(Discussion of the term al-'Arsh and that its indication is purely textual, unlike al-'ulu, whose indication is textual, rational, and innate) The Throne is the Throne of the Lord, Exalted is His Majesty*** and the definite article
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh :"The Throne is the Throne of the Lord, Exalted is His Majesty*** and the definite article refers to what is known in the minds"
He rose above the Throne; everyone knows that the intended meaning of the Throne is the Throne of Allah, the Glorious Throne. Is there any ambiguity in it? Never. There is no ambiguity, no misleading, no shared meaning, no metaphor, and nothing of the sort, ever. So the definite article, he says: "refers to what is known in the minds
There is no ambiguity in it, nor is it misleading*** nor is it a metaphor, nor does it have two meanings"
"There is no ambiguity in it" means that its meaning is clear, and there is no metaphor in it because it is a literal truth, and it does not have a second meaning. "It does not have a second meaning" means it is not a shared term. The second meaning refers to the shared term, meaning that by its attribution to Allah, it is not shared such that it applies to this and that.
"And Muhammad and all the prophets*** testified to it for the Creator, the Most Merciful"
So all the prophets came with the fact that Allah rose above the Throne. It has passed us that 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It is mentioned in every book that Allah revealed to every prophet.
"From them we came to know it, and they came to know it from*** the Lord who rose above it, the Judge"
We came to know it from the prophets, and the prophets came to know it from whom? From Allah. And in this is an indication that the indication of istiwaa' (rising above) is purely textual, unlike al-'ulu (being above), whose indication is what? Textual, rational, and innate. As for istiwaa', its indication is textual; we did not know it except from the prophets, and the prophets knew it from Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
He rose above the Throne; everyone knows that the intended meaning of the Throne is the Throne of Allah, the Glorious Throne. Is there any ambiguity in it? Never. There is no ambiguity, no misleading, no shared meaning, no metaphor, and nothing of the sort, ever. So the definite article, he says: "refers to what is known in the minds
There is no ambiguity in it, nor is it misleading*** nor is it a metaphor, nor does it have two meanings"
"There is no ambiguity in it" means that its meaning is clear, and there is no metaphor in it because it is a literal truth, and it does not have a second meaning. "It does not have a second meaning" means it is not a shared term. The second meaning refers to the shared term, meaning that by its attribution to Allah, it is not shared such that it applies to this and that.
"And Muhammad and all the prophets*** testified to it for the Creator, the Most Merciful"
So all the prophets came with the fact that Allah rose above the Throne. It has passed us that 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It is mentioned in every book that Allah revealed to every prophet.
"From them we came to know it, and they came to know it from*** the Lord who rose above it, the Judge"
We came to know it from the prophets, and the prophets came to know it from whom? From Allah. And in this is an indication that the indication of istiwaa' (rising above) is purely textual, unlike al-'ulu (being above), whose indication is what? Textual, rational, and innate. As for istiwaa', its indication is textual; we did not know it except from the prophets, and the prophets knew it from Allah (Mighty and Majestic).