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 237 · “And We were not heedless of creation”
In briefAI
Starting from Q 23:17, “We were not heedless of creation”, the Emir says God supplies every created form with spirits that govern it for as long as He wills it to subsist. When He wills its dissolution, He cuts off the supply, as with a lamp whose oil is withheld. The bodily spirits (heat, cold, moisture, dryness, expulsive, retentive, nutritive) oppose one another, and foods and remedies are spirits carried by bodily forms to strengthen the weakened one. The form stands only through their opposition.
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 533, Damascus 1966, p. 534, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 490, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 491 (archive.org)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «وَمَا كُنَّا عَنِ الْخَلْقِ غَافِلِينَ».
God Most High has said: “And We were not heedless of creation” (Q 23:17).
أَيْ مَا وُجِدْنَا غَافِلِينَ عَنْ شَيْءٍ خَلَقْنَاهُ مِنْ عَالَمَيِ الْخَلْقِ وَالْأَمْرِ، بِأَنْ تَرَكْنَا أَمْدَادَهُ بِمَا يَكُونُ بِهِ بَقَاؤُهُ، وَمُدَّةَ اِرَادَتِنَا بَقَاءَ صُورَتِهِ، بَلْ نُمِدُّ كُلَّ مَخْلُوقٍ بِمَا تَبْقَى بِهِ صُورَتُهُ،
That is: We were never found heedless of anything We created, of the two worlds of creation and command, in the sense of abandoning its supplies by which its subsistence comes about, for as long as We will its form to subsist; rather, We supply every created thing with that by which its form subsists,
وَلْيُعْلَمْ أَنَّ الْحَقَّ- تَعَالَى- مَا خَلَقَ صُورَةً مِنَ الصُّوَرِ الطَّبِيعِيَّةِ أَوِ الْعُنْصُرِيَّةِ اِلَّا خَلَقَ لَهَا أَرْوَاحاً تُدَبِّرُهَا مُدَّةَ اِرَادَتِهِ تَعَالَى بَقَاءَهَا.
Let it be known that the Real, Most High, has created no form among the natural or elemental forms without creating for it spirits that govern it for as long as He, Most High, wills it to subsist.
فَاِذَا أَرَادَ- تَعَالَى- انْحِلَالَ تَرْكِيبِ صُورَةٍ مِنْ صُوَرِ الْمَخْلُوقَاتِ؛ قَطَعَ عَنْهَا الْاِمْدَادَ الَّذِي يَكُونُ بِهِ بَقَاؤُهَا؛ فَتَدَاعَى أَرْكَانُ تِلْكَ الصُّورَةِ اِلَى الْخَرَابِ، وَيَحْصُلُ الْحَادِثُ الْأَعْظَمُ الْمُسَمَّى بِالْمَوْتِ، كَمَا فِي الْحَيَوَانِ.
So when He, Most High, wills the dissolution of the composition of one of the forms of created things, He cuts off from it the supply by which its subsistence comes about; then the pillars of that form give way towards ruin, and the greatest event, called death, takes place, as in animals,
أَوْ تَفَرُّقُ الْأَجْزَاءِ كَمَا فِي النَّبَاتِ وَالْجَمَادِ.
or the dispersal of the parts, as in plants and inanimate things.
وَلِهَذَا يَقُولُ بَعْضُ الْمُتَكَلِّمِينَ: اِنَّ الْقُدْرَةَ الْآلَهِيَّةَ لَاتَتَعَلَّقُ بِالْاِعْدَامِ.
That is why some of the theologians say: the divine power does not attach to annihilation,
وَاِنَّ الْاِعْدَامَ مَا هُوَ اِلَّا قَطْعُ الْمَدَدِ الَّذِي يَكُونُ بِهِ بَقَاءُ صُورَةِ الْمَخْلُوقِ، فَذَلِكَ اِعْدَامُهُ لَا غَيْرُ،
and annihilating is nothing but cutting off the supply by which the form of the created thing subsists; that is its annihilation, and nothing else.
