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 260 · “As if you see Him”
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 789, Damascus 1966, p. 790 (archive.org)
رَوَى مُسْلِمٌ وَالْبُخَارِيُّ فِي صَحِيحِهِمَا، فِي حَدِيثِ جِبْرِيلَ الْمَشْهُورِ أَنَّهُ قَالَ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ– صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ– مَا الاِحْسَانُ؟ فَقَالَ: «أَنْ تَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ كَأَنَّكَ تَرَاهُ، فَاِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَرَاهُ؛ فَاِنَّهُ يَرَاكَ••» الْحَدِيثَ بِطُولِهِ•
Muslim and al-Bukhārī related in their Ṣaḥīḥ, in the well-known ḥadīth of Gabriel, that he said to the Messenger of God (God bless him and grant him peace): “What is excellence?” And he said: “That you worship God as if you see Him; and if you do not see Him, then He sees you…”, and so on through the whole ḥadīth.
«كَأَنَّ» هُنَا؟ يَتَعَيَّنُ أَنْ تَكُونَ لِلتَّحْقِيقِ، وَهُوَ أَحَدُ مَعَانِيهَا، كَمَا هِيَ فِي قَوْلِ الْقَائِلِ يَرْثِي هَاشِماً جَدَّ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ– صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ– وَاسْمُهُ عَمْرٌو•
“As if” (ka-anna) here must be taken as expressing actuality, which is one of its meanings. So it is in the words of the poet lamenting Hāshim, the ancestor of the Messenger of God (God bless him and grant him peace), whose name was ʿAmr:
فَأَصْبَحَ بَطْنُ مَكَّةَ مُقْشَعِرّاً كَأَنَّ الْأَرْضَ لَيْسَ بِهَا هِشَامُ
And the hollow of Mecca came to shudder, as though the earth held no Hishām.
وَلَيْسَ هِشَامٌ بِهَا تَحْقِيقاً،
And Hishām was in actual fact no longer in it.
وَلَا يَصِحُّ أَنْ تَكُونَ «كَأَنَّ» فِي الْحَدِيثِ، لِلتَّشْبِيهِ، عِنْدَ أَهْلِ اللَّهِ، فَاِنَّ التَّشْبِيهَ مِنَ الْمَجَازِ، وَالْمَجَازُ يَصِحُّ رَفْعُهُ،
According to the people of God, it is not valid that ka-anna in the ḥadīth be for comparison. For comparison belongs to figurative speech, and figurative speech can validly be negated:
فَتَقُولُ فِي قَوْلِكَ: كَأَنَّ زَيْداً أَسَدٌ، لَيْسَ زَيْدٌ بِأَسَدٍ، وَتَصْدُقُ•
Thus of your statement “It is as if Zayd were a lion” you can say “Zayd is not a lion”, and you speak the truth.
وَلَا يَصِحُّ فِي الْحَدِيثِ أَنْ تَقُولَ: أُعْبُدِ اللَّهَ، فَاِنَّكَ لَسْتَ تَرَاهُ، بِاِجْمَاعِ الْعُلَمَاءِ بِاللَّهِ، فَاِنَّهُ كَذِبٌ• اِخْبَارٌ بِخِلَافِ مَاهُوَ الْأَمْرُ عَلَيْهِ•
But in the ḥadīth, by the consensus of those who know God, it is not valid to say “Worship God, for you do not see Him”, because that is a lie, a report contrary to how the matter actually is.
فَاِنَّكَ تَرَاهُ تَحْقِيقاً، عَرَفْتَ أَوْ جَهِلْتَ،
For you do see Him in actual fact, whether you know it or not.
بَلْ قَالَ الشَّيْخُ الْأَكْبَرُ: «مَنْ نَظَرَ غَيْرَ اللَّهِ فِي صَلَاتِهِ فَمَا صَلَّى»
Indeed, the Greatest Master said: “Whoever looks at other than God in his prayer has not prayed.”
