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 240 · “In the name of God”: whose act is it?
In briefAI
Starting from Q 1:1, “In the name of God”, the Emir asks whose act is being named. For the Sunnī, the bāʾ means seeking help, since he holds a share in the act, as acquisition for the Ashʿarī or as the elective part for the Māturīdī. For the knower it means “from”, since he beholds all acts as issuing from God. The verifier goes further in courtesy and ascribes objectionable acts to himself. For the Muʿtazilī it means concomitance, since he holds himself creator of his acts.
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 542, Damascus 1966, p. 543, Damascus 1966, p. 544, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 499, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 500, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 501 (archive.org)
الْمَـوْقِفُ–٢٤٠–
Mawqif 240
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «بِسْمِ اللَّهِ».
He, exalted, said: "In the name of God" (Q 1:1).
اعْلَمْ أَنَّ الْقَائِلَ (بِسْمِ اللَّهِ) فِي أَوَّلِ أَفْعَالِهِ؛ لَايَخْلُو اِمَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ سُنِّيّاً فَالْبَاءُ فِي حَقِّهِ مَعْنَاهَا الِاسْتِعَانَةُ•
Know that the one who says "In the name of God" at the beginning of his acts is necessarily one of the following: either he is a Sunnī, and then the bāʾ, in his case, means seeking help,
قَالَ بِهَذَا الْمَعْنَى أَوْ خِلَافِهِ لِجَهْلِهِ بِحَقَائِقِ الْأُمُورِ وَمَوَارِدِ الْمَعَانِي، فَاِنَّهُ يَرَى الْفِعْلَ لِلَّهِ ـ تَعَالَى ـ مِنْ حَيْثُ الْخَلْقُ وَلَهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ الْكَسْبُ اِنْ كَانَ أَشْعَرِيّاً•
whether he holds this meaning or some other, because of his ignorance of the realities of things and the sources of meanings; for he sees the act as God's, exalted, in respect of creation, and as his own in respect of acquisition, if he is an Ashʿarī,
وَمِنْ حَيْثُ الْجُزْءُ الِاخْتِيَارِيُّ اِنْ كَانَ مَاتُرِيـدِيّاً فَلَهُ دَخْلٌ فِي الْفِعْلِ وَلَابُدَّ، وَيَسْتَعِينُ بِاللَّهِ ـ تَعَالَى ـ عَلَيْهِ حَيْثُ أَمَرَ تَعَالَى بِذَلِكَ،
and in respect of the elective part, if he is a Māturīdī. So he has, necessarily, a share in the act, and he seeks the help of God, exalted, for it, since He, exalted, commanded that.
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «اسْتَعِينُوا بِاللَّهِ».
He, exalted, said: "Seek help from God" (Q 7:128).
وَقَالَ: «وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ».
And He said: "And You alone we ask for help" (Q 1:5).
وَفِي الصَّحِيحِ: «لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ اِلَّا بِاللَّهِ».
And in the Ṣaḥīḥ: "There is no power and no strength except through God."
وَاِنْ كَانَ عَارِفاً بِاللَّهِ– تَعَالَى–؛ فَالْبَاءُ فِي حَقِّهِ بِمَعْنَى مِنْ، فَاِنَّهُ لَايَشْهَدُ لَهُ فِعْلاً.
And if he is a knower of God, exalted, then the bāʾ, in his case, has the meaning of "from", for he does not behold any act as his own.
وَاِنَّمَا يَشْهَدُ صُدُورَ الْأَفْعَالِ مِنَ اللَّهِ الْوُجُودِ الْحَقِّ الْمُقَوِّمِ لِكُلِّصُورَةٍ تَظْهَرُ الْأَفْعَالُ عَنْهَا بَادِىءَ الرَّأْيِ فَيَرَى نَفْسَهُ، وَكُلُّ مَخْلُوقٍ آلَاتٍ يَفْعَلُاللَّهُ بِهَا مَايَشَاءُ، وَأَقْلَاماً يُحَرِّكُهَا فِيمَا يُرِيدُ وَيُقَدِّرُ،
He beholds only the issuing of acts from God, the true Being who sustains every form from which, at first sight, the acts appear; so he sees himself and every creature as instruments with which God does what He wills, and as pens which He moves in what He wills and decrees.
الْمُتَعَلَّقُمِمَّا يُنَاسِبُ الْفِعْلَالَّذِي جُعِلَتِالْبَسْمَلَةُ مَبْدَأً لَهُ فَاِذَا سَأَلَنَا أَجْنَبِيٌّ قُلْنَا: تَقْدِيرُهُ: خَلْقُ الشَّيْءِ الْفُلَانِيِّ صَادِرٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ.
The complement is taken from what suits the act of which the basmala has been made the beginning. So if an outsider asks us, we say: its implied wording is: "The creation of such-and-such a thing issues from God."
فَاِذَا قَدَّرْنَاهُ لِأَهْلِ طَرِيقِنَا قُلْنَا مَثَلاً: التِّلَاوَةُ صَادِرَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ أَوِ الذِّكْرُ أَوِ الصَّلَاةُ أَوْ غَيْرُ ذَلِكَ،
And if we supply it for the people of our path, we say, for example: "The recitation issues from God", or "the remembrance", or "the prayer", or something else,
فَاِنَّ تِلَاوَتَنَا مِنْ أَفْعَالِنَا، وَأَفْعَالُنَا مَخْلُوقَةٌ لَهُ تَعَالَى وَكُلُّ فِعْلٍ مِنْ أَفْعَالِنَا لَهُ اسْمٌ يَخُصُّهُ مِنْ أَسْمَاءِ الْحَقِّ– تَعَالَى– الَّتِي لَانِهَايَةَ لَهُ،
for our recitation is among our acts, and our acts are created by Him, exalted, and every act of ours has a name proper to it among the names of the Real, exalted, which are without end.
