The Meccan Revelations

Manuscript volume 10 · Page 12

Konya manuscript

Open Arabic sourceOpen English translation

Arabic

الحوادث في العالم العنصري سواء، حرفا حرفا ومعنى معنى.

(كنز الكعبة وكنز المعرفة)

واعلم أن الله تعالى قد أودع في الكعبة كنزا أراد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يخرجه فينفقه، ثم بدا له في ذٰلك (أمر آخر) لمصلحة رآها. ثم أراد عمر بعده أن يخرجه، فامتنع اقتداء برسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم؛ فهو فيه إلى الآن.

وأما أنا فسيق لي منه لوح من ذهب، جيء به إلي وأنا بتونس سنة ثمان وتسعين وخمسمائة، فيه شق وغلظه أصبع، عرضه شبر، وطوله شبر أو أزيد مكتوب فيه بقلم لا أعرفه؛ وذٰلك لسبب طرأ بيني وبين الله، فسألت الله أن يرده إلى موضعه أدبا مع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم. ولو أخرجته إلى الناس لثارت فتنة عمياء، فتركته أيضا لهذه المصلحة.

فإنه صلى الله عليه وسلم ما تركه سدى، وإنما تركه ليخرجه القائم بأمر الله في آخر الزمان الذي يملأ الأرض قسطا وعدلا كما ملئت جورا وظلما. وقد ورد خبر رويناه فيما ذكرناه من إخراجه على يد هٰذا الخليفة، وما أذكر الآن عمن رويته[2] ولا الجزء الذي رأيته فيه.

كذٰلك جعل الله في قلب العارف كنز العلم بالله، فشهد لله بما شهد به الحق لنفسه من أنه لا إله إلا الله ونفى هذه المرتبة عن كل ما سواه، فقال: ﴿شَهِدَ الله

Notes

[2]

(أثبت المؤلف هنا عدم تذكّره طريق الخبر وموضعه؛ أُبقي هذا القيد كما ورد.)

English

events in the elemental world, letter for letter and meaning for meaning.

(The Kaʿba’s Treasure and the Treasure of Knowledge)

Know that God Most High placed a treasure in the Kaʿba. The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, intended to bring it out and spend it, then another consideration occurred to him because of a benefit he perceived. After him ʿUmar intended to bring it out but refrained, following the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. It remains there to this day.

As for me, a gold tablet from it was brought to me when I was in Tunis in the year 598. It had a crack and was a finger thick, a span wide, and a span or more in length, with writing in a script I did not know. This happened because of something that arose between God and me. I asked God to return it to its place, observing proper conduct toward the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. Had I brought it before people, a blind turmoil would have arisen. I therefore left it for that benefit as well.

He, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not leave it without purpose. He left it for the one who will uphold God’s command at the end of time, who will fill the earth with equity and justice as it was filled with oppression and wrong. A report we have transmitted concerns its being brought out by this deputy. I cannot now recall from whom I transmitted it[2] or the volume in which I saw it.

Likewise, God made a treasure of knowledge of Him in the knower’s heart. He bears witness to God in what the Real witnessed of Himself, that there is no god but God, and denies this rank to everything apart from Him. He said, “God bears witness

Notes

[2]

(The author states here that he does not remember the report’s route of transmission or its location. This qualification has been retained as given.)

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Cairo source reference

Ibn al-Arabi, The Meccan Revelations — Manuscript volume 10 · Page 12 — https://www.futmak.com/english/konya/pages.php?id=2862&text=both