Manuscript volume 26 · Page 9

ويَفْعَلُونَ ما يُؤْمَرُونَ﴾ [التحريم: ٦].

فلو لم يكن في قوتهم ونشأتهم ما يقتضي رد أمر الله وما يقتضي قبوله، ما أثنى الله عليهم بما أثنى به من نفي العصيان عنهم وفعلهم ما أمرهم به؛ فإن المجبور لا ثناء عليه.

(اعتبار التكتيف في الصلاة)

ألا ترى إلى المصلي إذا وقف بين يدي ربه في الصلاة يتكتف، شغل العبد الذليل بين يدي سيده، في حال مناجاته. والسنة قد وردت بذٰلك وهو أحسن من إسبال اليدين؛ وذٰلك لأن الله تعالى لما قسم الصلاة بينه وبين عبده نصفين، فجزء منها مخلص له تعالى من أول الفاتحة إلى قوله: ﴿يَوْمِ الدِّينِ﴾ [الفاتحة: ٤]. فهٰذا بمنزلة اليد اليمنى من العبد؛ لأن ﴿الْقُوَّةَ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعاً﴾ [البقرة: ١٦٥]؛ فأعطيناه اليمين.

والجزء الآخر مخلص للعبد من قوله: ﴿اهْدِنَا﴾ [الفاتحة: ٦] إلى آخر السورة؛ فهٰذا الجزء بمنزلة اليد اليسرى وهي الشمال؛ فإنه الجناب الأضعف. والعبد هذه مرتبته؛ فإنه خلق من ضعف ابتداء ورد إلى ضعف انتهاء. وجزء منها بين الله وبين عبده فجمع هٰذا الجزء بين الله وعبده، وهو قوله: ﴿إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ﴾ [الفاتحة: ٥]. فلهٰذا الجمع جمع العبد بين يديه في الصلاة إذا وقف؛ فكملت صلاة العبد بجمعه بين يديه.

وصورة هٰذا التكتيف^[3] أن يجعل اليمنى على اليسرى كما قررناه من أن اليمين لله؛ فلها العلو على الشمال. وصورتها

and do what they are commanded’ [al-Tahrim 66:6].

Had their power and constitution contained nothing requiring rejection of God’s command and nothing requiring its acceptance, God would not have praised them as He did, denying disobedience of them and affirming their doing what He commanded. There is no praise for the compelled.

(The Consideration of Folding the Hands in Prayer)

Do you not see the one praying, when he stands before his Lord in prayer, folding his hands like the abased servant before his master while conversing intimately with Him? The Sunna has conveyed this, and it is better than letting the hands hang. When God, exalted is He, divided prayer between Himself and His servant into two halves, a part was devoted exclusively to Him, exalted is He, from the beginning of al-Fatiha through His saying, ‘the Day of Recompense’ [al-Fatiha 1:4]. This is like the servant’s right hand, since ‘All power belongs to God’ [al-Baqara 2:165]. We therefore gave Him the right.

The other part is devoted exclusively to the servant, from His saying, ‘Guide us’ [al-Fatiha 1:6], to the sura’s end. This part is like the left hand, the left side, for it is the weaker side, and this is the servant’s rank. He was created from weakness at the outset and returned to weakness at the end. A part is between God and His servant, joining God and servant: His saying, ‘You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for aid’ [al-Fatiha 1:5]. Because of this joining, the servant joins his two hands when standing in prayer. The servant’s prayer is completed through joining his hands.

The form of this folding^[3] is to place the right upon the left, as we have established that the right belongs to God and therefore has elevation over the left. Its form is