Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them in play. We did not create them except with the truth, but most of them do not know.”
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : And I pray upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the Pious, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows, on this night, the night of Thursday, the twenty-fourth of the month of Ramadan in the year 1415, we meet with our brothers on the roof of al-Masjid al-Haram, and we ask Allah the Exalted to make these meetings blessed and beneficial.
I want to speak about what Allah the Exalted wills regarding some of what we heard in the recitation of our imams on this night, and it occurred to me to speak about the saying of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He:[Ad-Dukhan 44:38-39]
Allah Mighty and Majestic says:[Ad-Dukhan 44:38]. And this is like His saying the Exalted: [Sad 38:27].
So Allah, Exalted and Majestic is He, by His wisdom, did not create these heavens and the earth for play, amusement, mockery, or falsehood, but rather He created them for great, profound wisdoms, some of which are apparent and some of which are not apparent to the servants.
So what is apparent to us of the wisdoms in what Allah created in these heavens and the earth is only an increase of favor from Allah Blessed and Exalted is He, and an increase of grace, in order that the human being may increase in tranquility regarding the wisdom of Allah Mighty and Majestic. Is that not so? And what has not been made apparent to us of the wisdoms, it is obligatory upon us to submit and be pleased with Allah Blessed and Exalted is He as our Lord, and to know that He did not decree anything except for a wisdom, because among the names of Allah is al-Hakim (the Wise), and al-Hakim is the One who perfects things and makes them precise, placing each thing in its appropriate place such that the intellect does not say, “I wish He had not placed it,” or “I wish He had placed it elsewhere,” and such that the intellect does not say, “I wish He had not placed it in what He placed it in, and I wish He had placed it in what He did not place it in,” because everything that Allah Mighty and Majestic decrees is for great wisdoms behind it.
And in this verse of the speech of Allah, there is a negation attribute in the verse, a negation attribute. So what is the negated thing in this verse? Yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, the negated thing in this verse is that Allah created the heavens and the earth for play. The negated attributes of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He are not intended to be mere negations, because mere negation does not indicate the perfection of all the attributes of Allah the Exalted. All of them are perfection. And what indicates this, namely that the attributes of Allah the Exalted are all perfection, is the saying of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He:[An-Nahl 16:60], and al-mithl means the description, meaning He has the best description, meaning the most perfect of every description. And we only said al-mithl means description because it comes this way in the Arabic language, and from that is His saying Blessed and Exalted is He: [Muhammad 47:15], and so on. So what is the meaning of mithl?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : The Paradise[Muhammad 47:15]?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Rest, please.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : That is, the description of Paradise, just as mithl comes to mean likeness, as in His saying the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:17]
And one might say: Is mithl in this verse to mean description, meaning their description is like the description of the one who kindled a fire? If Allah the Exalted has the best mithl, is it possible that there exists in His attributes a mere negation that does not include perfection?
The answer: No, and that is because mere negation is nothing at all, so how can it be perfection? Because mere negation means non-existence, and non-existence, what is it? It is not perfection. For this reason, every negated attribute
that Allah negates from Himself, it includes an affirmative attribute indicating the perfection of Allah Mighty and Majestic. So let it be known that negation may be negated from a thing due to its inability to accept it, and it may be negated from a thing due to its incapacity for it.
So if it is negated from it due to its inability to accept it, then there is no negation, no perfection, and no blame either, if the thing is negated from a described one who has the capacity for it. This is not praise nor blame.
And if the thing is negated from a described one due to his incapacity for it, then this is an attribute of deficiency. The rule, yes, you?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : If the thing is negated from a described one due to his inability to accept it, then there is no praise in it and no blame. Complete. Rest. And if it is negated from a described one due to his incapacity for it?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, then there is deficiency in it. May Allah bless you.
An example of that is if someone says: The wall does not transgress against anyone. The wall is inanimate; it does not transgress against anyone. The negation of transgression from the wall, why? Say.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : You did well. Due to its inability to do so. So if we say that the wall does not transgress against anyone, have we praised the wall? Answer, everyone.
No, there is no praise and no blame. And if I say about a person, so-and-so is a man... who does not wrong anyone, and you intend by that that he is incapable of wrongdoing, is this praise or blame?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : This is an attribute of blame, even though you... in the original it is praise, but if it is due to incapacity, it is blame. Complete. And from that is the saying of the poet:
“A little tribe who do not betray a pledge *** Nor do they wrong people by a mustard seed”.
