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 340 · “Look at the bones, how We raise them”
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 1098, Damascus 1966, p. 1099, Damascus 1966, p. 1100 (archive.org)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «وَٱنظُرْ إِلَى ٱلْعِظَامِ كَيْفَ نُنشِزُهَا».
God, exalted is He, said: “And look at the bones, how We raise them up” (Q 2:259).
وَقَالَ: «فَٱنظُرْ إِلَىٰ آثَارِ رَحْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ».
And He said: “So look at the traces of God's mercy” (Q 30:50).
وَقَالَ: «أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى ٱلْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ». الْآيَةَ.
And He said: “Do they not look at the camels, how they were created?” (Q 88:17), and the rest of the verse.
وَقَالَ: «أَفَلَمْ يَنظُرُوا إِلَى ٱلسَّمَاءِ فَوْقَهُمْ». الْآيَةَ.
And He said: “Have they not looked at the sky above them?” (Q 50:6), and the rest of the verse.
وَنَحْوُ هَٰذَا مِمَّا عُدِّيَ بِهِ النَّظَرُ بِهِ (إِلَى)
And the like of this, among the places where looking is made transitive with “ilā” (“at”):
فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ- تَعَالَى- اِذَا أَرَادَ مِنَ الْعَبْدِ النَّظَرَ بِالْبَصَرِ الظَّاهِرِ اِلَى ظَاهِرِ الشَّيْءِ الْمَأْمُورِ بِالنَّظَرِ اِلَيْهِ، كَمَا فِي الْآيَاتِ الْمَذْكُورَةِ وَنَحْوِهَا، قَالَ انْظُرْ اِلَى كَذَا،
know that when God, exalted is He, wants the servant to look with outward sight at the outward of the thing he is commanded to look at, as in the verses mentioned and the like, He says “look at such-and-such”,
فَعَدَّى النَّظَرَ بِـ (اِلَى) لِأَنَّ الْبَصَرَ الظَّاهِرَ لَا يُدْرِكُ اِلَّا ظَوَاهِرَ الْأَشْيَاءِ، أَجْسَامَهَا وَسُطُوحَهَا وَأَلْوَانَهَا لَا غَيْرُ،
and so He made looking transitive with “ilā”, because outward sight perceives nothing but the outward aspects of things, their bodies, surfaces and colours, and nothing else,
فَلَا نُفُوذَ لَهُ اِلَى بَوَاطِنِ الْأَشْيَاءِ،
and it has no penetration to the inward aspects of things;
كَمَا اَنَّهُ تَعَالَى اِذَا أَرَادَ النَّظَرَ اِلَى بَوَاطِنِ الْأَشْيَاءِ وَمَلَكُوتِهَا قَالَ انْظُرْ فِي كَذَا،
just as, when He, exalted is He, wants looking at the inward aspects of things and their dominion, He says “look into such-and-such”,
فَعَدَّى النَّظَرَ بِالْفَاءِ كَمَا قَالَ: «أَوَلَمْ يَنظُرُوا فِي مَلَكُوتِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَاتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَاخَلَقَ ٱللَّهُ مِنْ شَيْءٍ⁽¹⁾».
and so He makes looking transitive with the fāʾ, as He said: “Have they not looked into the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever God has created of things?” (Q 7:185).
أَرَادَ النَّظَرَ اِلَى بَوَاطِنِ السَّمَٰوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَبَاطِنِ كُلِّ مَخْلُوقٍ مِنَ الْأَشْيَاءِ وَمَلَكُوتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ بَاطِنُهُ،
He meant looking at the inward aspects of the heavens and the earth and at the inward of every created thing; and the dominion of every thing is its inward,
اِذِ الْعَوَالِمُ ثَلَاثَةٌ: عَالَمُ الْمُلْكِ، وَعَالَمُ الْمَلَكُوتِ، وَعَالَمُ الْجَبَرُوتِ.
for the worlds are three: the world of the Kingdom, the world of the Dominion, and the world of Might.
فَعَالَمُ الْمُلْكِ: هُوَ عَالَمُ الشَّهَادَةِ الْمُدْرَكُ بِالْأَبْصَارِ الظَّاهِرَةِظَاهِرٌ لِظَاهِرٍ.
The world of the Kingdom is the world of the visible, perceived by the outward eyes: outward for outward.
وَعَالَمُ الْمَلَكُوتِ: هُوَ بَاطِنُ عَالَمِ الْمُلْكِ وَهُوَ الْمُدْرَكُ بِالْبَصَائِرِ الْبَاطِنَةِ بَاطِنٌ لِبَاطِنٍ.
The world of the Dominion is the inward of the world of the Kingdom, and it is what is perceived by the inward insights: inward for inward.
وَعَالَمُ الْجَبَرُوتِ: عَالَمُ الْأَسْمَاءِ الْمُتَحَكِّمُ فِي الْمُلْكِ وَالْمَلَكُوتِ وَهُوَ الْمُدْرَكُ بِالْعُقُولِ.
The world of Might is the world of the Names that holds sway over the Kingdom and the Dominion, and it is what is perceived by the intellects.
فَمَنْ أَدْرَكَ بِبَصَرِهِ جِسْماً مُتَحَرِّكاً مَثَلاً طَلَبَ مُشَاهَدَةَ مُحَرِّكِهِ بِبَصِيرَتِهِ، وَاِدْرَاكَ الْمُؤَثِّرِ فِي الْمُحَرِّكِ وَالْمُتَحَرِّكِ بِعَقْلِهِ مَثَلاً،
So whoever perceives with his sight a moving body, for example, seeks to behold its mover with his insight, and to perceive with his intellect, for example, what exerts effect on the mover and the moved.
