The Book of Stations

1. Mawqif 213 · “God knows, and you do not know”

   See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 476, Damascus 1966, p. 477, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 443, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 444 (archive.org)

   قَالَ تَعَالَى: «وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ».

   God Most High has said: “And God knows, and you do not know” (Q 2:216; 2:232; 3:66; 24:19).✦

   ¶ 1534

2. ذَكَرَ- تَعَالَى- ذَلِكَ فِي مَوَاضِعَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ،

   He, Most High, has stated this in several places in the Qurʾān,✦

   ¶ 1535

3. أَثْبَتَ- تَعَالَى- الْعِلْمَ لَهُونَفَاهُ عَنْ غَيْرِهِ، أَعْنِي مَنْ أَثْبَتَ نَفْسَهُ غَيْراً: «وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ اللَّهِ قِيلاً».

   He, Most High, affirmed knowledge for Himself and denied it of what is other than Him, by which I mean whoever affirms himself as an other: “And who is truer in speech than God?” (Q 4:122).✦

   ¶ 1536

4. فَهُوَ- تَعَالَى- الْعَالِمُ لَا غَيْرُهُ، يَعْلَمُ عِلْماً مُطْلَقاً عَامَّ التَّعَلُّقِ بِكُلِّ مَايَصِحُّ أَنْ يُعْلَمَ، فِي مَرْتَبَةِ تَجَرُّدِهِ عَنْكُمْ، وَهِيَ مَرْتَبَةُ «اللَّهِ».

   So He, Most High, is the Knower, and none other than He. He knows with an absolute knowledge whose connection extends to all that can be known, at the level of His disengagement from you; and that is the level of “God” (Allāh).✦

   ¶ 1537

5. وَيَعْلَمُ عِلْماً مُقَيَّداً بِكُمْ وَمِنْكُمْ، فِي مَرْتَبَةِ تَقَيُّدُهُ، وَتَعَيُّنِهِ بِكُمْ، وَهَذِهِ مَرْتَبَةُ الْعِلْمِ الْمَذْكُورِ فِيقَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: «حَتَّى تَعْلَمَ» وَلِنَعْلَمَ، وَيَعْلَمَ،

   And He knows with a knowledge delimited by you and from you, at the level of His delimitation and His determination through you; and this is the level of the knowledge mentioned in His words, Most High, “until We know” (so Q 47:31), “and that We may know”, and “and He may know”,✦

   ¶ 1538

6. وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ، مِنْ حَيْثُ غَيْرِيَّتِكُمْ وَسِوَائِيَّتِكُمْ•

   and you do not know, insofar as you are other and other-than-Him.✦

   ¶ 1539

7. فَلَا عِلْمَ لَكُمْ قَدِيمٌ وَلَا حَادِثٌ•

   So you have no knowledge, neither eternal nor originated.✦

   ¶ 1540

8. وَكَمَا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَاتَعْلَمُونَ؛ فَكَذَلِكَ فَاللَّهُ يُرِيدُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَاتُرِيدُونَ، وَاللَّهُ يَقْدِرُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَاتَقْدِرُونَ، وَاللَّهُ يَتَكَلَّمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَاتَتَكَلَّمُونَ، وَاللَّهُ يُبْصِرُ وَاَنْتُمْ لَاتُبْصِرُونَ، وَاللَّهُ يَسْمَعُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَاتَسْمَعُونَ،... اِلَخْ•

   And just as God knows and you do not know, so likewise God wills and you do not will, God has power and you have no power, God speaks and you do not speak, God sees and you do not see, God hears and you do not hear, ... and so on.✦

   ¶ 1541

9. لِأَنَّ هَذِهِ كُلَّهَا تَوَابِعُ الْوُجُودِ، وَحَيْثُ لَمْ يَكُنِ الْوُجُودُ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ وَذَوَاتِكُمْ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَكُمْ شَيْءٌ مِنْ تَوَابِعِهِ،

   For all of these are concomitants of existence; and since existence is not from yourselves and your essences, nothing of its concomitants belongs to you.✦

   ¶ 1542

10. فَاِذَا تَوَهَّمْتُمْ، وَتَخَيَّلْتُمْ، أَنَّ شَيْئاً مِنْ ذَلِكَ لَكُمْ فَهُوَ خَيَالٌ بَاطِلٌ، وَاِنَّمَا ذَلِكَ لِوُجُودِكُمْ، الَّذِي بِهِ أَنْتُمْ، أَنْتُمْ

    So if you fancy and imagine that anything of that is yours, it is a false imagining; it belongs only to your existence, by which you are you.✦

    ¶ 1543

11. وَمَنْ جَهِلَ مَا مِنْهُ يَعْلَمُ؛ فَكَيْفَ يَصِحُّ أَنْ يَعْلَمَ؟ أَوْ يُسَمَّى عَالِماً؟

    And whoever is ignorant of that from which he knows, how can it be sound that he knows, or that he be called a knower?✦

    ¶ 1544

12. فَالْوَاجِبُ عَلَى الطَّالِبِ: أَنْ يَطْلُبَ مَعْرِفَةَ مَابِهِ يَعْلَمُ، ثُمَّ يَطْلُبَ أَنْ يَعْلَمَ مَا يَعْلَمُ،

    So what is incumbent on the seeker is to seek knowledge of that by which he knows, and then to seek to know what he knows.✦

    ¶ 1545

13. فَمَنْ كُشِفَ عَنْهُ الْغِطَاءُ عَرَفَ نَفْسَهُ، فَعَرَفَ ذَلِكَ،

    Whoever has the covering removed from him knows himself, and so knows that;✦

    ¶ 1546

14. وَمَنْ بَقِيَ فِي حِجَابِهِ بَقِيَ جَاهِلاً، مُرَكَّباً جَهْلُهُ بِنَفْسِهِ، وَجَهْلُهُ بِجَهْلِهِ بِهَا،

    and whoever remains in his veil remains ignorant, his ignorance being compound: ignorance of himself, and ignorance of his ignorance of it.✦

    ¶ 1547

15. وَهَذَا عَلَى سَبِيلِ التَّحْدِيثِ بِالْمَأْلُوفِ، وَاِلاَّ فَكَمَا أَنَّهُ لَايَعْلَمُ؛ كَذَلِكَ لَايَجْهَلُ، لِأَنَّ الْجَهْلَ وَالْعِلْمَ اِنَّمَا يَتَوَارَدَانِ عَلَى مَحَلٍّ قَابِلٍ•

    This is said by way of speaking in the familiar manner; otherwise, just as he does not know, so he is not ignorant, for ignorance and knowledge only come in succession upon a receptive locus.✦

    ¶ 1548

Translations, word glosses and term notes are AI-generated (Claude) and marked as such; no published translation is reproduced.Word analysis is automatic (CAMeL Tools), guided by the text's vowelling. How this text was established.