The Meaning of the Poet's Statement: "And the Command is either a Source or was."
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : He said: "And the Command is either a Source", and this is the most apparent view.
"Or was *** an Object", and this is the view of the *mu'attilah* (those who deny the divine attributes). They say: The Command is not a thing by which the Creator is described; it is not His attribute. Rather, the Command means the commanded, that is, the created. Good.
"*** Both are equal in that
His commanded is the recipient of the Command ***", meaning: There is no commanded except that the Command has issued to it and it has received the Command.
"It is the recipient of the Command *** like the made". Is there any made thing without making? Huh? So there is no commanded without a Command.
"*** Like the made, it is the recipient of the making of the Most Merciful.
So if the Command is negated, the commanded is negated *** like the created, which is negated by the negation of the Creator"
He says: If the Command is negated, the commanded is negated. Is that correct or not? And if there is no commanded, there is no Command. So they are interdependent. If the Command is negated, there is no commanded. Meaning: Even if there is one to whom the Command is directed, if He did not command him, he is not a commanded. Likewise, if the commanded is negated, there is no Command, because how can one direct the Command to what is not a thing? So we know that the Command and the commanded are interdependent. Then he said:
"And look at the arrangement of the context, and you will find in it *** a great secret with clear proof"
The arrangement of the context means the verse you mentioned:[Al-A'raf 7:54] What is the wonderful secret? He said:
"He mentioned the specific, and after it, preceding *** and the middle and the general in this second"
He mentioned the specific:[Al-A'raf 7:54] Is this specific or general?
The student: Specific.
The Shaykh : Specific. Be certain. Specific. And He did not say "He created everything."[Al-A'raf 7:54] This is also specific. [Al-A'raf 7:54] He says: "He mentioned the specific and after it"
Meaning, another specific as well. "Preceding *** and the description and the general in this second"
Then he mentioned the description and the general after that:[Al-A'raf 7:54] And He did not say "He created such and such." Unlike the first, where He came with the action and specified the created object. In the second, He generalized and said: [Al-A'raf 7:54] What? Is the Command in the first part of the verse restricted or general? Restricted by what? By the stars. [Al-A'raf 7:54] Then he said: "So He came with the two types of His creation and His Command ***" What are the two types? "An action and a description" The action is the specific, and the description is the general. [Al-Baqarah 2:164] This is an action. [Al-A'raf 7:54] A description. [Al-A'raf 7:54] This is a Command related to a specific action. [Al-A'raf 7:54] This is a general description.
"So He came with the two types of His creation and His Command *** An action and a description, concise in explanation"
*Mujaza* (concise), and it is permissible to say *mujiza* (concise), and both are correct.
He said: "So reflect upon the Qur'an if you seek guidance ***" *Ramta* means you intended. "*** For knowledge is under the reflection upon the Qur'an" (may Allah have mercy on him). Meaning: If you want guidance, reflect upon the Qur'an, do not rush, do not hasten, and do not be negligent. Most people today read the Qur'an either for the reward of reciting it, or for seeking blessing from it, but most of them do not read it with reflection. For this reason, they are deprived of its benefit. Otherwise, the Qur'an is great, containing great treasures, because it is from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and no one encompasses it except Allah. So it is the treasure of treasures in reality. But its reflection: if you took a verse from the Qur'an when you walked from your house to the mosque and reflected upon it and contemplated it, you would attain much good. And also, if Allah opens for you a portion of the verses, do not rely on your memorization of them now, because you may forget them. The people in the past, every student of knowledge had a notebook in his pocket. Is it a notebook or a memo? With a *fa* or a *dhal*? It serves for both? Good. He puts it in his pocket and contemplates the Qur'an, for example. Whenever Allah opens something to him, he records it in this notebook, so he benefits. Because a person, in reality, may have times when Allah opens to him many meanings from the Qur'an or the Sunnah through contemplation and reflection. Then he relies on himself and says: I will never forget this. And if I forget