Clarification that when a camel stands, it has its hands and legs on the ground; so how can it be said: that when it kneels, the first thing it places on the ground is its hands?!
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The Shaykh : He says: The camel places its hands first. We always remember the observed reality, forever and ever, that the camel, like all four-legged animals, walks on four legs. So it is not conceivable that it should be compared to a human, or that it is compared to a human. A human walks on two legs, whereas the camel walks on four. Therefore, his statement that the first thing the camel places when it kneels is its hands; there is a leap here, or a negligence; because we say: Is the camel, when it walks, not having its legs placed? Of course, no one says it is not having its legs placed; it has its legs placed.
Now; does it walk without having its hands placed? The answer is the same: it walks with its hands and legs placed, so it walks on four. Therefore, to be alert to this error and this strange, wondrous thing, we must prepare to answer a very simple question; and yet most people are heedless of the correct answer to it. What is it—when the camel kneels—what is the first thing of its body that receives the ground? It is not correct to say: its hands; because its hands are placed like its legs. So what is the first thing by which the camel receives the ground when it prostrates, when it kneels? The knees. It is not correct to say the hands—as Ibn al-Qayyim says—that the first thing the camel does when it kneels is to place its hands. This is a mistake; because it has them placed from the moment it falls from its mother’s belly, it falls on four, it does not lean to the right or to the left, then it walks like this, so it walks on four. How can it be said: when it kneels, the first thing it places is its hands, and they are already placed?
So the correct answer: when the camel kneels, the first thing it places—and we do not say its knees now; because here we are discussing the author himself, and we will discuss him in that.
Now; does it walk without having its hands placed? The answer is the same: it walks with its hands and legs placed, so it walks on four. Therefore, to be alert to this error and this strange, wondrous thing, we must prepare to answer a very simple question; and yet most people are heedless of the correct answer to it. What is it—when the camel kneels—what is the first thing of its body that receives the ground? It is not correct to say: its hands; because its hands are placed like its legs. So what is the first thing by which the camel receives the ground when it prostrates, when it kneels? The knees. It is not correct to say the hands—as Ibn al-Qayyim says—that the first thing the camel does when it kneels is to place its hands. This is a mistake; because it has them placed from the moment it falls from its mother’s belly, it falls on four, it does not lean to the right or to the left, then it walks like this, so it walks on four. How can it be said: when it kneels, the first thing it places is its hands, and they are already placed?
So the correct answer: when the camel kneels, the first thing it places—and we do not say its knees now; because here we are discussing the author himself, and we will discuss him in that.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.
