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 332 · “Remember God as you remember your fathers”
In briefAI
Starting from Q 2:200, “remember God as you remember your fathers, or with a more intense remembrance”, the Emir explains that Jāhiliyya Arabs boasted of ancestors at Minā, and God commands them to take pride in Him, for honour is servanthood (Q 17:1). He adds that God does not forbid mentioning fathers (Q 31:14), citing the Prophet's own boasts and the report that people are mines. Noble origin must show its effect, and baseness in such a person is accidental and passes.
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 1068, Damascus 1966, p. 1069, Damascus 1966, p. 1070 (archive.org)
الْمَـوْقِفُ
The Stance
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُمْ مَنَاسِكَكُمْ فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَذِكْرِكُمْ آبَاءَكُمْ أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْراً»
He, exalted is He, said: “When you have completed your rites, remember God as you remember your fathers, or with a more intense remembrance” (Q 2:200).
سَبَبُ نُزُولِ الْآيَةِ هُوَ أَنَّ الْعَرَبَ فِي جَاهِلِيَّتِهَا كَانَتْ حِينَ اجْتِمَاعِ أَهْلِ الْمَوْسِمِ فِي مِنًى عِنْدَ الْجَمْرَةِ الْأُولَى تَذْكُرُ أَنْسَابَهَا وَأَحْسَابَهَا وَتَفْتَخِرُ بِآبَائِهَاوَبِآبَالِهَا مِنَ الْمَآثِرِ وَمَكَارِمِ الْاَخْلَاقِ فَخْراً وَسُمْعَةً،
The occasion of the verse’s revelation is that the Arabs in their Jāhiliyya, when the people of the pilgrimage season gathered at Minā by the first Jamra, used to recount their lineages and their ancestral merits and boast of their fathers and of [what they had] of glorious deeds and noble traits of character, out of pride and for repute;
فَأَمَرَهُمُ اللَّهُ ــ تَعَالَى ــ بِذِكْرِهِ بِالثَّنَاءِ عَلَيْهِ وَالِافْتِخَارِ بِهِ تَعَالَى مِنْ كَوْنِهِمْ عَبِيداً لَهُ، وَأَنَّهُ سَيِّدُهُمْ وَمَوْلَاهُمْ،
so God, exalted is He, commanded them to remember Him by praising Him and by taking pride in Him, exalted is He, in that they are His servants and that He is their Master and their Lord;
فَاِنَّهُ عَلَى قَدْرِ مَنْزِلَةِ السَّيِّدِ وَمَنْزِلَةِ عَبْدِهِ مِنْهُ يَكُونُ فَخْرُ الْعَبْدِ وَشَرَفُهُ،
for it is in proportion to the rank of the master, and the rank of his servant with him, that the servant’s pride and honour come about;
وَالشَّرَفُ الْعُبُودِيَّةُ ذَكَرَ اللَّهُ ــ تَعَالَى ــ أَشْرَفَ مَخْلُوقَاتِهِ بِعُبُودِيَّتِهِ تَشْرِيفاً لَهُ فَقَالَ: «سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلاً»
and honour is servanthood: God, exalted is He, named the noblest of His creatures by his servanthood, to honour him, and said: “Glory be to Him who carried His servant by night” (Q 17:1).
يَقُولُ بَعْضُ سَادَاتِنَا رِضْوَانُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِمْ: لَا تَدْعُنِي اِلَاّ بِيَا عَبْدَهَا فَاِنَّهُ أَشْـرَفُ اَسْمَائِي
One of our masters, God’s good pleasure be upon them, says: “Call me by nothing but ‘O her servant’, for it is the noblest of my names.”
وَقَالَ ابْنُ الْفَارِضِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ: وَادْعُنِي، غَيْرَ دَعِيٍّ، عَبْـدَهَا نِعْمَ مَا أَسْمُو بِهِ هَذَا السُّمَيُّ
And Ibn al-Fāriḍ, God be pleased with him, said: “And call me, no false claimant, her servant: how excellent is that by which I am raised high, this little name!”
وَرَوَى بَعْضُ السَّادَةِ، وَأَظُنُّهُ عُتْبَةَ الْغُلَامِ، فِي طَرِيقِ الْحَجِّ، وَالْمُصْحَفُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَهُوَ يَتَبَخْتَرُ زَهْواً وَاِعْجَاباً فَقِيلَ لَهُ: مَا هَذِهِ عَادَتَكَ؟!
One of the masters, and I think it was ʿUtba al-Ghulām, related [that he was] on the road of the pilgrimage, with the Qurʾān codex before him, strutting in vanity and self-admiration, and it was said to him: “This is not your custom?!”
فَقَالَ: تَفَكَّرْتُ عَبْدُ مَنْ أَنَا؟ وَكَلَامَ مَنْ أَتْلُو أَنَا؟ وَبَيْتَ مَنْ قَاصِدٌ انا؟ فَزُهِيتُ.
