The Book of Stations
المواقف
Context: The verses belong to Ibn ʿArabī's 'god created in beliefs': each creature forms God in imagination and God is that form; the knower recognises Him in all and confines Him to none. Ibn Taymiyya and later critics read 'I am him' and 'you are His creator' as ittiḥād or ḥulūl; defenders point to the Emir's qualifiers ('with respect to that form').AI
قَالَ تَعَالَى فِي الْحَدِيثِ الْقُدْسِيِّ: «فَاِذَا اَحْبَبْتُهُ كُنْتُهُ».
Quotes a hadith: al-Bukhārī 6502 (a divine saying), in other words · in a Ṣaḥīḥ, no separate grade · sunnah.com ↗
He, exalted is He, said in the sacred ḥadīth: “When I love him, I am him.”
In briefAI
The Emir gathers a set of reports, including “When I love him, I am him”, “My heart contains Me” and “I am as My servant thinks of Me”, with Qurʾānic phrases on kun, istakānū and sakana. He then glosses verses of Ibn ʿArabī that play on the root k-n. Be through God in beholding until He is manifest through you with effect. You create Him in imagination, in the form your belief gives Him, and He is that form. Spoken words cannot hold the divine realities; only hidden inner speech can. Hearts emptied of the other become God's shelter, and He is our dwelling.
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 1031 ↗, Damascus 1966, p. 1032 ↗, Damascus 1966, p. 1033 ↗, Damascus 1966, p. 1034 ↗ (archive.org)
وَفِي الْحَدِيثِ: «اِنَّ اللَّهَ خَلَقَ نَفْسَهُ».
Quotes a hadith: not found in the Six Books or the Muwaṭṭaʾ (sunnah.com data, 11 Nov 2026) · grade not yet checked by a person
And in the ḥadīth: “God created Himself.”
وَقَالَ: «إِنَّمَا قَوْلُنَا لِشَيْءٍ إِذَا أَرَدْنَاهُ أَنْ نَقُولَ لَهُ كُنْ».
And He said: “Our only word to a thing, when We will it, is that We say to it: Be” (Q 16:40).
وَقَالَ: «فَمَا اسْتَكَانُوا لِرَبِّهِمْ».
And He said: “They did not humble themselves before their Lord” (Q 23:76).
وَقَالَ: «مَا وَسِعَنِي أَرْضِي وَلَا سَمَائِي وَوَسِعَنِي قَلْبُ عَبْدِي الْمُؤْمِنِ».
Quotes a hadith: a divine saying, not found in the Six Books or the Muwaṭṭaʾ (sunnah.com data, 11 Nov 2026) · grade not yet checked by a person
And He said: “My earth and My heaven do not contain Me, but the heart of My believing servant contains Me.”
وَقَالَ: «اِبْنَ آدَمَ فَرِّغْ قَلْبَكَ مِنْ غَيْرِي اَمْلَاْهُ عِزّاً وَغِنًى». أَوْ كَمَا قَالَ،
Quotes a hadith: al-Tirmidhī 2466 (a divine saying), close in sense only · graded Aḥmad Shākir: sahih; al-Albānī: sahih; Bashshār ʿAwwād Maʿrūf: hasan; Zubayr ʿAlī Zaʾī: isnaad hasan (hadith-api open data) (grades ↗) · sunnah.com ↗
And He said: “Son of Adam, empty your heart of other than Me, and I will fill it with might and wealth” — or as He said;
وَقَالَ: «وَلَهُ مَا سَكَنَ»،
and He said: “To Him belongs whatever dwells” (Q 6:13);
وَقَالَ الصِّدِّيقُ: «مَا رَاَيْتُ شَيْئاً اِلَّا وَرَاَيْتُ اللَّهَ قَبْلَهُ».
And al-Ṣiddīq said: “I have not seen anything without seeing God before it.”
وَقَالَ خَتْمُ الْوِرَاثَةِ الْمُحَمَّدِيَّةِ مُحْيِي الدِّينِ مِنْ أَبْيَاتٍ: لَا وَلَا مَنْ سَارَرُوهُ كَالَّذِي صَارَ اِيَّاهُمْ فَدَعْ عَنْكَ الْعِلَلَ
And the Seal of the Muḥammadan inheritance, Muḥyī al-Dīn, said, in some verses: “No — nor are those who held secret converse with Him like the one who has become them; so leave aside the pretexts.”
