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

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Mawqif 365 · “The spirit is of the command of my Lord”
Context: the Emir warns that someone who glimpses the spirit’s attributes without the Law may take it for God. The station speaks of the spirit; it claims divinity for no one.
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 1288, Damascus 1966, p. 1289, Damascus 1966, p. 1290 (archive.org)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الرُّوحِ قُلِ الرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي».
God Most High has said: “They ask you about the spirit. Say: the spirit is of the command of my Lord” (Q 17:85).
وَقَالَ: «ذَٰلِكَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ أَنْزَلَهُ إِلَيْكُمْ».
And He said: “That is the command of God, which He has sent down to you” (Q 65:5).
اعْلَمْ أَنَّ الرُّوحَ أَمْرُهُ غَرِيبٌ وَشَأْنُهُ عَجِيبٌ، لَا تَكْشِفُ عَنْ مُحَيَّاهُ عِبَارَةٌ، وَلَا يَنْفَتِحُ بَابُهُ بِاِشَارَةٍ الْعِلْمُ بِكُنْهِهِ، مُحَالٌ اِلَّا لِلْكَبِيرِ الْمُتَعَالِ:
Know that the affair of the spirit is strange and its state wondrous: no expression unveils its countenance, and its door does not open to allusion; knowledge of its essence is impossible, except for the Great, the Most Exalted:
وَاِنَّ قَمِيصاً خِيطَ مِنْ نَسْجِ تِسْعَةٍ وَعِشْرِينَ حَرْفاً عَنْ مَعَالِيهِ قَاصِرٌ
A shirt sewn from the weave of twenty-nine letters falls short of its heights.
وَلِهَذَا لَمَّا تَعَدَّتِ الْعُقُولُ أَطْوَارَهَا وَوَجَّهَتْ اِلَى الْعِلْمِ بِحَقِيقَتِهِ أَفْكَارَهَا انْقَلَبَتْ خَاسِئَةً حَاسِرَةً بَائِرَةً خَاسِرَةً،
For this reason, when the minds overstepped their stages and turned their thoughts towards knowing its reality, they came back humbled, worn out, ruined and at a loss,
وَلِعَجْزِ الْعُقُولِ عَنِ الْوُصُولِ اِلَى الْعِلْمِ بِالرُّوحِ لَمْ يَرِدْ فِي الْكُتُبِ الْاِلَهِيَّةِ وَالْاِخْبَارَاتِ النَّبَوِيَّةِ وَصْفُ الرُّوحِ اِلَّا بِضَرْبِ أَمْثَالٍ وَاِشَارَاتٍ وَتَلْوِيحَاتٍ وَاسْتِعَارَاتٍ رَحْمَةً بِالْعِبَادِ وَرِفْقاً بِالْعُقُولِ•
And because minds are unable to reach knowledge of the spirit, the spirit has been described in the divine books and the prophetic reports only by the striking of similitudes, and by allusions, hints and metaphors, out of mercy for the servants and gentleness towards minds.
فَاِنَّ مَنْ أَطْلَعَهُ اللَّهُ ـ تَعَالَى ـ عَلَى شَيْءٍ مِنْ صِفَاتِ الرُّوحِ مِنْ غَيْرِ الْمُتَشَرِّعِينَ ظَنَّ أَنَّهُ الْاِلَهُ الْمَعْبُودُ،
For whoever, among those who do not hold to the Law, is given by God Most High a glimpse of some of the attributes of the spirit thinks that it is the God who is worshipped.
وَاِنَّمَا يُدْرَكُ بَعْضُ صِفَاتِ الرُّو حِ بِالْوَهْبِ الْاِلَهِيِّ لَا بِالنَّظَرِ الْعَقْلِيِّ•
Some of the attributes of the spirit are perceived only through divine bestowal, not through rational reflection.
فَاِنَّ لِلْعُقُولِ حَدّاً تَقِفُ عِنْدَهُ، فَاِذَا تَعَدَّتْهُ ضَلَّتْ•
For minds have a limit at which they halt; when they overstep it, they go astray.
