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

About this text

Mawqif 40 · “And a witness bore witness”: angel or elect?
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 89, Damascus 1966, p. 90, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 97, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 98, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 99 (archive.org)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ» الْآيَةَ.
He, Most High, said: "And a witness bore witness" (Q 46:10), [to the end of] the verse.
سَأَلَ بَعْضُ الْأَصْحَابِ عَنِ الْأَفْضَلِيَّةِ بَيْنَ الْمَلَكِ وَخَوَاصِّ الْبَشَرِ، وَذَكَرَ اخْتِلَافَ أَهْلِ الظَّاهِرِ وَالْبَاطِنِ، وَمَا وَرَدَ عَلَى كُلِّ دَلِيلٍ، بِحَيْثُ مَا سَلِمَ دَلِيلٌ مِنْ مُعَارَضَةٍ وَنَقْضٍ وَاحْتِمَالٍ.
One of the companions asked about which has precedence in excellence, the angel or the elect of humankind. He mentioned the disagreement of the people of the outward and of the inward, and the objections raised against every proof, so that no proof remained safe from counter-argument, refutation and [the] possibility [of another reading].
وَاسْتَغْرَبَ اخْتِلَافَ أَهْلِ الْبَاطِنِ؛ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَنَّهُمْ أَهْلُ شُهُودٍ وَكَشْفٍ.
He found the disagreement of the people of the inward strange, since they are people of beholding and unveiling.
فَالشَّيْخُ الْأَكْبَرُ قَالَ بِفَضْلِ الْمَلَكِ.
For the Greatest Shaykh held that the angel is superior.
وَالشَّيْخُ الْجِيلِيُّ فَضَّلَ خَوَاصَّ الْبَشَرِ.
And Shaykh al-Jīlī held the elect of humankind to be superior.
فَأَجَبْتُهُ: بِأَنَّهُ لَاغَرَابَةَ فِي اخْتِلَافِ الْعَارِفِينَ فِي مَعْلُومٍ لَاتَعَلُّقَ لَهُ بِمَعْرِفَةِ اللَّهِ وَتَوْحِيدِهِ.
I answered him that there is nothing strange in the knowers disagreeing about an object of knowledge that has no bearing on the knowledge of God and the affirmation of His unity.
وَانْظُرْ اِلَى قِصَّةِ مُوسَى وَالْخَضِرِ– عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلَامُ– وَهُمَا مَا هُمَا، يَقُولُ مُوسَى: «لَقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْئاً نُكْراً» شَيْئاً اِمْراً.
Look at the story of Moses and al-Khaḍir, peace be upon them both, and they are who they are: Moses says, "You have done a terrible thing" (Q 18:74), "a grievous thing" (Q 18:71).
وَيَقُولُ الْخَضِرُ: مَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِي، فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ،
And al-Khaḍir says: "I did not do it of my own command" (Q 18:82), "so your Lord willed" (Q 18:82),
وَقَوْلُ الْخَضِرِ لِمُوسَى فِي هَذِهِ الْقِصَّةِ نَفْسِهَا: أَنْتَ عَلَى عِلْمٍ عَلَّمَكَ اللَّهُ؛ لَا يَنْبَغِي لِي أَنْ أَعْلَمَهُ.
And al-Khaḍir's words to Moses in this very story: "You are upon a knowledge God has taught you, which it is not fitting for me to know.
وَأَنَا عَلَى عِلْمٍ عَلَّمَنِيةِ اللَّهُ؛ لَايَنْبَغِي لَكَ أَنْ تَعْلَمَهُ.
And I am upon a knowledge God has taught me, which it is not fitting for you to know."
وَقَوْلُهُ: مَانَقَصَ عِلْمِي وَعِلْمُكَ مِنْ عِلْمِ اللَّهِ؛ اِلَّا كَمَا نَقَّصَ هَذَا الْعُصْفُورُ بِنَقْرَتِهِ مِنَ الْبَحْرِ.
And his words: "My knowledge and your knowledge have taken nothing from the knowledge of God except as this sparrow has taken from the sea with its peck."
وَفِي صَبِيحَةِ تِلْكَ اللَّيْلَةِ؛ تَوَجَّهْتُ اِلَى الْحَقِّ– تَعَالَى– فِي كَشْفِ هَذِهِ الْمَسْأَلَةِ، فَأَخَذَنِي الْحَقُّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِ وَعَنْ نَفْسِي، وَأُلْقِيَ اِلَيَّ قَوْلُهُ: «وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ فَآمَنَ وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ»
On the morning of that night I turned to the Real, Most High, for the unveiling of this question. The Real took me away from the world and from myself, and His word was cast to me: "And a witness from the Children of Israel bore witness concerning his like, and he believed, while you were arrogant" (Q 46:10).