وَقَالَ اِشَارَةً اِلَى هَذِهِ الْأَسْرَارِ فِي هَذِهِ الْأَبْيَاتِ وَالْأَحَادِيثِ: فَكُنْ بِهِ حَتَّى يَكُنْ اِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ فَلَا يَكُنْ
And he said, alluding to these secrets in these verses and ḥadīths: “So be through Him until He is; if you are not, then He is not —
فَأَنْتَ خَلَاّقٌ لَهُ وَأَنْتَ مَخْلُوقٌ بِكُنْ
for you are His creator, and you are created by ‘Be’;
أَنَّ الْحَدِيثَ لَمْ يَسَعْ اِلَّا الْحَدِيثَ الْمُسْتَكِنَّ
speech has not had room [for them], save the speech that lies hidden;
فَمَا اسْتَكَانُوا لِلَّذِي قَالَ اسْتَكِينُوا فَاسْتَكِنْ
they did not humble themselves before the One who said ‘Humble yourselves’ — so humble yourself;
فَلِلْاِلَهِ مَا سَكَنَ وَهُوَ لَنَا نِعْمَ السَّكَنُ
so to God belongs whatever dwells, and He is for us the best of dwellings.”
يُرِيدُ- رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ- كُنْ بِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وُجُوداً وَفِعْلاً، شُهُوداً غَالِباً مَلَكَةً لَا تَرَى لَكَ وُجُوداً وَلَا فِعْلاً مُسْتَقِلّاً.
He means — God be pleased with him —: be through Him, mighty and majestic is He, in existence and act, with a beholding that prevails as an abiding disposition, so that you see in yourself no independent existence or act.
وَدُمْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ الشُّهُودِ حَتَّى يَكُونَ بِكَ ظُهُوراً مُؤَثِّراً، فَتَنْفَعِلَ الْأَشْيَاءُ عَنْ وُجُودِكَ الْمُقَيَّدِ، كَمَا تَنْفَعِلُ عَنْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ هُوَ تَعَالَى.
And persevere in that beholding until He is through you as an effective manifestation, so that things are affected by your bounded existence as they are affected by Him insofar as He is He, exalted is He.
فَاِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ بِهِ تَعَالَى وُجُوداً وَفِعْلاً شُهُوداً مُلَازِماً؟ فَلَا يَكُنْ لَكَ بِهِ ظُهُوراً مُؤَثِّراً، فَلَا تَنْفَعِلُ عَنْكَ الْأَشْيَاءُ،
If you are not through Him, exalted is He, in existence and act with a constant beholding, then He is not, for you, through Him, an effective manifestation, and things are not affected by you,
وَاِنْ كُنْتَ بِهِ وُجُوداً وَفِعْلاً فِي نَفْسِ الْأَمْرِ فَاِنَّ الشَّأْنَ فِي الشُّهُودِ مَلَكَةً، فَأَنْتَ خَلَاَّقٌ لَهُ فِي خَيَالِكَ الْمُتَّصِلِ، الَّذِي هُوَ شُعْبَةٌ مِنَ الْخَيَالِ الْمُنْفَصِلِ، فَفِي أَيِّ صُورَةٍ تَخَيَّلْتَهُ كَانَ عَيْنَهَا.
even if you are through Him in existence and act in actual fact, for what matters is beholding as an abiding disposition. And you are His creator in your contiguous imagination, which is a branch of the discontiguous imagination: in whatever form you imagine Him, He is that very form.
فَأَنْتَ خَالِقٌ لَهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ تِلْكَ الصُّورَةُ، وَهُوَ كَمَا تَخَيَّلْتَ.
So you are His creator with respect to that form, and He is as you imagined.
فَاِنَّهُ الْقَائِلُ: «اَنَا عِنْدَ ظَنِّ عَبْدِي بِي فَلْيَظُنَّ بِي مَا شَاءَ».
Quotes a hadith: al-Bukhārī 7505 (a divine saying), part of it · in a Ṣaḥīḥ, no separate grade · sunnah.com ↗
For He is the one who says: “I am with My servant's opinion of Me, so let him think of Me what he will.”
وَتَبْقَى تِلْكَ الصُّورَةُ فِي الْخَيَالِ الْمُنْفَصِلِ، لَا تَفْنَى أَبَداً، أَشَارَ اِلَى مَا وَرَدَ فِي الْحَدِيثِ:
And that form remains in the discontiguous imagination, never passing away; he alluded to what has come in the ḥadīth:
« اِنَّ اللَّهَ خَلَقَ نَفْسَهُ » .
وَهَذَا الْخَلْقُ شَأْنُ كُلِّ مَخْلُوقٍ مِنْ اِنْسَانٍ وَمَلَكٍ وَغَيْرِهِمَا .
وَالْكَامِلُ يَعْرِفُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ - تَعَالَى - كَمَا هُوَ عَيْنُ مَا تَخَيَّلْتَهُ عَيْنُ مَا تَخَيَّلَهُ غَيْرُهُ مِنْ سَائِرِ الْمَخْلُوقَاتِ .