وَاِنَّ الْحِكْمَةَ فِي تَشْرِيعِ التَّسْمِيَةِ فِي أَوَّلِ كُلِّ فِعْلٍ مُبَاحٍ أَوْ مَشْرُوعٍ هِيَ اِظْهَارُ التَّبْرِئَةِ بِالْقَوْلِ مِنْ دَعْوَى الْفِعْلِ لِلْاِنْسَانِ، كَمَا هُوَ فِي نَفْسِ الْأَمْرِ.
And the wisdom in the legislation of saying the Name at the beginning of every permitted or prescribed act is to declare in speech the disavowal of any claim that the act belongs to man, as is the case in reality.
فَاِذَا كَانَ الْفِعْلُ غَيْرَ مَشْرُوعٍ وَلَا مُبَاحٍ؛ لَمْ تُشْرَعِالتَّسْمِيَةُ أَدَباً مِنْ نِسْبَةِصُدُورِ مَا عَلَيْهِ اعْتِرَاضٌ مِنَ الشَّارِعِ مِنْهُ– تَعَالَى–،
So if the act is neither prescribed nor permitted, saying the Name has not been legislated, out of courtesy, to avoid attributing to Him, exalted, the issuing of something to which the Lawgiver objects.
هَذَا حَظُّ الْعَارِفِ.
This is the portion of the knower.
فَاِنْ كَانَ مُحَقِّقاً فَهُوَ فَوْقَ الْعَارِفِ فَاِنَّهُ يَزِيدُ بِمُرَاعَاةِ الْأَدَبِ.
And if he is a verifier, he stands above the knower, for he goes further by observing courtesy.
فَاِذَا كَانَ الْفِعْلُ عَلَيْهِ اعْتِرَاضٌ مِنَ الشَّارِعِ وَلَوْ فِي الظَّاهِرِ؛ فَاِنَّهُ يَنْسُبُةُ لِنَفْسِهِ كَالْمُعْتَزِلِيِّ وَيَصِيرُ قَدَرِيّاً فِي ظَاهِرِهِ، وَقَوْلِهِ دُونَ بَاطِنِهِ وَاعْتِقَادِهِ كَمَا قَالَ:
So if the act is one to which the Lawgiver objects, even if only outwardly, he attributes it to himself like the Muʿtazilī, and becomes a Qadarī in his outward and his speech, not in his inward and his belief, as he said:
فَأَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَعِيبَهَا (يَعْنِي السَّفِينَةَ).
“So I wanted to damage it” (Q 18:79) (he means the ship).
وَقَالَ: «وَإِذَا مَرِضْتُ فَهُوَ يَشْفِينِ».
And he said: “And when I fall ill, it is He who heals me” (Q 26:80).
وَهَذَا النَّوْعُ مِنَ اعْتِزَالِ عَيْنُ الْكَمَالِ.
And this kind of iʿtizāl is perfection itself.
وَاِمَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ (أَعْنِي الْقَائِلَ: بِسْمِ اللَّهِ) مُعْتَزِلِيّاً.
Or else he (I mean the one who says “In the name of God”) is a Muʿtazilī.
فَالْبَاءُ فِي حَقِّهِ مَعْنَاهَا الْمُلَابَسَةُ، لَا أَثَرَ لِدُخُولِهَا فِي الْفِعْلِ، وَكَذَا قَالَ صَاحِبُ الْكَشَّافِ.
So for him the bāʾ means concomitance; its entering into the act has no effect on it. That is what the author of al-Kashshāf said.
وَاِنْ قَالَ مَعْنَاهَا خِلَافُ هَذَا فَهُوَ مُكَابِرٌ لِأَنَّهُ يَرَى أَنَّهُ خَالِقُ الْأَفْعَالِ الِاخْتِيَارِيَّةِ•
And if he said its meaning is other than this, he would be obstinately denying the obvious, since he holds that he is the creator of voluntary acts.
وَلِهَذَا عِنْدَهُ تَرَتُّبُ الثَّوَابِ عَلَى الطَّاعَةِ، وَالْعِقَابِ عَلَى الْمَعْصِيَةِ،
And for this reason, in his view, reward follows from obedience and punishment from disobedience.
فَبَاءُ اسْمِ اللَّهِ عِنْدَهُ؛ لِلْمُصَاحَبَةِ وَالْمُلَابَسَةِ، كَمَا فِي قَوْلِهِمْ: دَخَلْتُ عَلَيْهِ بِثِيَابِ السَّفَرِ،
So in his view the bāʾ of the name of God expresses accompaniment and concomitance, as in the saying: “I came in to him in (bi-) my travelling clothes.”
فَاِنَّ الْمُعْتَزِلِيَّ يَعْتَقِدُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ– تَعَالَى– أَعْطَاهُ الْقُدْرَةَ عَلَى أَفْعَالِهِ الِاخْتِيَارِيَّةِ وَفَوَّضَ اِلَيْهِ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ اِنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحاً فَلِنَفْسِهِ، وَاِنْ أَسَاءَ فَعَلَيْهَا، فَهُوَ هَالِكٌ•
For the Muʿtazilī believes that God, exalted is He, gave him the power over his voluntary acts and after that handed the matter over to him: if he does good, it is for his own soul, and if he does evil, it is against it. So he is perishing.
وَأَهْلَكُ مِنْهُ مَنْ قَالَ: اِنَّ الْقُدْرَةَ وَالْفِعْلَ لَهُ مَعاً كَمُدَّعِي الرُّبُوبِيَّةِ مِنَ الْهَالِكِينَ•
And more perishing than he is whoever says that the power and the act both belong to him, like the claimant to lordship among those who perished.
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