فَلَمَّا رَجَعْتُ اِلَى الْحِسِّ؛ فَهِمْتُ مِنْ اِشَارَةِ الْآيَةِ الْكَرِيمَةِ؛ أَنَّ الشَّاهِدَ الَّذِي شَهِدَ فِي هَذِهِ الْمَسْأَلَةِ هُوَ الشَّيْخُ الْأَكْبَرُ، عَلَى مِثْلِهِ فِي الْبَشَرِيَّةِ وَالْجِنْسِيَّةِ، يَعْنِي الْكُلَّ مِنَ الْبَشَرِ•
When I returned to the senses, I understood from the allusion of the noble verse that the witness who bore witness in this question is the Greatest Shaykh, concerning his like in humanness and in kind, meaning all of humankind.
وَشَهَادَتُهُ عَلَيْهِمْ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ، بِثُبُوتِ الْأَفْضَلِيَّةِ مِنْ جِهَةٍ، وَاعْتِبَارُ «فَآمَنَ» يَعْنِي الشَّيْخَ الْأَكْبَرَ، بِمَا أَشْهَدَهُ الْحَقُّ مِنْ ثُبُوتِ الْأَفْضَلِيَّةِ لِلْمَلَكِ بِاعْتِبَارٍ،
His testimony against them is in favour of the angels, that superiority is established [for them] from one respect. And the sense of "and he believed" is that the Greatest Shaykh believed in what the Real made him behold: that superiority is established for the angel in a certain respect,
وَمِنْ وَجْهٍ «وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ» يَعْنِي اسْتَكْبَرَ مَنْ قَالَ بِأَفْضَلِيَّةِ خَوَاصِّ الْبَشَرِ عَلَى الْمَلَكِ مُطْلَقاً•
and from [another] aspect, "while you were arrogant" means: whoever held the elect of humankind to be superior to the angel absolutely was arrogant.
وَمَا أَظُنُّ الشَّيْخَ الْجِيلِيَّ يَقُولُ بِأَفْضَلِيَّةِ خَوَاصِّ الْبَشَرِ عَلَى الْمَلَكِ مُطْلَقاً•
And I do not think that Shaykh al-Jīlī holds the elect of humankind to be superior to the angel absolutely.
فَاِنَّ لِلْمَلَكِ فَضْلاً بِالتَّوَسُّطِ بَيْنَ الْحَقِّ وَخَوَاصِّ الْبَشَرِ بِالْوَحْيِ وَالْأِلْهَامِ•
For the angel has a superiority through mediating between the Real and the elect of humankind by revelation and inspiration.
وَاِنْ كَانَ لِلْكُمَّلِ مِنْ خَوَاصِّ الْبَشَرِ تَلَقٍّ مِنَ الْوَجْهِ الْخَاصِّ بِـلَا وَاسِطَةِ مَلَكٍ•
Even if the perfect among the elect of humankind have a reception from the special face without the mediation of an angel,
وَالْأَكْثَرُ بِوَاسِطَةِ الْمَلَكِ•
most [of their reception] is through the mediation of the angel.
وَاِنَّ لِخَوَاصِّ الْبَشَرِ الْكَامِلِينَ؛ فَضْلاً بِالْجَمْعِيَّةِ الْكَمَالِيَّةِ وَالْمَظْهَرِيَّةِ لِجَمِيعِ الْأَسْمَاءِ الْخِلَافِيَّةِ، وَلَيْسَ لِلْمَلَكِ هَذِهِ الْجَمْعِيَّةُ•
And the perfect elect of humankind have a superiority through the comprehensiveness of perfection and through being the locus of manifestation of all the names of vicegerency, and the angel does not have this comprehensiveness.
ثُمَّ بَعْدُ، رَأَيْتُ الشَّيْخَ الْأَكْبَرَ ذَكَرَ فِي الْبَابِ الثَّامِنِ وَالْخَمْسِينَ وَثَلَاثِمِائَةٍ مِثْلَ هَذَا،
Then afterwards I saw that the Greatest Shaykh had mentioned the like of this in Chapter Three Hundred and Fifty-Eight,
وَقَالَ فِي كِتَابِهِ «مَا لَايُعَوَّلُ عَلَيْهِ» مَا نَصُّهُ: الْكَشْفُ الَّذِي يُؤَدِّي اِلَى فَضْلِ الْاِنْسَانِ عَلَى الْمَلَائِكَةِ، أَوْ فَضْلِ الْمَلَائِكَةِ عَلَى الْاِنْسَانِ مُطْلَقاً مِنَ الْجِهَتَيْنِ؛ لَايُعَوَّلُ عَلَيْهِ•
and in his book “What Is Not to Be Relied Upon” he said, in these words: “The unveiling that leads to the superiority of the human being over the angels, or the superiority of the angels over the human being, absolutely and from both sides, is not to be relied upon.”
فَكَلَامُهُ هَذَا، وَمَا ذَكَرَهُ فِي الْبَابِ الْمُتَقَدِّمِ ذِكْرُهُ، نَصٌّ فِي أَنَّقَوْلَهُ «يُفَضَّلُ الْمَلَكُ عَلَى خَوَاصِّ الْبَشَرِ» اِنَّمَا هُوَ بِوَجْهٍ وَاعْتِبَارٍ، لَا مُطْلَقاً،
So this statement of his, together with what he mentioned in the chapter cited above, is an explicit text establishing that his saying “the angel is preferred over the elect of humankind” holds only in one respect and under one consideration, not absolutely,
وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ عَلَى الْمُوَافَقَةِ•
and praise be to God for the agreement.

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