Meaning: That if they make a covenant, they fulfill it, so they do not betray, and that they do not transgress against anyone, so they do not wrong people by a mustard seed. Is he praising these people?
The answer: No, he does not praise them, but rather he blames them in reality. Why?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : What?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, diminution may indicate blame, but he negated from them betrayal and wrongdoing due to their incapacity for it. Rest.
And from that is the saying of... who satirizes his people, he says:
“If I were from Mazin, my camels would not be made lawful *** By the sons of the illegitimate from Dha'hal ibn Shaybanah
But my people, even though they are of noble lineage *** Are not of evil in anything, even if they are lowly
They repay the wrongdoing of the wrongdoers with forgiveness *** And the ill-treatment of the wicked with kindness
I wish I had them as a people, when they mount *** They launch raids, horsemen and riders”
He says about his people: They are not of evil in anything. Is this praise or blame?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Its apparent meaning is praise, but he intends blame, because his camels were made lawful, as he says, by the sons of the illegitimate, because the people... the son of the illegitimate, Dha'hal ibn Shaybanah, made the camels lawful and took them. And if I were from Mazin, my camels would not be made lawful by the sons of the illegitimate. Then he retracts and says:
And this saying seems to be an answer to one who asks: Do you not have a tribe? He says: What?
“But my people, even though they are numerous *** — meaning many — are not of evil in anything, even if they are lowly.
They repay the wrongdoing of the wrongdoers with forgiveness *** And the ill-treatment of the wicked with kindness”
Meaning, if they overpower someone, they forgive him, and if someone ill-treats them, they treat him kindly, out of fear that he will repeat the ill-treatment a second time.
Yes, so that... so that he does not wrong them with greater wrongdoing. And this is indicated by his saying:
“I wish I had them as a people, when they mount *** They launch raids, horsemen and riders
I wish I had them, meaning instead”.
The summary: That the negation of an attribute from a described one may be idle talk with no benefit, no praise and no blame, and it may be blame, and it may be praise.
When is it praise? If it includes what? Perfection.
And it is blame if it includes deficiency, like incapacity, for example.
And it is idle talk if there is no praise and no blame in it... it does not accept this attribute, then that is not praise nor blame.
What is negated from Allah, which category is it?
Yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : You did well. The first category, which includes perfection. So if Allah negates injustice from Himself and says:[Al-Kahf 18:49], the intended meaning is the perfection of justice, because the judgment of Allah is not in injustice. So if Allah Blessed and Exalted is He says: [Fatir 35:44], the intended meaning is perfection.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Wrong. Perfection of what?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : It indicated the perfection of power, because the opposite of incapacity is power, and the opposite of weakness is strength. Pay attention to this. And the difference between power and strength is known. So when Allah the Exalted says:[Fatir 35:44], the intended meaning is the perfection of His power, and the evidence is His saying: [Fatir 35:44].
Here, in the verse we heard from the recitation of our imam,[Ad-Dukhan 44:38], from the perfection of wisdom, it is not possible that He creates anything for play, due to the perfection of His wisdom. Then He affirmed by His saying: [Ad-Dukhan 44:39] [Al-Hijr 15:85]. He did not create them except with the truth. And al-haqq (the truth) in its original meaning is the established thing. And He created them also for the truth, for they... the heavens and the earth are created with the truth and created for the truth.
And what concerns us from this verse is that we know that what Allah the Exalted negates from Himself of attributes, the intended meaning is the perfection of its opposite. And it is not a mere negation, because mere negation is not praise, but rather it is either idle talk or deficiency, according to what the situation requires.
And we stop here, and I limit myself to what we heard from the recitation of our imams. And after that, let us return to what we established in the previous lesson or in the previous meeting, which is?
As for what follows, on this night, the night of Thursday, the twenty-fourth of the month of Ramadan in the year 1415, we meet with our brothers on the roof of al-Masjid al-Haram, and we ask Allah the Exalted to make these meetings blessed and beneficial.
I want to speak about what Allah the Exalted wills regarding some of what we heard in the recitation of our imams on this night, and it occurred to me to speak about the saying of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He:
(38) And We did not create the heavens and earth and that between them in play. (39) We did not create them except in truth, but most of them do not know.