كَالسِّرَاجِ مَثَلاً، فَاِنَّ صَاحِبَهُ مَادَامَ يُرِيدُ بَقَاءَهُ مُشْتَعِلاً يُمِدُّهُ بِالزَّيْتِ، فَاِذَا أَرَادَ انْطِفَاءَهُ قَطَعَ عَنْهُ الزَّيْتَ فَيَنْطَفِيءُ السِّرَاجُ بِنَفْسِهِ لَا بِفِعْلِ فَاعِلٍ.
Like a lamp, for example: as long as its owner wants it to stay lit he supplies it with oil, and when he wants it put out he cuts off the oil from it, and the lamp goes out by itself, not by the act of any agent.
فَأَمَّا الصُّوَرُ الْعُنْصُرِيَّةُ، فَاِنَّ الْحَقَّ- تَعَالَى- جَعَلَ لَهَا أَرْوَاحاً كَثِيرَةً تُدَبِّرُهَا، أَعْظَمُهَا تَدْبِيرُ الْأَرْوَاحِ الْأَرْبَعَةِ الْمُسَمَّاةِ: بِالْحَرَارَةِ وَالْبُرُودَةِ وَالرُّطُوبَةِ وَالْيُبُوسَةِ، وَمَجْمُوعُهَا يُسَمَّى بِالطَّبِيعَةِ، وَالرُّوحِ الْمُسَمَّى بِالدَّافِعَةِ، وَالرُّوحِ الْمُسَمَّى بِالْمَاسِكَةِ، وَالرُّوحِ الْمُسَمَّى بِالْغَاذِيَةِ، وَغَيْرِهَا مِنَ الْأَرْوَاحِ الَّتِي تُسَمِّيهَا الْحُكَمَاءُ بِالْقُوَّةِ الْجِسْمَانِيَّةِ.
As for the elemental forms, the Real, Most High, has given them many spirits that govern them. The greatest of this is the governance of the four spirits named heat, cold, moisture and dryness (their totality is called nature), and of the spirit called the expulsive, the spirit called the retentive, the spirit called the nutritive, and others among the spirits which the philosophers call the bodily faculty.
وَجَعَلَ تَعَالَى هَذِهِ الْأَرْوَاحَ مُتَضَادَّةً مُتَبَايِنَةَ الْأَفْعَالِ لِحَاجَةِ الصُّورَةِ الْجِسْمِيَّةِ لِذَلِكَ،
He, Most High, made these spirits opposed to one another and divergent in their acts, because the bodily form needs that;
فَمَتَى ضَعُفَ رُوحٌ عَنْ فِعْلِهِ، وَأَدَاءِ وَظِيفَتِهِ، طَلَبَ الْاِمْدَادَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ— تَعَالَى— بِرُوحٍ مُنَاسِبٍ لَهُ لِيَتَقَوَّى بِهِ، وَيَدْفَعَ الْغَلَبَةَ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ، فَيُهَيِّءُ لَهُ الْحَقُّ— تَعَالَى— غِذَاءً أَوْدَوَاءً،
so whenever a spirit grows too weak for its act and for performing its function, it seeks from the Real, Most High, a supply of a spirit suited to it, so as to be strengthened by it and to fend off domination from itself; and the Real, Most High, provides it with a food or a remedy.
وَلِهَذَا جَعَلَ الْحَقُّ— تَعَالَى— الْأَغْذِيَةَ وَالْأَدْوِيَةَ، فَلَيْسَتِ الْأَغْذِيَةُ وَالْأَدْوِيَةُ اِلَاّ أَرْوَاحاً تَحْمِلُهَا صُوَرٌ جِسْمَانِيَّـةٌ دَوَائِيَّـةٌ أَوْ غِذَائِيَّةٌ اِلَى الْأَرْوَاحِ الْأَصْلِيَّةِ، لِيَتَقَوَّى بِهَا مَنْ حَصَلَتْ عَلَيْهِ غَلَبَتُهُ مِـنْ مُقَابِلِهِ.
That is why the Real, Most High, made foods and remedies: foods and remedies are nothing but spirits carried by bodily forms, medicinal or nutritive, to the original spirits, so that the one that has been dominated by its counterpart may be strengthened by them.
