The Book of Stations

1. Mawqif 31 · The servant’s hearing and sight: the ḥadīth of drawing near

   See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 76, Damascus 1966, p. 77, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 85, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 86, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 87 (archive.org)

   ¶81
   ¶ 81⋯

   قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: «لَايَزَالُ' عَبْدِي يَتَقَرَّبُ' اِلَيَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ؛ حَتَّى اُحِبَّهُ'. فَاِذَا اَحْبَبْتُهُ'؛ كُنْتُ' سَمْعَهُ' الَّذِي يَسْمَعُ' بِهِ، وَبَصَرَهُ' الَّذِي' يُبْصِرُ' بِهِ».

   God, exalted is He, said: “My servant does not cease drawing near to Me through supererogatory works until I love him. And when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees.”

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   ›About the vowels: added by AI; uncertain words are underlined

   The source of this text, a printed edition or a manuscript, has few or no vowel marks, as is usual for such texts. The vowels shown were added by AI and checked against an independent grammatical analyser; the few words where the two disagree are underlined as uncertain. Choose “Unvowelled” under Aa to read the letters alone.

2. ¶82
   ¶ 82⋯

   الْحَدِيثُ الْقُدْسِيُّ بِطُولِهِ، أَخْرَجَهُ الْبُخَارِيُّ وَمُسْلِمٌ.

   The holy ḥadīth, in its full length: al-Bukhārī and Muslim transmitted it.

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3. ¶83
   ¶ 83⋯

   هَذِهِ رُتْبَةٌ عُلْيَا، وَصَاحِبُهَا غَيْرُ كَامِلٍ، لِأَنَّهُ يَرَى لَهُ ذَاتاً وَنَفْساً قَائِمَةً مَوْجُودَةً.

   This is a lofty rank, yet the one who holds it is not perfect, because he sees for himself an essence and a self, subsisting and existent.

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4. ¶84
   ¶ 84⋯

   وَالْحَقُّ صِفَاتُهَا، مِنْ سَمْعٍ وَبَصَرٍ وَيَدٍ وَرِجْلٍ فَنَفْسُهُ عِنْدَهُ مُقَرَّرَةٌ، وَأَفْعَالُهُ بِالْحَقِّ تَعَالَى.

   And the Real is its attributes: hearing, sight, hand and foot. So his self is, in his own view, established, and his acts are through the Real, exalted is He.

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5. ¶85
   ¶ 85⋯

   وَأَعْلَى مِنْهُ وَأَكْمَلُ؛ عَكْسُهُ، وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَرَى نَفْسَهُ صِفَاتِ الْحَقِّ، فَيَكُونُ سَمْعَ الْحَقِّ وَبَصَرَهُ، وَكَلَامَهُ اِلَى آخِرِهِ.

   Higher than this and more perfect is its reverse: the one who sees himself as the attributes of the Real, so that he is the Real's hearing and His sight, His speech, and so on.

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6. ¶86
   ¶ 86⋯

   وَهَذَا وَاِنْ كَانَ أَكْمَلَ مِمَّنْ قَبْلَهُ؛ فَفِيهِ بَقِيَّةُ نَقْصٍ فَاِنَّهُ مَا انْعَدَمَتْ عَيْنُهُ جُمْلَةًوَاحِدَةً.

   And this one, though more perfect than the one before him, still has a remnant of deficiency in him, for his entity has not been wholly annulled.

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7. ¶87
   ¶ 87⋯

   وَأَعْلَى مِنْهُمَا مَعاً؟ مَنْ يَحْصُلُ عَلَى الْفَنَاءِ وَالْمَحْقِ فَاِنَّهُ رَجَعَ اِلَى الْاِطْلَاقِ بَعْدَ التَّقْيِيدِ، وَلَمْ يَبْقَ لَهُ اسْمٌ، وَلَا عَيْنٌ وَلَا رَسْمٌ، وَنُودِيَ عَلَيْهِ لِمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ؟! هَلْ تُحِسُّ مِنْهُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ أَوْ تَسْمَعُ لَهُمْ رِكْزاً؟!