وَقَالَ تَعَالَى: «قُلِ ٱنظُرُوا مَاذَا فِي ٱلسَّمَٰوَاتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ»⁽²⁾
And He, exalted is He, said: “Say: Look what is in the heavens and the earth” (Q 10:101).
مَا قَالَ انْظُرُوا اِلَى السَّمَٰوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ، فَاِنَّهُ مَا أَرَادَ النَّظَرَ اِلَى أَجْرَامِهَا وَأَلْوَانِهَا،
He did not say “look at the heavens and the earth”, for He did not mean looking at their bodies and colours;
وَاِنَّمَا أَرَادَ النَّظَرَ فِي بَوَاطِنِهَا وَفِيمَا اشْتَمَلَتْ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الْعِبَرِ وَالْآيَاتِ الْبَاطِنَةِ الَّتِي لَاتُدْرَكُ بِالْأَبْصَارِ الظَّاهِرَةِ، وَاِنَّمَا تُدْرَكُ بِالْبَصَائِرِ الْبَاطِنَةِ،
He meant only looking into their inward aspects and into the lessons and inward signs they contain, which are not perceived by the outward eyes, but are perceived only by the inward insights,
وَأَنَّ الْمُدْرِكَ بِالْبَصَرِ وَالْبَصِيرَةِ وَاحِدٌ،
and that the one who perceives by sight and by insight is one and the same:
فَاِنْ أَدْرَكَ بِالْبَصَرِ الظَّاهِرِ أَدْرَكَ ظَوَاهِرَ الْأَشْيَاءِ، وَاِذَا أَدْرَكَ بِالْبَصِيرَةِ الَّتِي هِيَ بَاطِنُ الْبَصَرِ أَدْرَكَ بَوَاطِنَ الْأَشْيَاءِ.
if he perceives by outward sight, he perceives the outward aspects of things, and when he perceives by insight, which is the inward of sight, he perceives the inward aspects of things.
وَقَالَ تَعَالَى:
And He, exalted is He, said:
«وَفِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ»؟!⁽³⁾.
“And in yourselves: do you then not see?” (Q 51:21)
أَرَادَ الْاِبْصَارَ بِالْبَصِيرَةِ لَا بِالْبَصَرِ، اِذِ النَّفْسُ مِنْ عَالَمِ الْمَلَكُوتِ فَلَا تُدْرَكُ بِالْبَصَرِ.
He meant seeing with inner sight, not with the eye, since the soul belongs to the world of the Kingdom and so is not perceived by the eye.
أَحَالَ تَعَالَى مَعْرِفَتَهُ عَلَى مَعْرِفَةِ النَّفْسِ.
He, exalted is He, referred knowledge of Himself to knowledge of the soul.
وَقَدْ وَرَدَ: «مَنْ عَرَفَ نَفْسَهُ عَرَفَ رَبَّهُ».
And it has come down: “Whoever knows his soul knows his Lord.”
فَمَعْرِفَةُ النَّفْسِ مُقَدِّمَةٌ وَسُلَّمٌ لِمَعْرِفَةِ الرَّبِّ، فَاِنَّهُ تَعَالَى خَلَقَهَا لِيَرْتَقِيَ بِهَا اِلَى مَعْرِفَةِ الرَّبِّ.
So knowledge of the soul is a preliminary and a ladder to knowledge of the Lord, for He, exalted is He, created it so that one might rise by it to knowledge of the Lord.
فَمَعْرِفَتُهَا أَصْلٌ وَمَعْرِفَةُ الرَّبِّ فَرْعٌ عَنْهَا،
Knowledge of it is the root, and knowledge of the Lord is a branch from it;
فَهُوَ تَعَالَى أَصْلٌ فِي الْوُجُودِ، فَرْعٌ فِي الْمَعْرِفَةِ وَالنَّفْسُ، بِالْعَكْسِ
so He, exalted is He, is the root in existence and a branch in knowledge, and the soul is the reverse.
فَالنَّفْسُ مِثَالٌ، بَلْ وَمِثْلٌ مِثْلِيَّةً لُغَوِيَّةً لَا عَقْلِيَّةً،
So the soul is an image, or rather even a like, a likeness in the linguistic sense, not the rational one,
اِذْ أَنَّهُ تَعَالَى جَعَلَ لِكُلِّ مَا هُوَ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الصِّفَاتِ وَالنُّعُوتِ أُنْمُوذَجاً فِي صُورَةِ النَّفْسِ،
since He, exalted is He, made for every attribute and quality that He has a specimen in the form of the soul,
فَمَا فَعَلَ الْفَاعِلُ تَعَالَى شَيْئاً اِلَاّ وَلَهُ مِثْلُهُ وَ: «لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ».
so the Agent, exalted is He, has done nothing without its having its like, and yet: “There is nothing like Him.” (Q 42:11)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «قُلْ كُلٌّ يَعْمَلُ عَلَىٰ شَاكِلَتِهِ».
He, exalted is He, said: “Say: each acts according to his own manner.” (Q 17:84)
أَيْ كُلُّ عَامِلٍ اِنَّمَا يَعْمَلُ مَا يُشَاكِلُهُ وَيُشَابِهُهُ فَافْهَمْ.
That is, every agent does only what resembles and is like him; so understand.
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