قَوْلُهُ: «فَاِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَرَاهُ» بِأَنْ كُنْتَ مِنَ الْمَحْجُوبِينَ بِحِجَابِ التَّنْزِيهِ الْمُطْلَقِ، الْمَقُولِينَ بِعِقَالِ الْعَقْلِ الْمُوثَقِ، الْمَانِعِينَ تَجَلِّيَ الْحَقِّ– تَعَالَى– فِي الدُّنْيَا؛ فَلَيْسَ هَذَا بِعُشِّكِ فَادْرُجِي،
His words “and if you do not see Him” mean: if you are among those veiled by the veil of absolute incomparability, tied with the hobble of the fast-bound intellect, who deny the self-disclosure of the Real (exalted is He) in this world, then “this is not your nest, so move along”;
وَاعْبُدْهُ عَلَى أَنَّهُ يَرَاكَ، فَاِنَّ الْعَقْلَ مِنْ حَيْثُ هُوَ عَقْلٌ لَيْسَتْ لَهُ اِلاّ هَذِهِ الْمَرْتَبَةُ، وَهُوَ أَنَّهُ يَرَاكَ•
and worship Him on the understanding that He sees you. For the intellect, insofar as it is intellect, has only this rank, namely that He sees you.
وَأَمَّا أَنَّكَ تَرَاهُ؟ فَالتَّنْزِيهُ الْعَقْلِيُّ– لَا الشَّرْعِيُّ– يَمْنَعُهُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ وَيَحْجُبُهُ عَمَّا هُنَالِكَ•
As for your seeing Him: rational incomparability, not that of the Law, keeps the intellect from it and veils it from what lies there.
فَاِنَّ الْعُقَلَاءَ يَظُنُّونَ أَنَّ مُتَعَلَّقَ عِلْمِهِمْ وَرُؤْيَتِهِمْ اِنَّمَا هِيَ مَظَاهِرُ الْأَسْمَاءِ الَّتِي دَلَّتْ عَلَيْهَا الْآثَارُ، وَأَنَّ الْحَقَّ– تَعَالَى– لَيْسَ بِمَرْئِيٍّ وَلَا مَعْلُومٍ اِلَّا عِلْماً أِجْمَالِيّاً مِنْ حَيْثُ كَوْنُهُ الْخَالِقَ الْمُوجِدَ سُبْحَانَهُ،
For the people of intellect suppose that the object of their knowledge and their vision is only the loci of manifestation of the Names, to which the traces point, and that the Real (exalted is He) is neither seen nor known, except with a summary knowledge insofar as He is the Creator, the Giver of existence, glory be to Him.
وَاِنَّمَا عَبَّرَ– صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ– بِكَأَنَّ، لِأَنَّهُ عَلِمَ أَنَّ الْمُقَيَّدَ بِقَيْدِ الْعَقْلِ وَالتَّنْزِيهِ الْمُطْلَقِ لَايُدْرِكُ التَّجَلِّيَاتِ فِي الْمَظَاهِرِ الْخَيَالِيَّةِ وَغَيْرِهَا، الَّتِي وَرَدَ الشَّرْعُ بِهَا كِتَاباً وَسُنَّةً، اِلاّ بِالْحُلُولِ أَوِ الِاتِّحَادِ وَنَحْوِ ذَلِكَ مِمَّا أَجْمَعَ الْعَقْلُ وَالشَّرْعُ وَالْكَشْفُ عَلَى أِسْتِحَالَتِهِ.
He (God bless him and grant him peace) used the expression “as if” only because he knew this: one bound by the shackle of intellect and absolute incomparability does not grasp the self-disclosures in imaginal and other loci of manifestation, which the Law has conveyed in Book and Sunna, except as indwelling or union and the like. Those are things whose impossibility intellect, Law and unveiling agree upon.
