The Book of Stations

1. Mawqif 227 · “Your Lord creates what He wills and chooses”

   In brief✦AI

   Starting from Q 28:68, “your Lord creates what He wills and chooses”, the Emir says the Real has absolute act and choice so long as He is not delimited by a locus of manifestation. Once delimited, He acts in each entity according to its preparedness and nature, since His work follows His knowledge and His knowledge follows what it knows. So He can bring forth fruit from a stone, but only after making the stone a tree.

   See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 507, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 469 (archive.org)

   قَالَ تَعَالَى: «وَرَبُّكَ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَيَخْتَارُ».

   He, exalted is He, said: "And your Lord creates what He wills and chooses" (Q 28:68).✦

   ¶ 3181

2. اعْلَمْ أَنَّ الْحَقَّ– تَعَالَى– لَهُ الْفِعْلُ وَالِاخْتِيَارُ الْمُطْلَقُ، مَا لَمْ يَتَقَيَّدْ بِمَظْهَرٍ، وَيَتَعَيَّنْ بِتَعَيُّنٍ،

   Know that the Real, exalted is He, has absolute act and choice so long as He is not delimited by a locus of manifestation and determined by a determination,✦

   ¶ 3182

3. فَاِنَّهُ حِينَئِذٍ، لَا يَكُونُ فَاعِلًا مُخْتَاراً فِي الْمَظَاهِرِ؛ اِلاَّ بِحَسَبِ اسْتِعْدَادَاتِهَا وَطَبَائِعِهَا.

   for then He is not an agent who chooses in the loci of manifestation except according to their preparednesses and their natures.✦

   ¶ 3183

4. فَاِنَّ التَّقَيُّدَ بِالْأَعْيَانِ يَحْكُمُ عَلَى الْوُجُودِ الْحَقِّ، فَلَا يَظْهَرُ فِيهَا اِلَّا بِحَسَبِهَا.

   For delimitation by the entities rules over the real Existence, so it is not manifest in them except according to them.✦

   ¶ 3184

5. فَلَهُ– تَعَالَى– فِي كُلِّ عَيْنٍ فِعْلٌ، وَاخْتِيَارٌ، هُوَ مُقْتَضَى تِلْكَ الْعَيْنِ، فَاِنَّ الِاسْتِعْدَادَاتِ الْكُلِّيَّةَ غَيْرُ مَجْعُولَةٍ،

   So He, exalted is He, has in each entity an act and a choice which is what that entity requires, for the universal preparednesses are not made,✦

   ¶ 3185

6. فَعَمَلُهُ تَابِعٌ لِعِلْمِهِ، وَعِلْمُهُ تَابِعٌ لِمَعْلُومِهِ، رُتْبَةً

   so His work follows His knowledge, and His knowledge follows what it knows, in rank.✦

   ¶ 3186

7. فَهُوَ– تَعَالَى– قَادِرٌ أَنْ يُخْرِجَ مِنَ الْحَجَرِ ثَمَراً، وَلَٰكِنْ بَعْدَ أَنْ يَجْعَلَ الْحَجَرَ شَجَراً،

   Thus He, exalted is He, is able to bring forth fruit from a stone, but only after He makes the stone a tree;✦

   ¶ 3187

8. هَٰكَذَا فَلْتُعْرَفِ الْحَقَائِقُ وَتُفْهَمِ الدَّقَائِقُ.

   In this way let the realities be known and the subtleties understood.✦

   ¶ 3188

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.