The Meaning of the Saying of Allah the Exalted: "Then He drew near and hung low, so He was the distance of two bows' length or less. Then He revealed to His servant what He revealed..."
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The Shaykh :[An-Najm 53:8] Who did the actor approach? Jibril. That is, from above to below. [An-Najm 53:9] That is, he was at a distance of two bows or less. Many of you have already learned the description of the revelation when it first came down to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): Jibril embraced the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) tightly until he reached the limit of his strength. [An-Najm 53:9].
The student: No.
The Shaykh : Meaning "No, rather less"? Two bows' length, no, rather less? I am not asking you; what does it mean, just that.
Now, we all say it is not for doubt, is that not so?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Now, pay attention. We all say it is not for doubt, because Allah cannot doubt about anything, for He (Exalted and Majestic is He) encompasses everything and is All-Knowing of everything. But it was said: its meaning is "rather," as the brother said. But the brother has no ribs to fear, meaning "rather" in the sense of "rather." Is it from the category of transitional negation or from the category of absolute negation? It is from the category of absolute negation, meaning: two bows' length, then he negated it and said "rather less," meaning that it was less, and what came before it is void. It was also said: "or" is for confirmation, meaning confirming what came before, as if he said: two bows' length, if it did not decrease, it did not increase, like the saying of Allah the Exalted: What is it? It was said the meaning is "rather they increase," and it was said the meaning is "if they do not increase beyond a thousand, then they do not decrease." In any case, the meaning is that he was very close, at the distance of two bows' length or less. Who revealed? The pronouns, my brothers, all refer to Jibril. Why do we make the pronoun here refer to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), when all the pronouns in the same context refer to Jibril?
Now, "revealed" means Jibril revealed to His servant. The pronoun in "His servant" here must refer to Allah, because Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is not a servant of Jibril, but he is a servant of Allah. He revealed to His servant what He revealed.
The speech here is ambiguous: "He revealed what He revealed" is ambiguous. So what is the benefit of the ambiguity? Its benefit is magnification and glorification, meaning a great, magnified revelation, like the saying of Allah the Exalted: What is it? That is, something great overwhelmed them, covering them completely. So He revealed to His servant something great and magnified, and what is it? The speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), the speech of Allah the Exalted, which is the truest of speech and the noblest of speech. Here we pause for a moment to ask: Is the speech of Allah among His attributes or not? The brother.
The student: The speech of Allah is among His attributes.
The Shaykh : Well done, may Allah reward you. The speech of Allah the Exalted is among His attributes. Is the speech of Allah created or uncreated? The brother.
The student: Uncreated.
The Shaykh : Uncreated? The evidence.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Because the Qur'an is the speech of Allah and an attribute among His attributes. And the attributes of Allah are uncreated. This reasoning is good and acceptable.
But if you are asked: What is the evidence? Then bring a text from the Qur'an and the Sunnah. And if you are asked why you say: Because[Ar-Ra'd 13:16], we tell you: and the Qur'an is a thing, so it would be created.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Allah... from this, because He is the Creator, and the Creator is not the created. But we remain with the Qur'an; the Qur'an is not Allah. Rest now. Now, the brother on the pillar, come, the one with the shemagh.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : And is every teacher uncreated? Is every teacher uncreated? Meaning, something that Allah teaches us is uncreated? Is everything that Allah taught us uncreated?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Rest. This is the third one; if he does not know, we will answer, we, if Allah wills, by the permission of Allah.
The student:.
The Shaykh : Yes, well done.. The point of indication? Now, listen.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Now, and establish the she-camel of Allah.[Ash-Shams 91:13] Is the she-camel created or uncreated? Now, this one says created. Also, we hear the opinion, and the opinion is required. We are debating you in this to train you to debate those who debate. So he says: The Qur'an is created. Yes.
The student: Allah the Exalted said:.
The Shaykh: Yes, but al-Zamakhshari says: "He wounded it with the claws of wisdom," and the word "wound" means injury, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Riyad as-Salihin 1295.
The student: The one whom Allah spoke to was Moses, with direct speech.
The Shaykh : I told you, "He wounded it" is a metaphor, a metonymy.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Now, this is from wisdom, that it is known that Allah is Allah. Rest, that is enough.
Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said:[Ash-Shuraa 42:52] "He held back from our command," so He made revelation part of His command. And He said: [Al-A'raf 7:54] So He made the command a partner, what is it? To creation. And the partner of a thing is not the thing itself. And the command here is revelation. [Al-A'raf 7:54] And this is clear evidence by which the people of the Sunnah and the community argued against the Jahmiyyah and their followers.
Second: If we said the Qur'an is created, my brothers, the Shari'ah would be invalidated. The Shari'ah would be invalidated. There is no god but Allah. If we said the Qur'an is created, the Shari'ah would be invalidated, because the Qur'an is written and heard. So if we say it is created, it becomes that Allah created something in this form, or in this written form, and there is no command or prohibition in it. Because if we make "Establish the prayer" created, its meaning becomes that Allah created a sound with this wording, which indicates a command, just as He created the star in a certain form, and the sun in a certain form, and the camel in a certain form, and there is no command or prohibition in them. And likewise, if you write "The prayer has been established," its meaning becomes that it is a form; Allah created something in this form or in this heard sound, and it is not a command or a prohibition. For this reason, some people were surprised by the saying of some of the people of the Sunnah: "If we say the Qur'an is created, we invalidate the Shari'ah in general." They said: How is this? We say: The point is that it would be that Allah created sounds in a certain form, or created letters in a certain form, which do not indicate a command or a prohibition. And this is very clear; it is a rational reasoning from which one cannot escape. So the Qur'an is, without doubt, the speech of Allah. And speech, as we all know, cannot be a thing that stands on its own. And if it is not a thing that stands on its own, it must stand upon something else. And this means that the Qur'an is an attribute, not a thing that stands on its own. So when Allah attributed it to Himself, it became an attribute of His, uncreated, because the attributes of the Creator are uncreated. Now.