مَثَلاً اِذَا ضَعُفَ الرُّوحُ الدَّافِعُ عَنْ فِعْلِهِ، وَغَلَبَهُ الرُّوحُ الْمَاسِكُ؛ طَلَبَ الرُّوحُ الدَّافِعُ غِذَاءً مُنَاسِباً لَهُ، يَتَقَوَّى بِهِ حَتَّى يَفْعَلَ فِعْلَهُ وَيُـؤَدِّيَ وَظِيفَتَـهُ أَوْ دَوَاءً مُنَاسِباً لَهُ، وَلِهَذَا كَانَتِ الْأَدْوِيَةُ الْمُسْهِلَةُ،
For example, when the expulsive spirit grows too weak for its act and the retentive spirit dominates it, the expulsive spirit seeks a food suited to it, by which it is strengthened so that it does its act and performs its function, or a remedy suited to it; and that is why there are laxative remedies,
وَكَذَا اِذَا ضَعُفَ الرُّوحُ الْمَاسِكُ عَنْ فِعْلِهِ ، وَأَدَاءِ وَظِيفَتِهِ ، وَغَلَبَهُ الرُّوحُ الدَّافِعُ ؛ طَلَبَغِذَاءً مُنَاسِباً لَهُ أَوْ دَوَاءً مُنَاسِباً وَلِهَذَا كَانَتِ الْأَدْوِيَةُ الْقَابِضَةُ .
وَقِسْ عَلَى هَذَا ،
وَاِذَا أَدَّتِ الصُّورَةُ الْغِذَائِيَّةُ أَوِ الدَّوَائِيَّةُ رُوحَهَا اِلَى الرُّوحِ الَّذِي طَلَبَهَا ؛ فَسَدَتْ وَخَرَجَتْ مِنَ الْجِسْمِ ، اِمَّا بِالْقَيْءِ أَوِ الْغَائِطِ أَوِ الْبَوْلِ أَوْ غَـيْرِ ذَلِكَ ،
فَلَا تَشْتَهِي الْأَرْوَاحُ وَتَطْلُبُ اِلَاّ أَرْوَاحاً مُنَاسِبَةً لَهَا .
وَلَا تَطْلُبُ الصُّوَرَ الْجِسْمَانِيَّـةَ الدَّوَائِيَّةَ أَوِ الْغِذَائِيَّـةَ اِلَّا بِالْغَرَضِ ، لِكَوْنِ الْأَرْوَاحِ الْمُنَاسِبَةِ لَهَا تَصِلُ اِلَيْهَا بِوَاسِطَةِ الصُّوَرِ الْغِذَائِيَّةِ أَوِ الدَّوَائِيَّةِ ،
فَسُبْحَانَ الْعَلِيمِ الْحَكِيمِ ، لَهُ الْخَلْقُ، أَيْ خَلْقُ الصُّوَرِ وَالْأَمْرُ، أَيْ تَدْبِيرُ الْخَلْقِ بِالْأَمْرِ ، وَهِيَ الْأَرْوَاحُ الْأَمْرِيَّةُ الْمَوْجُودَةُ لَا عَنْ مَادَّةٍ ،
وَلَوْلَا التَّضَادُّ بَيْنَ أَفْعَالِ هَذِهِ الْأَرْوَاحِ الْجِسْمَانِيَّةِ مَا اسْتَقَامَتْ صُورَةُ الْجِسْمِ ، أَيَّ جِسْمٍ كَانَ مِنَ الْأَجْسَامِ الْعُنْصُرِيَّةِ .
وَلِهَذَا اِذَا غَلَبَ وَاحِدٌ مِنْهَا الْغَلَبَةَ التَّامَّةَ ، حَتَّى لَمْ يَبْقَ لِمُقَابِلِهِ أَثَرٌ فَسَدَتِ الصُّورَةُ ، كَمَا اِذَا غَلَبَتِ الْحَرَارَةُ وَلَمْ يَبْقَ لِلْبُرُودَةِ وَالرُّطُوبَةِ أَثَرٌ أَوِ الْعَكْسُ .
وَنَحْوُ ذَلِكَ مِـنْ أَفْعَالِ الْأَرْوَاحِ الْجِسْمَانِيَّةِ .
فَمَا قَامَتِ الصُّورَةُ اِلَّا بِوُجُودِ هَذِهِ الْأَرْوَاحِ الْمُتَضَادَّةِ الْأَفْعَالِ .
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