The Book of Stations
المواقف
Context: That Pharaoh's drowning faith (Q 10:90–92) was accepted follows the Fuṣūṣ, among the school's most contested points: al-Dawānī defended it; Ibn Taymiyya, al-Taftāzānī and ʿAlī al-Qārī rejected it; al-Shaʿrānī denied it was Ibn ʿArabī's settled view. The Emir calls the Sufis 'the saved sect', claims assured felicity by inspiration, and grounds felicity in uncaused decree.AI
سَأَلْتُ مـِنَ الْحَقِّ– تَعَالَى– بِشَارَةً بِسَعَادَتِي، وَقَدْ فَعَلَ ذَلِكَ مِرَاراً.
I asked the Real (exalted is He) for good tidings of my felicity, and He had already done so many times.
In briefAI
The Emir asks God again for good tidings of his felicity, which he says he has received many times before. He is given Q 10:92, God's words to the drowning Pharaoh, and is then inspired with their meaning. Pharaoh lived felicitous and died repentant, believing and pure, and is a king of the Garden, though most people deny it. The Emir too is felicitous in both worlds, though people doubt it because of his wealth, fame and worldly company. Felicity comes from God's pre-eternal decree and bounty, without cause or motive.
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 795 ↗, Damascus 1966, p. 796 ↗ (archive.org)
وَلَكِنْ لِتَكْرَارِ الْبِشَارَةِ لَذَّةٌ، فَأَلْقَى عَلَيَّ قَوْلَهُ: «لِتَكُونَ لِمَنْ خَلْفَكَ آيَةً وَإِنَّ كَثِيراً مِنَ النَّاسِ عَنْ آيَاتِنَا لَغَافِلُونَ».
But the repetition of good tidings has a delight of its own, so He cast upon me His words: “that you may be a sign for those who come after you; and indeed many of mankind are heedless of Our signs” (Q 10:92).
فَبَعْدَ رُجُوعِي اِلَى الْحِسِّ، قُلْتُ: يَارَبِّ!! هَذَا خِطَابُكَ لِفِرْعَوْنَ، وَأَيَّةُ مُنَاسَبَةٍ بَيْنَ مَطْلُوبِي وَهَذَا الْخِطَابِ؟!
After my return to the senses I said: My Lord!! This is Your address to Pharaoh; what correspondence is there between what I sought and this address?!
فَأَلْهَمَنِي فِي الْحَالِ بِالطَّرِيقِ الَّتِي عَوَّدَنِيهَا: أَنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ عَاشَ مَا عَاشَ سَعِيداً سَيِّداً بَلْ اِلَهاً يُعْبَدُ.
Then He inspired me at once, in the way He has accustomed me to, that Pharaoh lived as long as he lived felicitous, a lord, nay a god who was worshipped.
وَلَمَّا حَضَرَتْ وَفَاتُهُ قَبَضَهُ اللَّهُ بَعْدَ تَوْبَتِهِ وَاِيمَانِهِ طَاهِراً مُطَهَّراً شَهِيداً، وَهُوَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مَلِكٌ مـِنْ مُلُوكِ الْجَنَّةِ، وَأَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ يَأْبَوْنَ عَلَيْهِ ذَلِكَ،
When his death came, God took him, after his repentance and his faith, pure, purified, a martyr; and in the next world he is a king among the kings of the Garden, yet most people refuse to grant him that.
وَأَنْتَ سَعِيدٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ، وَأَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ يَأْبَوْنَ عَلَيْكَ ذَلِكَ، بِمَا يَرَوْنَ مَا خَوَّلَكَ اللَّهُ مِنَ النِّعَمِ، وَبَسَطَ لَكَ مـِنَ الْمَالِ وَالْوَلَدِ، وَالْعِزِّ وَالْجَاهِ الْعَرِيضِ،
And you are felicitous in this world and the next, yet most people refuse to grant you that, because of what they see of the blessings God has bestowed on you, and the wealth and children, the might and wide standing He has spread out for you,
وَمَا نَشَرَ لَكَ مـِنَ الصِّيتِ الَّذِي مَلَأَ الْمَعْمُورَةَ مَعَ مُخَالَطَتِكَ لِأَرْبَابِ الْمَنَاصِبِ الدُّنْيَوِيَّةِ، وَمُشَارَكَتِكَ لَهُمْ فِي زِيِّهِمْ، فَهُمْ يَسْتَبْعِدُونَ جَمْعَ السَّعَادَتَيْنِ لَكَ.
and the renown He has spread for you, which has filled the inhabited world, together with your mixing with the holders of worldly offices and your sharing their dress; so they think it far-fetched that the two felicities should be joined in you.