He said: “I reflected: whose servant am I? Whose word am I reciting? Whose House am I heading for? And so I grew proud.”
وَاعْلَمْ اَنَّهُ تَعَالَى أَمَرَهُمْ بِذِكْرِهِ كَذِكْرِهِمْ آبَاءَهُمْ أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْراً، وَمَا نَهَاهُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ آبَائِهِمْ وَالثَّنَاءِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَالِافْتِخَارِ بِهِمْ.
Know that He, exalted is He, commanded them to remember Him as they remember their fathers, or with a more intense remembrance, and He did not forbid them to mention their fathers, praise them and take pride in them.
فَاِنَّهُ تَعَالَى الْقَائِلُ: «أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيْكَ».
For it is He, exalted is He, who says: “Be grateful to Me and to your parents” (Q 31:14).
وَقَدْ وَرَدَ فِي الْخَبَرِ اَنَّهُ- صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ- قَالَ: أَنَا ابْنُ الذَّبِيحَيْنِ! مُفْتَخِراً بِجَدِّهِ اِسْمَاعِيلَ وَأَبِيهِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ.
It has come in a report that he, God bless him and grant him peace, said: “I am the son of the two sacrificed ones!”, taking pride in his ancestor Ismāʿīl and his father ʿAbd Allāh.
وَفِي الصَّحِيحِ أَنَّهُ- صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ- قَالَ يَوْمَ حُنَيْنٍ: أَنَا النَّبِيُّ لَا كَذِبَ أَنَا ابْنُ عَبْدِ الْمُطَّلِبِ
And in the Ṣaḥīḥ it is reported that he, God bless him and grant him peace, said on the day of Ḥunayn: “I am the Prophet, no lie; I am the son of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib.”
وَسُئِلَ- صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ- عَنْ أَكْرَمِ النَّاسِ فَقَالَ: أَكْرَمُهُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اَتْقَاهُمْ
He, God bless him and grant him peace, was asked about the noblest of people, and he said: “The noblest of them in God’s sight is the most God-fearing of them.”
فَقَالُوا: لَيْسَ عَنْ هَذَا نَسْاَلُكَ، فَقَالَ: اَكْرَمُ النَّاسِ يُوسُفُ بْنُ يَعْقُوبَ بْنِ اِسْحَاقَ بْنِ اِبْرَاهِيمَ
They said: “It is not about this that we are asking you.” He said: “The noblest of people is Joseph son of Jacob son of Isaac son of Abraham.”
فَقَالُوا: لَيْسَ عَنْ هَذَا نَسْاَلُكَ فَقَالَ: اَعَنْ مَعَادِنِ الْعَرَبِ تَسْاَلُونِي؟
They said: “It is not about this that we are asking you.” He said: “Is it about the mines of the Arabs that you are asking me?
خِيَارُهُمْ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ خِيَارُهُمْ فِي الْاِسْلَامِ اِذَا فَقُهُوا.
The best of them in the Jāhiliyya are the best of them in Islam, when they gain understanding.”
وَفِي الْحَدِيثِ: النَّاسُ مَعَادِنُ كَمَعَادِنِ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ وَالرَّصَاصِ وَالنُّحَاسِ.
And in the ḥadīth: “People are mines like the mines of gold, silver, lead and copper.”
يَقُولُ بَعْضُهُمْ: اِنَّ الْجِيَادَ عَلَى اَعْرَاقِهَا تَجْرِي، يَقُولُ عَلَى أُصُولِهَا تَجْرِي
One of them says: "Thoroughbred steeds run true to their bloodlines"; he means: they run according to their roots.
فَمَنْ كَانَ أَصْلُهُ كَرِيماً فَلَابُدَّ أَنْ يُؤَثِّرَ فِيهِ أَصْلُهُ وَاِنْ ظَهَرَ مِنْهُ لُؤْمٌ فَهُوَ أَمْرٌ عَارِضٌ يَرْجِعُ اِلَى أَصْلِهِ، وَلَابُدَّ فِي آخِرِ الْأَمْرِ،
So whoever is of noble origin, his origin must inevitably have its effect on him; and if baseness appears from him, it is an accidental matter, and he returns to his origin, and this is inevitable in the end,
وَكَذَلِكَ اللَّئِيمُ الْأَصْلِ•
And likewise the one who is base in origin.
فَكُلُّ أَمْرٍ عَارِضٍ فَهُوَ لَا بَقَاءَ لَهُ، وَاِنْ كَانَ لَهُ حُكْمٌ فِي حَالِ وُجُودِهِ وَلَكِنْ يَزُولُ•
For every accidental matter has no permanence, even if it has an effect while it exists; but it passes away.
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