it, it is close, I will remember and return or retrieve what I have. But he quickly forgets. For this reason, if a person used this method, he would attain much good. And some of the scholars of knowledge, in Ramadan, which is the time of reciting the Qur'an, would keep a special notebook with them. Whenever he read something and a verse from the Book of Allah stopped him, containing many meanings or the like, he would record it in the notebook. So he would not leave Ramadan without having attained much good from the meanings of the Noble Qur'an. For this reason, Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) encouraged reflecting upon the Qur'an for whoever wants guidance. And his Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said in *al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah*: "Whoever reflects upon the Qur'an seeking guidance from it, the path of truth becomes clear to him" Yes. The Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) set two conditions: reflection and seeking guidance. Because one may reflect without intending guidance, just looking at what the meanings of the Qur'an are. You do not want to be guided by it and make it a lamp for you to walk by. So if you reflect upon it while you want guidance from it, wanting to make the Qur'an a lamp for you to walk by, the path of truth becomes clear to you. It is not possible that it is hidden from you forever. It is only hidden from us either due to the shortcoming of our knowledge or our negligence, or that we do not want to be guided by it, meaning that we know the thing but do not act upon it. And this is a back-breaker. If we know the thing and do not act upon it, that is the problem. The ignorant person is better than us, because if we know the thing, the argument stands against us. But we ask Allah to help us every day to speak like this and not look at anything. But a person must fear Allah as much as he can. How much did we read today, Ya 'Abdullah?
The student: Thirteen.
The Shaykh : Thirteen. That is fine.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Huh, are we adding now?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : How?
The student: The method, the method.
The Shaykh : What is in the method?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : It is the intended meaning.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.
The student: What does *ramta* mean?
The Shaykh : *Ramta* means you intended.
The student: I intended.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.
The student: *Yarum*.
The Shaykh : Whoever *ram* (intends), *yarum* (intends). *Bulugh al-Maram* (Attaining the Goal).
"Or was *** an Object", and this is the view of the *mu'attilah* (those who deny the divine attributes). They say: The Command is not a thing by which the Creator is described; it is not His attribute. Rather, the Command means the commanded, that is, the created. Good.
"*** Both are equal in that
His commanded is the recipient of the Command ***", meaning: There is no commanded except that the Command has issued to it and it has received the Command.
"It is the recipient of the Command *** like the made". Is there any made thing without making? Huh? So there is no commanded without a Command.
"*** Like the made, it is the recipient of the making of the Most Merciful.
So if the Command is negated, the commanded is negated *** like the created, which is negated by the negation of the Creator"
He says: If the Command is negated, the commanded is negated. Is that correct or not? And if there is no commanded, there is no Command. So they are interdependent. If the Command is negated, there is no commanded. Meaning: Even if there is one to whom the Command is directed, if He did not command him, he is not a commanded. Likewise, if the commanded is negated, there is no Command, because how can one direct the Command to what is not a thing? So we know that the Command and the commanded are interdependent. Then he said:
"And look at the arrangement of the context, and you will find in it *** a great secret with clear proof"
The arrangement of the context means the verse you mentioned:
Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and earth in six days and then established Himself above the Throne. He covers the night with the day, [another night] chasing it rapidly; and [He created] the sun, the moon, and the stars, subjected by His command
إن ربكم الله الذي خلق السماوات والأرض في ستة أيام ثم استوى على العرش يغشي الليل النهار يطلبه حثيثا والشمس والقمر والنجوم مسخرات بأمره"He mentioned the specific, and after it, preceding *** and the middle and the general in this second"
He mentioned the specific:
Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and earth
إن ربكم الله الذي خلق السماوات والأرضThe student: Specific.
