Explanation of the author's statement and his saying: (And the angels descended, descending)
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : It is said that they descend from the heavens bit by bit; the angels of the lowest heaven descend, then the second, then the third, and so on. This verse, as we observe, does not mention the coming of Allah, but it points to it, because the splitting of the sky with clouds only happens for the coming of Allah, as evidenced by the preceding verses. These are the five verses with us: [Al-Baqarah 2:210] [Al-An'am 6:158] [Al-Fajr 89:21-22] [Al-Furqan 25:25]. The author cited five verses.
The student: Four.
The Shaykh : Four, how?
The student: Four.
The Shaykh : Count them, everyone.
The student: Four.
The Shaykh : One, two, three, four. Yes, four verses the author cited to establish one of the attributes of Allah, which is the coming and the arrival. The coming and the arrival. The people of the Sunnah and the community affirm that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, comes with Himself, comes with Himself. Why? He said: Because Allah the Exalted mentioned that about Himself, and He is the most knowledgeable about Himself and about others, and the most truthful in speech than others, and the best in narration. So His speech contains the most perfect knowledge, truth, and clarity. And we mentioned a fourth matter, which is
The student: ...
The Shaykh : No, clarity is eloquence.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : The intent is the most perfect intent and will. So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, wants to clarify the truth for us, and He is the most knowledgeable, the most truthful, and the best in narration. So Allah mentioned about Himself in these verses, O Adam, that He comes and arrives. And He attributed the action to whom?
The student: To Himself.
The Shaykh : To Himself. So the one who comes and arrives is Himself, Mighty and Majestic. And this is a known and understood meaning. But there remains a second question: Do we know the manner of this coming? No, we do not know it, because Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, informed us that He comes and arrives, but He did not inform us how He comes and arrives. And because the manner is not known except by observation, or by observing a similar thing, or by truthful information about it, and none of this exists. Is that clear? And because if the Essence is unknown, the attributes are unknown, meaning their manner. The Essence exists and is real, and we know it. We know what the Essence means and what the Self means. Likewise, we know what the coming means. But the manner of the Essence or the Self, and the manner of the coming, this is not known to us. So, do we believe that Allah comes in reality, and in a manner befitting Him, which is unknown to us and not known?
The student: Unknown.
The Shaykh : Unknown. If someone asked us how He comes, we would say as Imam Malik said: "This question is an innovation. The coming is known, and the manner is not known". It is unknown. So we must submit. Now, if someone said: Is His coming like the coming of a king, or a president, or a prince? No, you say no. And you do not say "Allah knows best"?
The student: We say no.
The Shaykh : We say no.
The student: There is nothing like Him.
The Shaykh : Yes, because we have evidence:[Ash-Shuraa 42:11]. As for the manner, if he asks how, we say
The student : Allah knows best
The Shaykh : Allah knows best. But if he asks what it is like, we say, we say no. Pay attention to the difference between likening and asking how. Likening is negated in all cases, and asking how is also negated, but we say "Allah knows best" regarding asking how. As for likening, we know that He is not like us. Is that clear? Good.
Do they await but that Allah should come to them in covers of clouds
فهل ينظرون إلا أن يأتيهم الله في في ظلل من الغمامDo they [then] wait for anything except that the angels should come to them
هل ينظرون إلا أن تأتيهم الملائكة(21) No! When the earth has been leveled - pounded and crushed - (22) And your Lord has come
كلا إذا دكت الأرض دكا دكا ، وجاء ربكAnd [mention] the Day when the heaven will split open with [emerging] clouds
ويوم تشقق السماء بالغمامThe student: Four.
The Shaykh : Four, how?
The student: Four.
The Shaykh : Count them, everyone.
The student: Four.
The Shaykh : One, two, three, four. Yes, four verses the author cited to establish one of the attributes of Allah, which is the coming and the arrival. The coming and the arrival. The people of the Sunnah and the community affirm that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, comes with Himself, comes with Himself. Why? He said: Because Allah the Exalted mentioned that about Himself, and He is the most knowledgeable about Himself and about others, and the most truthful in speech than others, and the best in narration. So His speech contains the most perfect knowledge, truth, and clarity. And we mentioned a fourth matter, which is
The student: ...
The Shaykh : No, clarity is eloquence.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : The intent is the most perfect intent and will. So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, wants to clarify the truth for us, and He is the most knowledgeable, the most truthful, and the best in narration. So Allah mentioned about Himself in these verses, O Adam, that He comes and arrives. And He attributed the action to whom?
The student: To Himself.
The Shaykh : To Himself. So the one who comes and arrives is Himself, Mighty and Majestic. And this is a known and understood meaning. But there remains a second question: Do we know the manner of this coming? No, we do not know it, because Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, informed us that He comes and arrives, but He did not inform us how He comes and arrives. And because the manner is not known except by observation, or by observing a similar thing, or by truthful information about it, and none of this exists. Is that clear? And because if the Essence is unknown, the attributes are unknown, meaning their manner. The Essence exists and is real, and we know it. We know what the Essence means and what the Self means. Likewise, we know what the coming means. But the manner of the Essence or the Self, and the manner of the coming, this is not known to us. So, do we believe that Allah comes in reality, and in a manner befitting Him, which is unknown to us and not known?
The student: Unknown.
The Shaykh : Unknown. If someone asked us how He comes, we would say as Imam Malik said: "This question is an innovation. The coming is known, and the manner is not known". It is unknown. So we must submit. Now, if someone said: Is His coming like the coming of a king, or a president, or a prince? No, you say no. And you do not say "Allah knows best"?
The student: We say no.
The Shaykh : We say no.
The student: There is nothing like Him.
The Shaykh : Yes, because we have evidence:
There is nothing like unto Him
ليس كمثله شيءThe student : Allah knows best
The Shaykh : Allah knows best. But if he asks what it is like, we say, we say no. Pay attention to the difference between likening and asking how. Likening is negated in all cases, and asking how is also negated, but we say "Allah knows best" regarding asking how. As for likening, we know that He is not like us. Is that clear? Good.