   And higher than both together? The one who attains annihilation and obliteration, for he has returned to absoluteness after delimitation. No name remains to him, nor entity, nor trace, and it is proclaimed over him: “Whose is the dominion today?” (Q 40:16) “Do you perceive a single one of them, or hear from them the faintest sound?” (Q 19:98)

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8. ¶88
   ¶ 88⋯

   وَفِي هَذَا الْفَنَاءِ تَحْصُلُ الرُّؤْيَةُ الْحَقِيقِيَّةُ.

   And in this annihilation true vision comes about.

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9. ¶89
   ¶ 89⋯

   فَاِنَّهُ مَا غَابَ عَنِ الْعَالَمِ وَعَنْ نَفْسِهِ اِلَاّ بِرُؤْيَةِ الْحَقِّ- تَعَالَى- وَفِي نَفْسِ الْأَمْرِ الرَّائِي وَالْمَرْئِيُّ وَاحِدٌ وَالتَّعَدُّدُ اعْتِبَارِيٌّ.

   For he became absent from the world and from himself only through the vision of the Real, exalted is He; and in actual fact the seer and the seen are one, and the multiplicity is a matter of perspective.

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10. ¶90
    ¶ 90⋯

    وَمَا عَدَا هَذَا مِمَّا يُقَالُ فِيهِ رُؤْيَةٌ؛ فَهُوَ مَجَازٌ.

    Whatever, apart from this, is called vision is a figure of speech.

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11. ¶91
    ¶ 91⋯

    وَمِنَ السَّالِكِينَ مَنْ يَحْصُلُ عَلَى الْفَنَاءِوَالْمَحْوِ قَبْلَ قُرْبِ النَّوَافِلِ وَالْفَرَائِضِ وَهُوَ السَّالِكُ الْمَجْذُوبُ بِالْعِنَايَةِ.

    Among the wayfarers is one who attains annihilation and effacement before the nearness of supererogatory works and that of obligatory works: he is the wayfarer drawn by divine solicitude.

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12. ¶92
    ¶ 92⋯

    وَقَوْلُهُ: كُنْتُ سَمْعَهُ اِلَى آخِرِ الْحَدِيثِ؛ فِيهِ اِيمَاءٌ اِلَى مَاهُوَ الْأَمْرُ عَلَيْهِ فِى حَقِيقَتِهِ بِأَنَّ الْحَقَّ ـ تَعَالَى ـ هُوَ السَّامِعُ وَالسَّمْعُ وَالْمُتَكَلِّمُ وَالْكَلَامُ،

    His words “I am his hearing” to the end of the ḥadīth contain an allusion to how the matter stands in its reality: that the Real, exalted is He, is the hearer and the hearing, the speaker and the speech,

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13. ¶93
    ¶ 93⋯

    اِذْ لَايَصِحُّ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْحَقُّ ـ تَعَالَى ـ صِفَةً يَقُومُ بِذَاتِ الْعَبْدِ الْحَادِثِ لِاَنَّهُ ـ تَعَالَى ـ ذَاتٌ، مَا هُوَ صِفَةً•

    since it is not valid that the Real, exalted is He, be an attribute subsisting in the essence of the originated servant, because He, exalted is He, is an essence, not an attribute.

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14. ¶94
    ¶ 94⋯

    وَالذَّاتُ لَاتَقُومُ بِذَاتٍ أُخْرَى•

    And an essence does not subsist in another essence.

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15. ¶95
    ¶ 95⋯

    فَمَنْطُوقُ الْحَدِيثِ غَيْرُ مَفْهُومِهِ، لِأَنَّ مَنْطُوقَهُ اِثْبَاتُ عَيْنِ الْعَبْدِ وَتَقَرُّرُهَا•

    So the explicit wording of the ḥadīth is other than its implied sense, because its explicit wording affirms the servant's entity and its being established,