The Shaykh : Specific. Be certain. Specific. And He did not say "He created everything."
who created the heavens and earth in six days and then established Himself above the Throne. He covers the night with the day, [another night] chasing it rapidly; and [He created] the sun, the moon
خلق السماوات والأرض في ستة أيام ثم استوى على العرش يغشي الليل النهار يطلبه حثيثا والشمس والقمرand the stars, subjected by His command
والنجوم مسخرات بأمرهMeaning, another specific as well. "Preceding *** and the description and the general in this second"
Then he mentioned the description and the general after that:
Unquestionably, His is the creation
ألا له الخلقUnquestionably, His is the creation
ألا له الخلقand the command
والأمرand the stars, subjected by His command
والنجوم مسخرات بأمرهthe creation of the heavens and earth
خلق السماوات والأرضUnquestionably, His is the creation
ألا له الخلقand the stars, subjected by His command
والنجوم مسخرات بأمرهUnquestionably, His is the creation and the command
ألا له الخلق والأمر"So He came with the two types of His creation and His Command *** An action and a description, concise in explanation"
*Mujaza* (concise), and it is permissible to say *mujiza* (concise), and both are correct.
He said: "So reflect upon the Qur'an if you seek guidance ***" *Ramta* means you intended. "*** For knowledge is under the reflection upon the Qur'an" (may Allah have mercy on him). Meaning: If you want guidance, reflect upon the Qur'an, do not rush, do not hasten, and do not be negligent. Most people today read the Qur'an either for the reward of reciting it, or for seeking blessing from it, but most of them do not read it with reflection. For this reason, they are deprived of its benefit. Otherwise, the Qur'an is great, containing great treasures, because it is from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and no one encompasses it except Allah. So it is the treasure of treasures in reality. But its reflection: if you took a verse from the Qur'an when you walked from your house to the mosque and reflected upon it and contemplated it, you would attain much good. And also, if Allah opens for you a portion of the verses, do not rely on your memorization of them now, because you may forget them. The people in the past, every student of knowledge had a notebook in his pocket. Is it a notebook or a memo? With a *fa* or a *dhal*? It serves for both? Good. He puts it in his pocket and contemplates the Qur'an, for example. Whenever Allah opens something to him, he records it in this notebook, so he benefits. Because a person, in reality, may have times when Allah opens to him many meanings from the Qur'an or the Sunnah through contemplation and reflection. Then he relies on himself and says: I will never forget this. And if I forget it, it is close, I will remember and return or retrieve what I have. But he quickly forgets. For this reason, if a person used this method, he would attain much good. And some of the scholars of knowledge, in Ramadan, which is the time of reciting the Qur'an, would keep a special notebook with them. Whenever he read something and a verse from the Book of Allah stopped him, containing many meanings or the like, he would record it in the notebook. So he would not leave Ramadan without having attained much good from the meanings of the Noble Qur'an. For this reason, Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) encouraged reflecting upon the Qur'an for whoever wants guidance. And his Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said in *al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah*: "Whoever reflects upon the Qur'an seeking guidance from it, the path of truth becomes clear to him" Yes. The Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) set two conditions: reflection and seeking guidance. Because one may reflect without intending guidance, just looking at what the meanings of the Qur'an are. You do not want to be guided by it and make it a lamp for you to walk by. So if you reflect upon it while you want guidance from it, wanting to make the Qur'an a lamp for you to walk by, the path of truth becomes clear to you. It is not possible that it is hidden from you forever. It is only hidden from us either due to the shortcoming of our knowledge or our negligence, or that we do not want to be guided by it, meaning that we know the thing but do not act upon it. And this is a back-breaker. If we know the thing and do not act upon it, that is the problem. The ignorant person is better than us, because if we know the thing, the argument stands against us. But we ask Allah to help us every day to speak like this and not look at anything. But a person must fear Allah as much as he can. How much did we read today, Ya 'Abdullah?
The student: Thirteen.
The Shaykh : Thirteen. That is fine.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Huh, are we adding now?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : How?
The student: The method, the method.
The Shaykh : What is in the method?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : It is the intended meaning.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.
The student: What does *ramta* mean?
The Shaykh : *Ramta* means you intended.
The student: I intended.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.
The student: *Yarum*.
The Shaykh : Whoever *ram* (intends), *yarum* (intends). *Bulugh al-Maram* (Attaining the Goal).