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 28 · “If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord”
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 73, Damascus 1966, p. 74, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 83, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 84 (archive.org)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «قُلْ لَوْ كَانَ الْبَحْرُ مِدَاداً لِكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّي، لَنَفِدَ الْبَحْرُ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَنْفَدَ كَلِمَاتُ رَبِّي، وَلَوْ جِئْنَا بِمِثْلِهِ مَدَدَاً».
God Most High has said: “Say: if the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would run out before the words of my Lord ran out, even if We brought the like of it as replenishment” (Q 18:109).
قَالَ عَامَّةُ الْمُفَسِّرِينَ؛ الْكَلِمَاتُ؛ هِيَ الْمَقْدُورَاتُ لِأَنَّ الْقُدْرَةَ تَتَعَلَّقُ بِكُلِّ مُمْكِنٍ، وَلَا نِهَايَةَ لِلْمُمْكِنَاتِ
The generality of the commentators say that the words are the objects of power, because power attaches to every possible thing, and there is no end to possible things.
وَعِنْدِي مِنْ بَابِ الْاِشَارَةِ؛ أَنَّ الْمُرَادَ بِالْكَلِمَاتِ؛ الْكَلِمَاتُ الْحَقِيقِيَّةُ، جَمْعُ كَلِمَةٍ.
In my view, by way of allusion, what is meant by the words is words in the proper sense, the plural of “word”.
وَذَلِكَ أَنَّ الْحَقَّ– تَعَالَى– هُوَ الْمُتَكَلِّمُ مِنْ وَرَاءِ جِدَارِ كُلِّ صُورَةٍ يُنْسَبُ الْكَلَامُ اِلَيْهَا، لِأَنَّهُ لِسَانُ كُلِّ مُتَكَلِّمٍ وَسَمْعُهُ وَبَصَرُهُ، كَمَا وَرَدَ فِي الصَّحِيحِ.
That is because the Real (exalted is He) is the speaker from behind the wall of every form to which speech is attributed, since He is the tongue of every speaker, and his hearing and his sight, as has come in the Ṣaḥīḥ.
وَلِأَنَّهُ وُجُودُ كُلِّ مُتَكَلِّمٍ.
And because He is the existence of every speaker.
وَالْكَلَامُ تَابِـعٌ لِلْوُجُـودِ كَسَائِرِ الصِّفَاتِ.
And speech follows existence, like the rest of the attributes.
فَالْكَلَامُ لَهُ– تَعَالَى– حَقِيقَةٌ" وَلِغَيْرِهِ مَجَازٌ"
So speech, in His case (exalted is He), is a reality, and in the case of anyone other than Him, a figure of speech.
وَالْمُتَكَلِّمُونَ مَجَازاً لَا نِهَايَةَ لِكَلَامِهِمْ، لِأَنَّهُمْ بَعْدَ دَارِ الدُّنْيَا يَصِيرُونَ اِلَى الدَّارِ الْأَبَدِيَّةِ، الَّتِي لَا نِهَايَةَ لَهَا، فَلَا نِهَايَةَ لِكَلَامِهِمْ.
Those who speak figuratively have no end to their speech, for after the abode of this world they pass on to the everlasting abode, which has no end; so there is no end to their speech.
وَلَيْسَ كَلَامُهُمْ اِلاَّ كَلَامَ اللَّهِ،
And their speech is nothing but the speech of God.
وَاِنَّمَا كَانَ لَا نِهَايَةَ لَهُ؛ لِأَنَّهُ لَمْ يَدْخُلْ جَمِيعُهُ فِي الْوُجُودِ، فَيَلْزَمَهُ التَّنَاهِي، فَهُوَ غَيْرُ مَحْصُورٍ.
It has no end only because the whole of it has not entered existence, so that finitude would attach to it; it is therefore not bounded.
بِخِلَافِ الْبَحْـرِ فَاِنَّـهُ مَحْصُـورٌ دَخَـلَ فِي الْوُجُـودِ.
This is unlike the sea, for it is bounded, having entered existence.
وَكُـلُّ مَادَخَـلَ فِي الْوُجُـودِ؛ فَهُوَ مُتَنَـاهٍ.
And everything that has entered existence is finite.
فَلَـوْ كَانَ الْبَحْـرُ الْمُتَنَاهِي مَدَداً لِكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّي غَـيْرِ الْمُتَنَاهِيَـةِ؛ لَنَفِدَ الْبَحْرُ وَانْقَضَى قَبْلَ أَنْ تَنْفَدَ كَلِمَاتُ رَبِّي لِأَنَّهَا غَيْرُ مُتَنَاهِيَةٍ، وَلَوْ جِئْنَا بِمِثْلِهِ مَدَداً.
So if the finite sea were a supply for the infinite words of my Lord, the sea would run out and be exhausted before the words of my Lord ran out, since they are infinite, “even if We brought the like of it as replenishment”.
أَيْ وَلَوْ جِئْنَا بِبَحْرٍ آخَرَ مِثْلِهِ، أَيْ مُمَاثِلٍ لَهُ فِي صِفَاتِهِ الَّتِي مِنْ جُمْلَتِهَا دُخُولُهُ فِي الْوُجُودِ.
That is: even if We brought another sea like it, that is, resembling it in its attributes, among which is its having entered existence,
وَالتَّنَاهِي مَدَداً.
and finitude. “As replenishment”:
أَيْ تَقْوِيَةً لَهُ وَزِيَادَةً فِيهِ؛ لَنَفِدَ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَنْفَدَ كَلِمَاتُ رَبِّي غَيْرُ الْمُتَنَاهِيَةِ.
that is, as a reinforcement of it and an increase in it, it would still run out before the infinite words of my Lord ran out.
وَأَيْضاً كَلَامُهُ– تَعَالَى– تَابِعٌ لِعِلْمِهِ، أَوْ هُوَ الْعِلْمُ نَفْسُهُ تَعَدَّدَتْ أَسْمَاؤُهُ لِتَنَوُّعِ ظُهُورَاتِهِ.
Further, His speech (exalted is He) follows His knowledge, or rather it is knowledge itself, whose names have become many owing to the variety of its manifestations.
فَاِذَا أُضِيفَ عِلْمُهُ– تَعَالَى– اِلَى اسْتِمَاعِ دَعْوَةِ الْمُضْطَرِّ؛ قِيلَ سَمِيعٌ.
When His knowledge (exalted is He) is related to hearing the call of one in distress, He is called Hearing.
وَاِذَا أُضِيفَ عِلْمُهُ اِلَى رُؤْيَةِ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ، قِيلَ: بَصِيرٌ.
When His knowledge is related to seeing all things, He is called Seeing.
وَاِذَا أَفَاضَ عِلْماً عَلَى قَلْبِ عَبْدٍ مِنْ عَبِيدِهِ؛ قِيلَ: مُتَكَلِّمٌ، وَنَحْوُ هَذَا.
And when He pours forth knowledge upon the heart of one of His servants, He is called Speaking; and so on.
وَمَعْلُومَاتُهُ لَانِهَايَةَ لَهَا فَكَذَلِكَ كَلَامُهُ لَانِهَايَةَ لَهُ.
His objects of knowledge have no end; so likewise His speech has no end.
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