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16. ¶96
    ¶ 96⋯

    وَمَفْهُومُهُ نَفْيُ عَيْنِ الْعَبْدِ وَمَحْوُهَا، وَأَنَّهُ لَيْسَ هُنَالِكَ اِلَاّ الْحَقُّ ـ تَعَالَى ـ هُوَ الْعَيْنُ وَالصِّفَةُ، وَهُوَ الظَّاهِرُ بِأَحْكَامِ عَيْنِ الْعَبْدِ الثَّابِتَةِ فِى الْعِلْمِ وَالْعَدَمِ، اِذِ الْعَبْدُ مَعْدُومٌ أَبَداً، كَمَا هُوَ مَعْدُومٌ أَزَلاً•

    while its implied sense is the negation of the servant's entity and its effacement, and that there is nothing there but the Real, exalted is He: He is the entity and the attribute. He is the One manifest through the properties of the servant's entity, fixed in knowledge and in nonexistence, since the servant is nonexistent for ever, just as he is nonexistent from all eternity.

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17. ¶97
    ¶ 97⋯

    وَاِنَّمَا هُوَ عِبَارَةٌ عَنِ الْأَحْكَامِ الْعَدَمِيَّةِ الَّتِي ظَهَرَ الْوُجُودُ الْحَقُّ بِهَا لَا غَيْرُ وَلَا حُلُولَ ، وَلَا اتِّحَادَ كَمَا يَفْهَمُهُ الْعُمْيَانُ ، وَلَا تَأْوِيلَ كَمَا يَقُولُهُ أَصْحَابُ الدَّلِيلِ وَالْبُرْهَانِ ،
18. ¶98
    ¶ 98⋯

    وَسَمَّى الْحَقُّ ـ تَعَالَى ـ نَفْسَهُ فِي هَذَا الظُّهُورِ وَهَذِهِ الْمَرْتَبَةِ عَبْداً وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ ، وَلَا يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ •
19. ¶99
    ¶ 99⋯

    وَيَدُلُّ قَوْلُهُ ـ تَعَالَى ـ كُنْتُ سَمْعَهُ ؛ أَنَّهُ تَعَالَى سَمِيعٌ بِذَاتِهِ بَصِيرٌ بِذَاتِهِ ، اِلَى آخِرِ الصِّفَاتِ •
20. ¶100
    ¶ 100⋯

    وَلَا يُفْهَمُ مِنْ قَوْلِهِ : كُنْتُ سَمْعَهُ ••• اِلَى آخِرِهِ ، أَنَّهُ لَمْ يَكُنْ كَذَلِكَ ، ثُمَّ كَانَ •
21. ¶101
    ¶ 101⋯

    وَاِنَّمَا الْمُرَادُ رَفْعُ الْحُجُبِ عَنْ هَذَا الْمُتَقَرِّبِ بِالنَّوَافِلِ حَتَّى يُشَاهِدَ الْأَمْرَ عَلَى مَاهُوَ عَلَيْهِ فِى هَذِهِ الْمَرْتَبَةِ •
22. ¶102
    ¶ 102⋯

    وَهَذَا الظُّهُورُ ، لَا أَنَّهُ حَدَثَ ذَلِكَ بَعْدَ أَنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فَوْقَهَا مَرَاتِبُ ، كَمَا ذَكَرْنَا •
23. ¶103
    ¶ 103⋯

    فَهُوَ الْمُتَكَلِّمُ مِنْكَ لِأَنَّهُ لِسَانُكَ ، وَهُوَ السَّامِعُ لِأَنَّهُ سَمْعُ مُخَاطَبِكَ ، فَهُوَ الْمُتَكَلِّمُ وَالسَّامِعُ مِنْ كُلِّ مُتَكَلِّمٍ وَسَامِعٍ ،
24. ¶104
    ¶ 104⋯

    فَتَحْتَ اِشَارَةِ هَذَا الْحَدِيثِ الرَّبَّانِيِّ بُحُورٌ زَاخِرَةٌ ، تَرْجِعُ الْعُقُولُ عَنْهَا حَائِرَةً ، كَأَنَّهَا حُمُرٌ مُسْتَنْفِرَةٌ ، فَرَّتْ مِنْ قَسْوَرَةٍ •

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.