وَأَمَّا انْتِسَابُكَ اِلَى الطَّائِفَةِ الْعَلِيَّةِ وَالْفِرْقَةِ النَّاجِيَةِ فَذَلِكَ عِنْدَهُمْ أَبْعَدُ وَأَبْعَدُ،
As for your belonging to the exalted group and the saved sect, that is in their eyes farther and farther still;
وَاِنَّ كَثِيراً مِنَ النَّاسِ عَنْ آيَاتِنَا الدَّالَّةِ عَـلَى غِنَانَا عَنْ طَاعَةِ الطَّائِعِينَ وَعِزَّتِنَا عَنِ التَّأَثُّرِ مِنْ عِصْيَانِ الْعَاصِينَ؛ لَغَافِلُونَ غَيْرُ مُتَنَبِّهِينَ لِجَرَيَانِ الْقَضَاءِ الْأَزَلِيِّ كَيْفَ قَدَّمَ مَنْ قَدَّمَ بِلَا عِلَّةٍ، وَأَخَّرَ مَنْ أَخَّرَ بِلَا عِلَّةٍ، وَأَشْقَى وَأَسْعَدَ، وَاِلَى عِلِّيَّتِهِ يَنْتَهِي السَّنَدُ.
“and indeed many of mankind are heedless of Our signs” (Q 10:92), the signs that point to Our independence of the obedience of the obedient and Our might beyond being affected by the disobedience of the disobedient; they are unaware of the course of the pre-eternal decree: how He put forward whom He put forward without a cause, and held back whom He held back without a cause, and made wretched and made felicitous; and in His causality the chain ends.
فَهَلْ كَانَ فِي تِلْكَ الْحَضْرَةِ قَبِيحٌ أَوْ صَالِحٌ مِنَ الْأَعْمَالِ أَوْ مَقَامَاتٌ أَوْ أَحْوَالٌ، أَوْ غَنِيٌّ أَوْ فَقِيرٌ، أَوْ عَزِيزٌ أَوْ حَقِيرٌ، أَوْ سَبَبٌ خَفِيٌّ مِنَ الْعَبْدِ أَوْ جَلِّيٌّ لِمَا جَرَى بِهِ الْقَلَمُ الْعَلِيُّ؟!
Was there in that presence anything ugly or righteous among deeds, or stations, or states, or rich or poor, or mighty or despised, or any cause, hidden or manifest, on the part of the servant, for what the Supreme Pen wrote?!
فَمَاهُنَالِكَ اِلَّا عِنَايَةٌ اِلَهِيَّةٌ، وَقَدَمُ صِدْقٍ رَبَّانِيٌّ، يَخْتَصُّ بِرَحْمَتِهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ، وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ.
There is nothing there but divine solicitude and a lordly “footing of sincerity”: “He singles out for His mercy whom He will, and God is the Possessor of great bounty” (Q 3:74).
وَلَوْ كَانَ لَهُ غَرَضٌ مَا ثَبَتَ فَضْلُهُ.
Were He to have a motive, His bounty would not be established.
وَقَدْ ثَبَتَ فَضْلُهُ، لَا يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ، فَلَا تَحْجِيرَ عَلَيْهِ وَلَا قَانُونَ يَحْصُرُهُ،
But His bounty is established: “He is not asked about what He does” (Q 21:23); there is no restriction upon Him and no rule that confines Him.
فَمَا فِي حَضْرَةِ فَضْلِهِ كَبِيرَةٌ، وَلَا فِي حَضْرَةِ عَدْلِهِ صَغِيرَةٌ، لَا اِلَٰهَ اِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ.
So in the presence of His bounty there is no major sin, and in the presence of His justice no minor sin: “there is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise” (Q 3:18).
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.
Commentary and talks · 1 study
Teachers and scholars on this mawqif, by other people and not AI. Talks open on YouTube at the moment the speaker reaches it; studies are cited and linked, never quoted. Which passage a talk treats was matched by AI against our Arabic and checked by AI. Links checked 2026-10-31.
open to read (OpenEdition) · main: 358, 363, 365; discussed in the body: 109, 123, 358, 363; the rest cited in notes. Read in full, 31 Oct 2026