وما خلقنا السموات والأرض وما بينها لاعبين ماخلقناهما إلا بالحق ولكن أكثرهم لا يعلمونAllah Mighty and Majestic says:
And We did not create the heavens and earth and that between them in play.
وما خلقنا السماوات والأرض وما بينهما لاعبينAnd We did not create the heaven and the earth and that between them aimlessly. That is the assumption of those who disbelieve, so woe to those who disbelieve from the Fire.
وما خلقنا السماء والأرض وما بينهما باطلا ذلك ظن الذين كفروا فويل للذين كفروا من النارSo Allah, Exalted and Majestic is He, by His wisdom, did not create these heavens and the earth for play, amusement, mockery, or falsehood, but rather He created them for great, profound wisdoms, some of which are apparent and some of which are not apparent to the servants.
So what is apparent to us of the wisdoms in what Allah created in these heavens and the earth is only an increase of favor from Allah Blessed and Exalted is He, and an increase of grace, in order that the human being may increase in tranquility regarding the wisdom of Allah Mighty and Majestic. Is that not so? And what has not been made apparent to us of the wisdoms, it is obligatory upon us to submit and be pleased with Allah Blessed and Exalted is He as our Lord, and to know that He did not decree anything except for a wisdom, because among the names of Allah is al-Hakim (the Wise), and al-Hakim is the One who perfects things and makes them precise, placing each thing in its appropriate place such that the intellect does not say, “I wish He had not placed it,” or “I wish He had placed it elsewhere,” and such that the intellect does not say, “I wish He had not placed it in what He placed it in, and I wish He had placed it in what He did not place it in,” because everything that Allah Mighty and Majestic decrees is for great wisdoms behind it.
And in this verse of the speech of Allah, there is a negation attribute in the verse, a negation attribute. So what is the negated thing in this verse? Yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, the negated thing in this verse is that Allah created the heavens and the earth for play. The negated attributes of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He are not intended to be mere negations, because mere negation does not indicate the perfection of all the attributes of Allah the Exalted. All of them are perfection. And what indicates this, namely that the attributes of Allah the Exalted are all perfection, is the saying of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He:
For those who do not believe in the Hereafter is the description of evil; and for Allah is the highest attribute. And He is Exalted in Might, the Wise.
للذين يؤمنون بالآخرة مثل السوء ولله المثل الأعلى وهو العزيز الحكيمIs the description of Paradise, which the righteous are promised, wherein are rivers of water unaltered
مثل الجنة التي وعد المتقون فيها أنهار من ماء غير آسنThe student: ... .
The Shaykh : The Paradise
Is the description of Paradise, which the righteous are promised, wherein are rivers
مثل الجنة التي وعد المتقون فيها أنهارThe student: ... .
The Shaykh : Rest, please.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : That is, the description of Paradise, just as mithl comes to mean likeness, as in His saying the Exalted:
Their example is that of one who kindled a fire
مثلهم كمثل الذي استوقد ناراAnd one might say: Is mithl in this verse to mean description, meaning their description is like the description of the one who kindled a fire? If Allah the Exalted has the best mithl, is it possible that there exists in His attributes a mere negation that does not include perfection?
The answer: No, and that is because mere negation is nothing at all, so how can it be perfection? Because mere negation means non-existence, and non-existence, what is it? It is not perfection. For this reason, every negated attribute
that Allah negates from Himself, it includes an affirmative attribute indicating the perfection of Allah Mighty and Majestic. So let it be known that negation may be negated from a thing due to its inability to accept it, and it may be negated from a thing due to its incapacity for it.
So if it is negated from it due to its inability to accept it, then there is no negation, no perfection, and no blame either, if the thing is negated from a described one who has the capacity for it. This is not praise nor blame.
And if the thing is negated from a described one due to his incapacity for it, then this is an attribute of deficiency. The rule, yes, you?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : If the thing is negated from a described one due to his inability to accept it, then there is no praise in it and no blame. Complete. Rest. And if it is negated from a described one due to his incapacity for it?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, then there is deficiency in it. May Allah bless you.
An example of that is if someone says: The wall does not transgress against anyone. The wall is inanimate; it does not transgress against anyone. The negation of transgression from the wall, why? Say.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : You did well. Due to its inability to do so. So if we say that the wall does not transgress against anyone, have we praised the wall? Answer, everyone.