فَهُوَ لَا يَتَعَدَّى مَرْتَبَتَهُ وَمُنَاجَاتُهُ بِصَرِيحِ الْحَقِّ ، مِمَّا يُشَوِّشُ فِكْرَهُ وَيُوجِبُ لَهُ دَغْدَغَةً فِي اِيمَانِهِ ، اِلَّا اِذَا أَوَّلَهُ وَرَدَّهُ اِلَى مَرْتَبَةِ عَقْلِهِ فَرَفَقَ بِهِ – صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ – فِي الْعِبَارَةِ .
وَأَمَّا مَنْ أِخْتَصَّهُ اللَّهُ بِرَحْمَتِهِ ، وَكَشَفَ لَهُ عَنْ أَسْرَارِ مَعْرِفَتِهِ ، فَجَمَعَ بَيْنَ التَّنْزِيهِ وَالتَّشْبِيهِ الشَّرْعِيَّيْنِ ، وَتَرَقَّى عَنِ التَّنْزِيهِ الْعَقْلِيِّ الْقَادِحِ فِيمَا وَرَدَ فِي الْكِتَابِ وَالسُّنَّةِ ؛ فَهُوَ يَعْلَمُ مُرَادَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ – صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ –
وَهُوَ – صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ – أُوتِيَ جَوَامِعَ الْكَلِمِ ، فَهُوَ يَتَكَلَّمُ بِالْكَلِمَةِ الْوَاحِدَةِ لَفْظاً ، الْمُتَعَدِّدَةِ مَعْنًى ، وَكُلُّ طَائِفَةٍ ، بَلْ كُلُّ شَخْصٍ يَفْهَمُهَا بِحَسَبِ اسْتِعْدَادِهِ ، وَالْكُلُّ مِنْ مَقْصِدِهِ – صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ – وَمُرَادِهِ
فَهُوَ – صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ – اِمَامُ الْمُعَلِّمِينَ وَالْمُؤَدِّبِينَ ، أَمَرَكَ بِعِبَادَةِ اللَّهِ ، وَأَخْبَرَكَ اَنَّكَ تَرَاهُ ؛ وَاِنْ كُنْتَ لَاتَعْرِفُهُ .
فَاِنَّهُ لَيْسَ كُلُّ مَنْ رَأَى عَلِمَ ، فَلَا مُعَوَّلَ اِلاّ عَلَى الْعِلْمِ .
وَلَا حِجَابَ اِلاّ الْجَهْلُ ، وَالْجَهْلُ عَدَمٌ ، لَا عَيْنَ لَهُ .
مَثَلاً اِذَا كُنْتَ تَطْلُبُ شَخْصاً لَسْتَ تَعْرِفُهُ بِعَيْنِهِ ، وَأَنْتَ طَالِبٌ لَهُ مِنْ أِسْمِهِ ، فَلَقِيتَهُ وَسَلَّمْتَ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَلَيْكَ، وَمَا تَعَرَّفَ عَلَيْكَ ؛ فَقَدْ رَأَيْتَهُ وَمَا رَأَيْتَهُ ،
فَلَا تَزَالُ تَطْلُبُهُ وَهُوَ مَعَكَ ، حَتَّى يَأْتِيَكَ مَنْ يُعَرِّفُكَ بِهِ ، أَوْ يَتَعَرَّفَ هُوَ بِنَفْسِهِ لَكَ ،
وَلِهَذَا قَالَ سَادَاتُنَا فِي الْعِلْمِ الاِلَهِيِّ : اِنَّهُ عَيْنُ الذَّاتِ ، اِذْ لَوْ لَمْ يَكُنْ عَيْنَ الذَّاتِ ؛ لَكَانَ الْمُعَوَّلُ عَلَيْهِ غَيْرَ الذَّاتِ الاِلَهَةِ :
أُنْظُرْ اِلَى وَجْهِهِ فِي كُلِّ حَادِثَةٍ مِنَ الْكِيَانِ وَلَا تُخْبِرْ بِهِ أَحَداً
فَمَا تَرَى عَيْنُ ذِي عَيْنٍ سِوَى عَدَمٍ فَصَحَّ أَنَّ الْوُجُودَ الْمُدْرَكَ اللَّهُ
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