The Meccan Revelations

Manuscript volume 16 · Page 10

Konya manuscript

Open Arabic sourceOpen English translation

Arabic

إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ﴾ [ص: ٣٠] مع هذه الشكوى؛ فدل إن الصابر يشكو إلى الله لا إلى غيره، بل يجب عليه ذٰلك لما في الصبر إن لم يشك إلى الله من مقاومة القهر الإلهي، وهو سوء أدب مع الله والأنبياء ع أهل أدب وهم على علم من الله.

فإنك تعلم أن صبرك ما كان إلا بالله ما كان من ذاتك ولا من حولك وقوتك فإن الله يقول: ﴿واصْبِرْ وما صَبْرُكَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ﴾ [النحل: ١٢٧] فبأي شيء تفتخر وهو ليس لك؟ فما ابتلى الله عباده إلا ليلجئوا في رفع ذٰلك إليه ولا يلجئوا في رفعه إلى غيره فإذا فعلوا ذٰلك، كانوا من الصابرين وهو محبوب الله ومن أسمائه تعالى النعتية الصبور؛ فما أحب إلا من رأى خلعته عليه.

ثم إن هنا سرا، أقامك فيه مقامه؛ فإن الصبر لا يكون إلا على أذى، وقد عرفنا إن من خلقه من يؤذي الله ورسوله ونعتهم لنا لنعرفهم فندفع ذٰلك الأذى عنه تعالى بمقاتلتهم أو بتعليمهم إن كانوا جاهلين طالبين العلم.

وقد سمي نفسه صبورا وقد رفع إلينا ما أوذى به وعرفنا بهم لنذب عنه وندفع الأذى مع الاتصاف بالصبور لنعلم أنا إذا شكونا إليه ما نزل من البلاء وسألناه في رفعه عنا وسؤالنا إياه لا يزول عنا اسم الصبر فلا تزول عنا محبته كما لم يزل عنه اسم الصبور بتعريفه إيانا من أذاه

English

he is oft-returning” [Sad 38:30], despite this complaint. This shows that the patient person complains to God, not to another. Indeed, he must do so, for patience without complaining to God contains resistance to divine domination, which is bad courtesy with God. The prophets, peace be upon them, possess courtesy and knowledge from God.

You know that your patience is only through God, not through yourself, your power, or your strength. God says, “Be patient, and your patience is only through God” [al-Nahl 16:127]. Through what, then, do you boast, when it is not yours? God tries His servants only so that they seek refuge with Him, not another, in having it removed. When they do so, they are among the patient, beloved to God. Among His descriptive names, exalted is He, is the Patient. He loves only one upon whom He sees His own robe.

Here there is a mystery: He places you in His station. Patience concerns only hurt. He has made known to us that among His creatures are those who hurt God and His Messenger, describing them so we may know them and repel that hurt from Him, exalted is He, by fighting them or teaching them if they are ignorant people seeking knowledge.

He named Himself Patient, yet raised to us what hurt Him and made them known to us, so that we might defend Him and repel the hurt while He remains described as Patient. Thus we know that, if we complain to Him of the trial befalling us and ask Him to remove it, our asking does not remove the name patient from us, nor does His love leave us, just as the name Patient did not leave Him through His making known to us those who hurt Him,

Manuscript imageManuscript volume 16 · Page 10

Arabic and English are linked by the same Konya page ID. Page alignment is approximate; consult the manuscript image for verification.

Cairo source reference

Ibn al-Arabi, The Meccan Revelations — Manuscript volume 16 · Page 10 — https://www.futmak.com/english/konya/pages.php?id=4704&text=both