَا أَعْطَاهُ تَعَالَى مِمَّا طَلَبَهُ بِلِسَانِ اسْتِعْدَادِهِ،
and that one accepts only what He, exalted, has given him out of what he asked for with the tongue of his preparedness;
فَلَا يُسْمِعُهُمْ وَلَا يَخْلُقُ فِيهِمْ هِدَايَةً وَرَشَاداً، لِأَنَّهُ خِلَافُ الْمَعْلُومِ،
so He does not make them hear, nor does He create guidance and right direction in them, because that is contrary to the known;
وَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ مَا قَبِلُوا مِنْ حَيْثُ أَنَّ اسْتِعْدَادَهُمْ بِالضِّدِّ مِنْ ذَلِكَ،
and had He made them hear, they would not have accepted, inasmuch as their preparedness is the opposite of that.
وَاِنَّمَا كَانَ الْأَمْرُ هَكَذَا؛ لِأَنَّ الْعِلْمَ تَابِعٌ لِلْمَعْلُومِ،
The matter is so only because knowledge follows the known;
وَهُوَ وَاِنْ كَانَ تَابِعاً لِلْمَعْلُومِ، يُقَالُ فِيهِ «عِلْمٌ فِعْلِيٌّ» اِذِ الْمَعْلُومُ مَا تَحَقَّقَ اِلاّ بِهِ،
and although it follows the known, it is called "active knowledge", since the known is realised only through it;
فَلَا يَخْلُقُ اِلاّ مَا أَرَادَ، وَلَا يُرِيدُ اِلاّ مَا عَلِمَ.
so He creates only what He wills, and He wills only what He knows.
وَالْمَعْلُومُ لَا يَتَغَيَّرُ، وَبِهَذَا كَانَتِ الْحُجَّةُ لَهُ- تَعَالَى- عَلَى مَخْلُوقَاتِهِ.
And the known does not change; and by this the argument belongs to Him, exalted, against His creatures.
فَمَنْ وَجَدَ خَيْراً فَلْيَحْمَدِ اللَّهَ، فَاِنَّهُ الْخَالِقُ لِذَلِكَ، وَهُوَ أَهْلٌ لِأَنْ يُحْمَدَ عَلَى كُلِّ حَالٍ، وَمَنْ وَجَدَ شَرّاً؛ فَلَا يَلُومَنَّ اِلاّ نَفْسَهُ كَمَا وَرَدَ فِي الصَّحِيحِ،
So whoever finds good, let him praise God, for He is the creator of that, and He is worthy to be praised in every state; and whoever finds evil, let him blame none but himself, as has come in the Ṣaḥīḥ.
يَعْنِي نَفْسَهُ الَّتِي هِيَ حَقِيقَتُهُ وَاسْتِعْدَادُهُ،
meaning his self, which is his reality and his preparedness.
فَاسْتِعْدَادُ كُلِّ أَحَدٍ؛ هُوَ الَّذِي يَكُونُ عَلَيْهِ، وَهُوَ الَّذِي يُيَسِّرُهُ اللَّهُ- تَعَالَى- اِلَيْهِ،
For each one's preparedness is what he is upon, and it is that towards which God, exalted, eases him;
وَاِلَيْهِ أَشَارَ- صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ- كَمَا وَرَدَ فِي الصَّحِيحِ: «كُلٌّ مُيَسَّرٌ لِمَا خُلِقَ لَهُ».
and to this he, God bless him and give him peace, alluded, as has come in the Ṣaḥīḥ: "Each is eased towards that for which he was created."
فَلَا يُعْطِي- تَعَالَى- أَحَداً شَيْئاً اِلَّا مَا أَعْطَاهُ اسْتِعْدَادُهُ، وَلَا يَمْنَعُهُ اِلاّ مَا امْتَنَعَ مِنْهُ اسْتِعْدَادُهُ.
So He, exalted, gives no one anything except what his preparedness has given him, and withholds from him only what his preparedness has refused.
اِنْ خَيْراً فَخَيْرٌ، وَاِنْ شَرّاً فَشَرٌّ،
If good, then good; and if evil, then evil.
فَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ وَأَعْطَاهُمْ خِلَافَ اسْتِعْدَادِهِمْ، فَرْضاً وَتَقْدِيراً لَتَوَلَّوْا وَهُمْ مُعْرِضُونَ عَنْهُ، هَارِبُونَ مِنْهُ،
So were He to make them hear and give them what is contrary to their preparedness, by way of supposition and hypothesis, they would turn away, averse to it, fleeing from it,
لِأَنَّهُ ضِدُّ حَقِيقَتِهِمْ وَقَلْبٌ لَهَا، وَانْقِلَابُ الْحَقَائِقِ مُحَالٌ،
because it is the opposite of their reality and an inversion of it, and the inversion of realities is impossible.
فَانْظُرْ مَا أَجْلَى هَذِهِ الْآيَةَ، لِمَنْ عَلَّمَهُ اللَّهُ- تَعَالَى- الْحَقَائِقَ،
So see how clear this verse is to one whom God, exalted, has taught the realities;
وَانْظُرْ مَاذَا صَارَ فِيهَا مِنَ الْخَبْطِ عِنْدَ عُلَمَاءِ الظَّاهِرِ، لِانْحِجَابِهِمْ بِعُقُولِهِمْ وَمَعْقُولِهِمْ.
and see what confusion has arisen over it among the scholars of the outward, because they are veiled by their intellects and by what their intellects grasp.
مِنْهُمْ، مَنْ قَالَ اِنَّهَا (أَعْنِي «لَوْ») لِلدَّلَالَةِ عَلَى انْتِفَاءِ الْأَوَّلِ، لِانْتِفَاءِ الثَّانِي
Among them are those who said that it (I mean «law») serves to indicate the negation of the first because of the negation of the second;
وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَالَ: اِنَّهَا لِدَلَالَةِ الْعَدَمِ عَلَى الْعَدَمِ، كَمَا فِي قَوْلِهِ، لَوْ لَمْ يَخَفِ اللَّهَ لَمْ يَعْصِهِ.
and among them are those who said: it serves for non-existence indicating non-existence, as in his saying, "Had he not feared God, he would not have disobeyed Him."
لَا لِلدَّلَالَةِ عَلَى انْتِفَاءِ الثَّانِي، بِسَبَبِ انْتِفَاءِ الْأَوَّلِ،
not to indicate the negation of the second because of the negation of the first;
وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَالَ: اِنَّهَا تُفِيدُ الِاسْتِلْزَامَ.
and among them are those who said: it conveys entailment.
فَأَمَّا انْتِفَاءُ الشَّيْءِ لِانْتِفَاءِ غَيْرِهِ فَلَا يُفِيدُ مَسَاقَ الْآيَةِ، اِذْ لَوْ أَفَادَ ذَلِكَ لَلَزِمَ التَّنَاقُضُ.
As for the negation of one thing because of the negation of another, it does not fit the drift of the verse, since, had it conveyed that, a contradiction would follow.
فَاِنَّ قَوْلَهُ:
For His words:
«وَلَوْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْراً لَأَسْمَعَهُمْ».
“Had God known any good in them, He would have made them hear” (Q 8:23).
يَقْتَضِي نَفْيَ الْخَيْرِ، أَيْ مَا عَلِمَ مِنْهُمْ خَيْراً وَلَا أَسْمَعَهُمْ،
[This] entails the negation of good, that is: He did not know any good of them, nor did He make them hear;
وَقَوْلُهُ: (وَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ). يَقْتَضِي حُصُولَ الْخَيْرِ أَيْ: أَسْمَعَهُمْ وَاَنَّهُمْ مَا تَوَلَّوْا،
while His words “And had He made them hear” (Q 8:23) entail that good was present, that is: He made them hear, and they did not turn away;
وَعَدَمُ التَّوَلِّي خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْخَيْرَاتِ، اِلَى غَيْرِ ذَلِكَ مِنَ الْأَقْوَالِ.
and not turning away is one of the forms of good. And so on through the other statements that have been made.
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