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 67 · Is sainthood acquired or given?
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 134, Damascus 1966, p. 135, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 140, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 141 (archive.org)
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «أَلَآ إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاءَ اللَّهِ⁽³⁾» الْآيَةَ.
God Most High has said: “Truly, the friends of God…” (Q 10:62), to the end of the verse.
جُمْهُورُ الْمُحَقِّقِينَ مِنْ أَهْلِ اللَّهِ– تَعَالَى– عَلَىأَنَّ الْوَلَايَةَ مُكْتَسَبَةٌ، وَالِاكْتِسَابُ افْتِعَالٌ، وَهُوَ طَلَبُ الشَّيْءِ بِقُوَّةٍ وَاجْتِهَادٍ•
Most of the verifiers among the people of God (Most High) hold that sainthood is acquired. Acquisition (iktisāb) is of the form iftiʿāl, and it is seeking a thing with force and effort.
وَعَلَيْهِ فَالْعَمَلُ لِأَجْلِ تَحْصِيلِ الْوَلَايَةِ، الَّتِي مَعْنَاهَا الْقُرْبُ مِنَ اللَّهِ– تَعَالَى– بِرَفْعِ الْحُجُبِ، وَاِخْلَاصِ الْعُبُودِيَّةِ اِلَيْهِ، وَصِدْقِ التَّوَكُّلِ عَلَيْهِ، وَالِانْحِيَاشِ، ظَاهِراً وَبَاطِناً اِلَيْهِ؛ لَيْسَ بِعِلَّةٍ قَادِحَةٍ فِي الْعِبَادَةِ•
Accordingly, working to attain sainthood is not a defect that vitiates worship. Sainthood here means nearness to God (Most High) through the lifting of the veils, making one's servanthood purely His, true reliance on Him, and turning wholly towards Him, outwardly and inwardly.
وَفِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: «لايَزَالُ الْعَبْدُ يَتَقَرَّبُ اِلَيَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ» الْحَدِيثَ؛ اِيمَاءٌ اِلَى مَا ذَكَرْنَا•
In His saying (Most High), “The servant does not cease drawing near to Me through supererogatory works…” (the ḥadīth), there is an allusion to what we have said.
فَاِنَّ الْمُتَقَرِّبَ يَفْعَلُ، أَيْ يَطْلُبُ الْقُرْبَ،
For the one who draws near is doing something, that is, he is seeking nearness.
وَمِنَ الْمَعْلُومِ ضَرُورَةً أَنَّ الْاِخْلَاصَ فِي الْأَعْمَالِ وَاجِبٌ، بِاِجْمَاعٍ،
It is known by necessity that sincerity in works is obligatory, by consensus.
وَأَجْمَعَ أَهْلُ اللَّهِ– تَعَالَى– اَنَّهُ لَايَصِحُّ الْاِخْلَاصُ لِأَحَدٍ اِلَاّ بَعْدَ مَوْتِ النَّفْسِ،
The people of God (Most High) are agreed that sincerity is not valid for anyone except after the death of the self,
وَأَجْمَعُوا عَلَى أَنَّ مَوْتَ النَّفْسِ لَايَكُونُ اِلَاّ بَعْدَ مَعْرِفَةِ حَقِيقَتِهَا الَّتِي هِيَ شَرْطٌ فِي مَعْرِفَةِ رَبِّهَا،
and they are agreed that the death of the self comes about only after knowledge of its true nature, which is a condition for knowing its Lord.
فَمِنَ الْبَعِيدِ أَنْ يَكُونَ هَذَا الْقَصْدُ وَالطَّلَبُ عِلَّةً قَادِحَةً فِي الْعِبَادَةِ، لِأَنَّ مَا لَايُتَوَصَّلُ اِلَى الْوَاجِبِ، اِلَّا بِهِ؛ فَهُوَ وَاجِبٌ.
So it is far-fetched that this aim and this seeking should be a defect that vitiates worship, for that without which the obligatory cannot be reached is itself obligatory.
وَأَمَّا اِذَا قَصَدَ بِالْعَمَلِ الْوَلَايَةَ الَّتِي مَعْنَاهَا ظُهُورُ الْخَوَارِقِ وَالْكَرَامَاتِ وَانْتِشَارُ الصِّيتِ وَاِقْبَالُ الْخَلْقِ؛ فَهَذَا لَايَشُكُّ أَحَدٌ أَنَّهُ عِلَّةٌ، بَلْ شِرْكٌ.