وَلَكِنْ لَهَا الْقَبُولُ لِمَا يَهَبُهَا الْوَهَّابُ ـ تَعَالَى ـ
But they have receptivity for what the Bestower, Most High, grants them.
وَلَيْسَ فِي قَوْلِهِ: الرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي اِشَارَةٌ اِلَى الْكَفِّ عَنِ السُّـؤَالِ، وَالْجَوَابِ عَنِ الرُّوحِ كَمَا قِيلَ، بَلْ هُوَ جَوَابٌ اِجْمَالِيٌّ:
His words “the spirit is of the command of my Lord” (Q 17:85) do not, as has been claimed, indicate that one should refrain from asking and from answering about the spirit; rather, it is a summary answer:
أَيِ الرُّوحُ أَمْرُ رَبِّي «فَمِنْ» بَيَانِيَّهُ كَمَا قَالَ تَعَالَى: «ذَٰلِكَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ أَنزَلَهُ إِلَيْكُمْ⁽¹⁾». اِخْبَاراً لِجَمِيعِ الْمَخْلُوقَاتِ•
that is, the spirit is the command of my Lord, «min» being explicative, as He Most High said: “That is the command of God, which He has sent down to you” (Q 65:5), as information given to all creatures.
وَلَمَّا كَانَ الرُّوحُ لَاتَنْقَضِي اِشْكَالَاتُهُ وَلَا تَنْتَهِي بِالنِّسْبَةِ اِلَى اِدْرَاكِ الْعُقُولِ مُحَالَاتُهُ جَنَحَ اِلَى الْاِجْمَالِ بِقَوْلِهِ: مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي أَيْ هُوَ أَمْرُ رَبِّي الصَّادِرُ عَنْهُ بِالْأَمْرِ بِلَا وَاسِطَةِ مَادَّةٍ،
Since the difficulties of the spirit never come to an end, and the impossibilities it presents to the perception of minds never cease, He inclined to a summary statement with His words “of the command of my Lord” (Q 17:85), that is: it is the command of my Lord, issuing from Him by the command, without the mediation of matter,
فَأَقُولُ لَكَ مَقَالاً وَاَضْرِبُ أَمْثَالاً تَخَيُّلاً وَتَقْرِيباً، وَاِلاَّ فَأَيْنَ الثُّرَيَّا مِنْ يَدِ الْمُتَنَاوِلِ•
So I will tell you something and strike similitudes, by way of imagination and approximation; otherwise, how far are the Pleiades from the hand of the one who reaches for them!
اعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ ـ تَعَالَى ـ لَمَّا تَوَجَّهَ لِخَلْقِ الْعَالَمِ خَلَقَ رُوحاً كُلِّيّاً سَمَّاهُ حَضْرَةَ الْجَمْعِ وَالْوُجُودِ، لِكَوْنِهِ جَامِعاً لِحَقَائِقِ الْوُجُودِ،
Know that when God Most High turned towards the creation of the world, He created a universal spirit, which He named the Presence of Gathering and Existence, because it gathers together the realities of existence;
وَسَمَّاهُ بِالْحَقِيقَةِ الْمُحَمَّدِيَّةِ، لِكَوْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ ـ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ـ أَكْمَلَ مَظَاهِرِهَا•
and He named it the Muhammadan Reality, because Muḥammad—God bless him and grant him peace—is the most perfect of its loci of manifestation.