فَلَا يَحْصُرُهُ فِي تَخَيُّلٍ دُونَ تَخَيُّلٍ : « وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ » .
وَأَنْتَ مِنْ حَيْثُ ظُهُورُ أَحْكَامِ عَيْنِكَ الثَّابِتَةِ ، الْمَعْدُومَةِ فِي الْوُجُودِ الْحَقِّ ؛ مَخْلُوقٌ « بِكُنْ » اِشَارَةً اِلَى قَوْلِهِ : « إِنَّمَا قَوْلُنَا لِشَيْءٍ إِذَا أَرَدْنَاهُ أَنْ نَقُولَ لَهُ كُنْ » .
اِنَّ الْحَدِيثَ وَالْكَلَامَ الْمَلْفُوظَ بِهِ ، الْمُرَتَّبَ مِنْ حُرُوفِ الْهِجَاءِ ، لَمْ يَسَعْ أَيْ لَمْ يَتَّسِعْ لِاِظْهَارِ الْحَقَائِقِ الْآلَهِيَّةِ كَمَا قِيلَ : وَأَنَّ قَمِيصاً خِيطَ مِنْ نَسْجِ تِسْعَةٍ وَعِشْرِينَ حَرْفاً عَنْ مَعَالِيهِ قَاصِرُ
بَلِ الْأَلْفَاظُ ، مِنْ حَيْثُ هِيَ لَاتَسَعُ الْحَدِيثَ الْمَعْنَوِىَّ ، اِذْ عَالَمُ الْمَعَانِي أَوْسَعُ مِنْ عَالَمِ الْأَلْفَاظِ .
وَلَكِنَّ الَّذِي يَسَعُ وَيَتَّسِعُ لِلْحَقَائِقِ الْاِلَهِيَّةِ وَغَيْرِهَا هُوَ الْحَدِيثُ الْمُسْتَكِنُّ السَّاكِنُ فِي النُّفُوسِ ، الْمُغَيَّبُ فِيهَا .
وَهُوَ حَدِيثُ النَّفْسِ مَعَ نَفْسِهَا لِنَفْسِهَا ، مِنْ حَيْثُ هِيَ مُتَكَلِّمَةٌ سَامِعَةٌ مُجِيبَةٌ ، وَهِيَ حَضْرَةُ الْعِلْمِ .
فَمَا اسْتَكَانُوا لِرَبِّهِمْ ، أَيْ مَا جَعَلُوا قُلُوبَهُمْ كِنّاً لِرَبِّهِمْ يَسْكُنُ فِيهَا .
مِنْ قَوْلِهِمْ : أَسْتَكَنَّ اسْتَتَرَ ، اِشَارَةً لِقَوْلِهِ : « فَمَا اسْتَكَانُوا لِرَبِّهِمْ » .
الَّذِي قَالَ لَهُمْ : اسْتَكِينُوا : كُونُوا كِنّاً لِي .
وَذَلِكَ بِتَفْرِيغِ قُلُوبِكُمْ مِنَ الْغَيْرِ وَالسِّوَى ، فَاَسْتَكِنَّ فِيهَا أَجْعَلَهَا كِنّاً لِي وَمَسْكَناً وَسِتْراً .
اِشَارَةً لِقَوْلِهِ : « وَسِعَنِي قَلْبُ عَبْدِي الْمُؤْمِنِ » .
Quotes a hadith: a divine saying, not found in the Six Books or the Muwaṭṭaʾ (sunnah.com data, 11 Nov 2026) · grade not yet checked by a person
فَلِلْاِلَهِ مِنَ الْقُلُوبِ مَا سَكَنَ فِيهِ وَاخْتَصَّ بِهِ بِأَنْ صَارَ مَسْكَناً لَهُ ، خَالِياً مِنْ غَيْرِهِ ، اِشَارَةً لِقَوْلِهِ : « وَلَهُ مَاسَكَنَ » ،
وَهُوَ تَعَالَى مِنْ حَيْثُ الْوُجُودُ ؛ سَكَنٌ لَنَا ، مُقَوِّمٌ لِأَغْرَاضِنَا ، كَالْهَيُولَى لِلصُّوَرِ .
وَنِعْمَ السَّكَنُ هُوَ تَعَالَى .
وَذَلِكَ أَنَّ الْوُجُودَ الْحَقَّ كَالظَّرْفِ لِصُوَرِنَا ، اِشَارَةً لِقَوْلِ مَنْ قَالَ : « مَارَاَيْتُ شَيْئاً اِلَاّ رَاَيْتُ اللَّهَ قَبْلَهُ » .
فَاِنَّ الظَّرْفَ يُرَى قَبْلَ الْمَظْرُوفِ فِيهِ .
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.