Then he approached and descended
ثم دنا فتدلىand hung low
فتدلىAnd was at a distance of two bow lengths or nearer.
فكان قاب قوسين أو أدنىAnd was at a distance of two bow lengths or nearer.
فكان قاب قوسين أو أدنىOr
أوThe student: No.
The Shaykh : Meaning "No, rather less"? Two bows' length, no, rather less? I am not asking you; what does it mean, just that.
Now, we all say it is not for doubt, is that not so?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Now, pay attention. We all say it is not for doubt, because Allah cannot doubt about anything, for He (Exalted and Majestic is He) encompasses everything and is All-Knowing of everything. But it was said: its meaning is "rather," as the brother said. But the brother has no ribs to fear, meaning "rather" in the sense of "rather." Is it from the category of transitional negation or from the category of absolute negation? It is from the category of absolute negation, meaning: two bows' length, then he negated it and said "rather less," meaning that it was less, and what came before it is void. It was also said: "or" is for confirmation, meaning confirming what came before, as if he said: two bows' length, if it did not decrease, it did not increase, like the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And We sent it to a hundred thousand
وأرسلناه إلى مائة ألفOr they increase
أو يزيدونSo He revealed to His servant what He revealed
فأوحى إلى عبده ما أوحىNow, "revealed" means Jibril revealed to His servant. The pronoun in "His servant" here must refer to Allah, because Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is not a servant of Jibril, but he is a servant of Allah. He revealed to His servant what He revealed.
The speech here is ambiguous: "He revealed what He revealed" is ambiguous. So what is the benefit of the ambiguity? Its benefit is magnification and glorification, meaning a great, magnified revelation, like the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And a wave from the sea overwhelmed them
وغشيهم من اليمWhat overwhelmed them
ما غشيهمThe student: The speech of Allah is among His attributes.
The Shaykh : Well done, may Allah reward you. The speech of Allah the Exalted is among His attributes. Is the speech of Allah created or uncreated? The brother.
The student: Uncreated.
The Shaykh : Uncreated? The evidence.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Because the Qur'an is the speech of Allah and an attribute among His attributes. And the attributes of Allah are uncreated. This reasoning is good and acceptable.
But if you are asked: What is the evidence? Then bring a text from the Qur'an and the Sunnah. And if you are asked why you say: Because
Allah is the Creator of all things
الله خالق كل شيءThe student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Allah... from this, because He is the Creator, and the Creator is not the created. But we remain with the Qur'an; the Qur'an is not Allah. Rest now. Now, the brother on the pillar, come, the one with the shemagh.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : And is every teacher uncreated? Is every teacher uncreated? Meaning, something that Allah teaches us is uncreated? Is everything that Allah taught us uncreated?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Rest. This is the third one; if he does not know, we will answer, we, if Allah wills, by the permission of Allah.
The student:
until they hear the word of Allah
حتى يسمع كلام اللهThe Shaykh : Yes, well done.
until they hear the word of Allah
حتى يسمع كلام اللهThe student: ... .
The Shaykh : Now, and establish the she-camel of Allah.
the she-camel of Allah or [prevent her from] her drink."
ناقة الله وسقياهاThe student: Allah the Exalted said:
And Allah spoke to Moses directly
وكلم الله موسى تكليماThe Shaykh: Yes, but al-Zamakhshari says: "He wounded it with the claws of wisdom," and the word "wound" means injury, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Whoever is wounded while fighting in the way of Allah, will come on the Day of Resurrection with blood oozing from his wound
ما من مكلوم يكلم في سبيل الله إلا إذا جاء يوم القيامة وكلمه يثعب دماThe student: The one whom Allah spoke to was Moses, with direct speech.
The Shaykh : I told you, "He wounded it" is a metaphor, a metonymy.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Now, this is from wisdom, that it is known that Allah is Allah. Rest, that is enough.
Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said:
And thus We have revealed to you an inspiration of Our command.
وكذلك أوحينا إليك روحا من أمرناUnquestionably, His is the creation and the command
ألا له الخلق والأمرUnquestionably, His is the creation and the command
ألا له الخلق والأمرSecond: If we said the Qur'an is created, my brothers, the Shari'ah would be invalidated. The Shari'ah would be invalidated. There is no god but Allah. If we said the Qur'an is created, the Shari'ah would be invalidated, because the Qur'an is written and heard. So if we say it is created, it becomes that Allah created something in this form, or in this written form, and there is no command or prohibition in it. Because if we make "Establish the prayer" created, its meaning becomes that Allah created a sound with this wording, which indicates a command, just as He created the star in a certain form, and the sun in a certain form, and the camel in a certain form, and there is no command or prohibition in them. And likewise, if you write "The prayer has been established," its meaning becomes that it is a form; Allah created something in this form or in this heard sound, and it is not a command or a prohibition. For this reason, some people were surprised by the saying of some of the people of the Sunnah: "If we say the Qur'an is created, we invalidate the Shari'ah in general." They said: How is this? We say: The point is that it would be that Allah created sounds in a certain form, or created letters in a certain form, which do not indicate a command or a prohibition. And this is very clear; it is a rational reasoning from which one cannot escape. So the Qur'an is, without doubt, the speech of Allah. And speech, as we all know, cannot be a thing that stands on its own. And if it is not a thing that stands on its own, it must stand upon something else. And this means that the Qur'an is an attribute, not a thing that stands on its own. So when Allah attributed it to Himself, it became an attribute of His, uncreated, because the attributes of the Creator are uncreated. Now.