No, there is no praise and no blame. And if I say about a person, so-and-so is a man... who does not wrong anyone, and you intend by that that he is incapable of wrongdoing, is this praise or blame?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : This is an attribute of blame, even though you... in the original it is praise, but if it is due to incapacity, it is blame. Complete. And from that is the saying of the poet:
“A little tribe who do not betray a pledge *** Nor do they wrong people by a mustard seed”.
Meaning: That if they make a covenant, they fulfill it, so they do not betray, and that they do not transgress against anyone, so they do not wrong people by a mustard seed. Is he praising these people?
The answer: No, he does not praise them, but rather he blames them in reality. Why?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : What?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, diminution may indicate blame, but he negated from them betrayal and wrongdoing due to their incapacity for it. Rest.
And from that is the saying of... who satirizes his people, he says:
“If I were from Mazin, my camels would not be made lawful *** By the sons of the illegitimate from Dha'hal ibn Shaybanah
But my people, even though they are of noble lineage *** Are not of evil in anything, even if they are lowly
They repay the wrongdoing of the wrongdoers with forgiveness *** And the ill-treatment of the wicked with kindness
I wish I had them as a people, when they mount *** They launch raids, horsemen and riders”
He says about his people: They are not of evil in anything. Is this praise or blame?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Its apparent meaning is praise, but he intends blame, because his camels were made lawful, as he says, by the sons of the illegitimate, because the people... the son of the illegitimate, Dha'hal ibn Shaybanah, made the camels lawful and took them. And if I were from Mazin, my camels would not be made lawful by the sons of the illegitimate. Then he retracts and says:
And this saying seems to be an answer to one who asks: Do you not have a tribe? He says: What?
“But my people, even though they are numerous *** — meaning many — are not of evil in anything, even if they are lowly.
They repay the wrongdoing of the wrongdoers with forgiveness *** And the ill-treatment of the wicked with kindness”
Meaning, if they overpower someone, they forgive him, and if someone ill-treats them, they treat him kindly, out of fear that he will repeat the ill-treatment a second time.
Yes, so that... so that he does not wrong them with greater wrongdoing. And this is indicated by his saying:
“I wish I had them as a people, when they mount *** They launch raids, horsemen and riders
I wish I had them, meaning instead”.
The summary: That the negation of an attribute from a described one may be idle talk with no benefit, no praise and no blame, and it may be blame, and it may be praise.
When is it praise? If it includes what? Perfection.
And it is blame if it includes deficiency, like incapacity, for example.
And it is idle talk if there is no praise and no blame in it... it does not accept this attribute, then that is not praise nor blame.
What is negated from Allah, which category is it?
Yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : You did well. The first category, which includes perfection. So if Allah negates injustice from Himself and says:
And your Lord does injustice to no one.
ولا يظلم ربك أحداBut Allah is not to be caused failure by anything in the heavens or on the earth
وما كان الله ليعجزه من شيء في السماوات ولا في الارضThe student: ... .
The Shaykh : Wrong. Perfection of what?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : It indicated the perfection of power, because the opposite of incapacity is power, and the opposite of weakness is strength. Pay attention to this. And the difference between power and strength is known. So when Allah the Exalted says:
But Allah is not to be caused failure by anything in the heavens or on the earth
وما كان الله ليعجزه من شيء في السماوات ولا في الارضIndeed, He is ever Knowing and Competent.
إنه كان عليما قديراHere, in the verse we heard from the recitation of our imam,
And We did not create the heavens and earth and that between them in play.
وما خلقنا السماوات والأرض وما بينهما لاعبينWe did not create them except in truth, but most of them do not know.
ما خلقناهما إلا بالحق ولكن أكثرهم لا يعلمونAnd We have not created the heavens and earth and that between them except in truth. And indeed, the Hour is coming; so forgive with gracious forgiveness.
ما خلقنا السماوات والأرض إلا بالحقAnd what concerns us from this verse is that we know that what Allah the Exalted negates from Himself of attributes, the intended meaning is the perfection of its opposite. And it is not a mere negation, because mere negation is not praise, but rather it is either idle talk or deficiency, according to what the situation requires.
And we stop here, and I limit myself to what we heard from the recitation of our imams. And after that, let us return to what we established in the previous lesson or in the previous meeting, which is?