عَلَى أَنَّهُ مَا فِي الْجِنْسِ الْاِنْسَانِيِّ أَحَدٌ اِلاَّ وَهُوَ مَظْهَرُ هَذِهِ الْحَقِيقَةِ ، كُلُّ اِنْسَانٍ يَكُونُ فِيهِ ظُهُورُهَا وَبُطُونُهَا عَـلَى كَمَالِهِ وَنُقْصَانِهِ •
وَلَابُدَّ مِنْ ظُهُورِهَا فِي كُلِّ اِنْسَانٍ كَامِلٍ •
وَمَازَالَ الْحَقُّ ـ تَعَالَى ـ يَخْلُقُ الْمَوْجُودَاتِ مِنَ الْحَقِيقَةِ الْمُحَمَّدِيَّةِ عُلْوِيَّةً وَسُفْلِيَّةً ، لَطِيفَةً وَكَثِيفَةً ، بَسِيطَةً وَمُرَكَّبَةً •
وَكُلَّمَا خَلَقَ صُورَةً قَبَضَهَا اِلَى صُورَتِهَا الْاُولَى حَتَّى انْتَهَى الْأَمْرُ اِلَى الْاِنْسَانِ فَخَلَقَهُ مِنْهَا وَلَمْ يَقْبِضْهَا •
فَكَانَ الْاِنْسَانُ صُورَةَ حَضْرَةِ الْجَمْعِ وَالْوُجُودِ، لِأَنَّهَا بُسِطَتْ فِيهِ وَلَمْ تَنْقَبِضْ عَنْهُ •
ثُمَّ خَلَقَ اللَّهُ الْعَمَاءَ الَّذِي كَانَ فِيهِ الرَّبُّ قَبْلَ خَلْقِ الْخَلْقِ ،
وَكَانَ أَوَّلُ مَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ ـ تَعَالَى ـ فِي الْعَمَاءِ الْأَرْوَاحَ الْمُهَيَّمَةَ وَالْعَقْلَ وَالنَّفْسَ الْكُلِّيَّةَ •
فَهُمْ مَخْلُوقُونَ مِنْ حَضْرَةِ الْجَمْعِ وَالْوُجُودِ ، وَهُمْ مَظَاهِرُ لَهَا ، لَكِنْ دُونَ مَظْهَرِيَّةِ الْاِنْسَانِ الْكَامِلِ •
وَمُحَمَّدٌ ـ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ـ الْاِنْسَانُ
الْأَكْمَلُ ، فَاِنَّهُ لَا اِنْسَانَ يُمَاثِلُ مُحَمَّداً - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - وَكُلُّ مَا عَدَاهُ فَهُوَ مَخْلُوقٌ مِنْهُ ،
فَهُوَ عَيْنُ الْوُجُودِ الصَّادِرِ مِنَ اللَّهِ - تَعَالَى - بِلَا وَاسِطَةٍ سِوَى الْأَمْرِ فَهُوَ صُورَةُ الْأَمْرِ الْآلَهِيِّ الَّذِي لَا صُورَةَ لَهُ فِي نَفْسِ الْأَمْرِ .
وَكُلَّمَا فَعَلَتِ الطَّبِيعِيَّةُ الْكُلِّيَّةُ صُورَةً نَفَخَ فِيهَا رُوحاً عَلَى قَدْرِ قَابِلِيَّتِهَا وَاسْتِعْدَادِهَا .
فَالطَّبِيعَةُ ظَاهِرَةٌ وَهُوَ بَاطِنُهَا ،
بَلْ لَيْسَتِ الطَّبِيعَةُ غَيْرَ الرُّوحِ اِلَّا ّ بِاعْتِبَارِ كَثَافَةِ بَعْضِ الصُّوَرِ وَلَطَافَةِ بَعْضِهَا ، فَقِيلَ الطَّبِيعَةُ مُغَايِرَةٌ لِلرُّوحِ .
فَاِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ - تَعَالَى - اِيجَادَ شَيْءٍ تَوَجَّهَ اِلَيْهِ الرُّوحُ وَتَوَجُّهُهُ عَيْنُهُ ، وَعَيْنُ مَا تَوَجَّهَ اِلَيْهِ ،
بِمَعْنَى أَنَّ شُعُورَهُ بِمُرَادِ اللَّهِ - تَعَالَى - عَيْنُهُ وَعَيْنُ مَا شَعَرَ بِهِ ، وَهُوَ الشَّيْءُ الَّذِي أَرَادَ اللَّهُ اِيجَادَهُ ،
كَالتَّوَجُّهِ عَلَى الْمِرْآةِ هُوَ عَيْنُ وُجُودِ صُورَةِ الْمُتَوَجِّهِ عَيْنُ التَّوَجُّهِ عَيْنُ الصُّورَةِ .

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