But if by his work he aims at a sainthood whose meaning is the appearance of extraordinary acts and charismatic gifts, the spread of renown and people turning towards him, no one doubts that this is a defect, or rather associationism.
وَعَلَيْهِ يُحْمَلُ قَوْلُ مَنْ قَالَ: «لَايَصِلُ أَحَدٌ اِلَى اللَّهِ، مَادَامَ يَشْتَهِي الْوُصُولَ اِلَيْهِ»
And it is to this that the saying of the one who said is to be applied: “No one reaches God as long as he desires to reach Him.”
وَعِنْدِي عَلَى مَا أَلْقَاهُ الْحَقُّ– تَعَالَى اِلَيَّ: أَنَّ بِدَايَةَ الْوَلَايَةِ، بِمَعْنَى التَّوْفِيقِ لِطَلَبِهَا، مَوْهِبَةٌ.
My own view, according to what the Real (Most High) has cast to me, is that the beginning of sainthood, in the sense of being granted success in seeking it, is a gift.
لِأَنَّهَا حَالٌ.
For it is a state,
وَالْأَحْوَالُ مَوَاهِبُ،
and states are gifts.
وَوَسَطُهَا اكْتِسَابٌ، لِأَنَّهُ جِدٌّ وَاجْتِهَادٌ، وَارْتِكَابُ أَهْوَالٍ، وَرِيَاضَاتٌ وَمُجَاهَدَاتٌ،
Its middle is acquisition, for it is earnestness and effort, the braving of terrors, disciplines and spiritual combats.
وَآخِرُهَا– وَلَا آخِرَ– وَنِهَايَتُهَا– وَلَا نِهَايَةَ– مَوَاهِبُ.
And its last part (though there is no last) and its end (though there is no end) are gifts.
وَالْقُرْبُ مِنَ الْحَقِّ– تَعَالَى– قُرْبٌ مَعْنَوِيٌّ.
Nearness to the Real (Most High) is a nearness of meaning,
وَلَيْسَ ذَلِكَ؛ اِلَاّ بِرَفْعِ حِجَابِ الْجَهْلِ،
and it comes about only through the lifting of the veil of ignorance.
وَاِلَاّ فَالْحَقُّ أَقْرَبُ اِلَيْنَا مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ،
Otherwise, the Real is nearer to us than the jugular vein.
فَمَا بَعَّدَنَا اِلَاّ الْجَهْلُ.
Nothing made us far but ignorance,
وَلَا قَرَّبَنَا اِلَاّ الْعِلْمُ،
and nothing brought us near but knowledge.
وَقَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: «فَاِذَا أَحْبَبْتُهُ كُنْتُ سَمْعَهُ» الْحَدِيثَ.
And His saying (Most High), “Then when I love him, I am his hearing…” (the ḥadīth):
أَيْ أَزَلْتُ عَنْهُ حِجَابَ الْجَهْلِ، فَعَرَفَ الْأَمْرَ عَلَى مَاهُوَ عَلَيْهِ، وَهُوَ مَا بَيَّنَهُ فِي آخِرِ الْحَدِيثِ، لَا أَنَّهُ حَدَثَ شَيْءٌ لَمْ يَكُنْ.
that is, “I removed from him the veil of ignorance, so that he knew the matter as it is.” This is what He set out at the end of the ḥadīth. It does not mean that something came about which had not been.
وَاِنَّمَا الْمُرَادُ أَنَّهُ رَفَعَ الْحِجَابَ عَنِ الْمُتَقَرِّبِ بِالنَّوَافِلِ، أَيِ الطَّالِبِ الْقُرْبَ مِنَ اللَّهِ– تَعَالَى– فَكَانَ مَا كَانَ،
What is meant is only that He lifted the veil from the one drawing near through supererogatory works, that is, the one seeking nearness to God (Most High), and then what was, was.
وَهَذِهِ الْمَرْتَبَةُ أَوَّلُ مَرَاتِبِ الْوَلَايَةِ.
And this rank is the first of the ranks of sainthood.
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.
Hear when new texts are published
Occasional news of a new text or a new layer. If there is a text you would like to read here, say so below.