Explanation of Ibn al-Qayyim's Alfiyyah-14a
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The Shaykh :"If he acknowledges and says, 'No, *** He subsists by the Self, then ask him and say, 'Two entities'"
"subsist in the Self. Tell me, are they *** two likenesses, two opposites, or two others"
"If he acknowledges ***"
With what? That He subsists by Himself, and he says, "No, He subsists by the Self" "*** then ask him and say, 'Two entities'"
I think Sulayman read "two entities" with a taa, okay.
"Two entities" "in the Self ***", in your view, are two subsisting things.
The student: ...
The Shaykh :"subsist in the Self. Tell me, are they *** two likenesses, two opposites, or two others"
Okay, if he says He subsists by Himself, then ask him and say to him, "They are two entities now. What are they? The Creator and the created?"
"subsist in the Self ***"
Meaning, each one is distinct from the other and separate from the other. So ask him: are they two likenesses, two opposites, or two others? Of course, he will not say they are two likenesses, because he denied the attributes out of fear of likening Allah to creation. Okay.
Will he say they are two opposites? He might say so, or he might not, because an opposite is that which contradicts its opposite. But perhaps both could be absent, and here absence is not possible, because here it is the Creator and the created; it is not possible for neither the Creator nor the created to exist, unlike two opposites. Are they two others? The answer is yes. Everything mentioned indicates to us that the Creator is other than the created. Under all three assumptions, if there were no distinction, they would not be two things. That is, even if you said he is his likeness, his opposite, or his other, he must be distinct from him, because the likeness of a thing is separate from it, for if it were the thing itself, it would not be correct to say it is its likeness.
The opposite of a thing is also separate from it. The other is separate... With what? That He subsists by Himself, and he said, "No, He subsists by the Self" "*** then ask him and say, 'Two entities. The opposite of a thing' is also separate from it. The other is separate from the other.
"subsist in the Self. Tell me, are they *** two likenesses, two opposites, or two others"
"If he acknowledges ***"
With what? That He subsists by Himself, and he says, "No, He subsists by the Self" "*** then ask him and say, 'Two entities'"
I think Sulayman read "two entities" with a taa, okay.
"Two entities" "in the Self ***", in your view, are two subsisting things.
The student: ...
The Shaykh :"subsist in the Self. Tell me, are they *** two likenesses, two opposites, or two others"
Okay, if he says He subsists by Himself, then ask him and say to him, "They are two entities now. What are they? The Creator and the created?"
"subsist in the Self ***"
Meaning, each one is distinct from the other and separate from the other. So ask him: are they two likenesses, two opposites, or two others? Of course, he will not say they are two likenesses, because he denied the attributes out of fear of likening Allah to creation. Okay.
Will he say they are two opposites? He might say so, or he might not, because an opposite is that which contradicts its opposite. But perhaps both could be absent, and here absence is not possible, because here it is the Creator and the created; it is not possible for neither the Creator nor the created to exist, unlike two opposites. Are they two others? The answer is yes. Everything mentioned indicates to us that the Creator is other than the created. Under all three assumptions, if there were no distinction, they would not be two things. That is, even if you said he is his likeness, his opposite, or his other, he must be distinct from him, because the likeness of a thing is separate from it, for if it were the thing itself, it would not be correct to say it is its likeness.
The opposite of a thing is also separate from it. The other is separate... With what? That He subsists by Himself, and he said, "No, He subsists by the Self" "*** then ask him and say, 'Two entities. The opposite of a thing' is also separate from it. The other is separate from the other.