Part One
The creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah in summary
First Issue: The Word ʿAyn (عَيْن) in the Language
ʿAyn (عَيْن) is from the root ʿayn–yāʾ–nūn, and its first meaning is the organ of sight. Its plurals are aʿyun (أَعْيُن) and ʿuyūn (عُيُون); its dual is ʿaynān (عَيْنَانِ), in the oblique case ʿaynayn (عَيْنَيْنِ).
Ibn Fāris said in Maqāyīs al-Lughah, under the root ʿayn–yāʾ–nūn:
قال الخليل: العين النّاظرة لكلِّ ذى بَصَر.
ʿAyn, yāʾ and nūn: a single, sound root that indicates the organ by which one sees and looks; then words are derived from it, and the root of all of them is what we mentioned. Al-Khalīl said: al-ʿayn is the seeing eye of every possessor of sight.
Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lughah 4/199, root ʿ-y-n
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العين والياء والنون أصلٌ واحد صحيح يدلُّ على عُضوٍ به يُبْصَر ويُنظَر، ثم يشتقُّ منه، والأصلُ فى جميعه ما ذكرنا.
قال الخليل: العين النّاظرة لكلِّ ذى بَصَر. والعين تجمع على أعيُن وعُيون وأعيان. قال الشاعر:
فقد أرُوعُ قلوبَ الغانياتِ به … حَتّى يَمِلْنَ بأجيادٍ وأعيانِ
وقال:
فقد قرَّ أعيانَ الشَّوامِتِ أنّهم
وربّما جمعوا أعيُنا على أعيناتٍ. قال:
بأعيُنات لم يخالطها قَذَى (¬١)
وعَيْنُ القَلْب مثَل على معنى التشبيه. ومن أمثال العرب فى العين، قولهم:
«لا أفعَلُه ما حَمَلتْ عينى الماء»، أى لا أفعله أبداً. ويقولون: «عَينٌ بها كلُّ داء» للكثير العيوب. ويقال: رجلٌ شديد جَفْنِ العين، إذا كان صبوراً على السَّهَر.
ويقال. عِنْتُ الرّجلَ، إذا أصبتَه بعينك، فأنا أعينُه عَيْنا، وهو مَعْيون. قال:
قد كان قومُك يحسبونك [سيّداً … وإخال أنّكَ] سيّدٌ مَعيونُ (¬٢)
ورجل عَيُونٌ ومِعيانٌ (¬٣): خبيث العين. والعائن: الذى يَعِين، ورأيت
Ibn Fāris and al-Khalīl give the root one meaning: the eye with which every possessor of sight sees. Other uses, the spring of water, the essence of a thing, the spy, are taken from it by likeness, and Ibn Fāris says that the root of all of them is this one meaning. So when ʿayn is attributed to the One who sees, the first meaning is the one that comes to the mind of the Arab.
Second Issue: The Creed of Ahl al-Sunnah in the Eyes
Ahl al-Sunnah believe that Allah has two Eyes with which He sees, as the texts state: “sailing under Our Eyes”, “and be patient for the decision of your Lord, for indeed you are under Our Eyes”, “and that you would be brought up under My Eye”. His Eyes are not like the eyes of the servants, and the servants do not know their modality, just as they do not know the modality of His Essence.
The people of misguidance, who laid down their false foundation that no attribute subsists in Allah and that He is a bare Essence, deny the reality of the Face, the Hands and the Eyes, and claim that affirming them is likening. Some of them say: these texts are recited, and their meaning is not reflected upon. Others interpret them: they explain the Eyes as sight itself, or as seeing, those who affirm sight, such as the Ashʿarīs, affirm sight and seeing because they are close to the meaning, but do not affirm the Eyes. Ahl al-Sunnah are agreed on affirming these attributes, and the Book, the Sunnah and the consensus have proven them.
Part Two
The texts of the Qurʾān and the Sunnah
Third Issue: The Eyes in the Book of Allah
Allah mentioned His Eye in the singular, attributed to Himself, and in the plural, attributed to Himself with the plural of majesty, in four places.
Allah, the Exalted, said to Nūḥ:
And build the ark under Our Eyes and Our revelation, and do not address Me concerning those who did wrong; they will be drowned.
Sūrat Hūd, 11:37 Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
He was told to build the Ark under Allah’s Eyes, and then it sailed under them.
And He said in Sūrat al-Qamar:
And We carried him on a vessel of planks and nails, sailing under Our Eyes — a recompense for him who had been denied.
Sūrat al-Qamar, 54:13–14 Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
The ark was built under His Eyes and sailed under His Eyes: built as He saw it and directed it, and carried as He watched over it. The plural aʿyun with the pronoun “Our” is the plural of majesty that the Arabs use when the speaker is great, as Allah says “We” of Himself while He is One; it does not mean a number of eyes, just as the plural in “of what Our Hands have made” does not cancel the dual “with My two Hands”.
And He said to Mūsā:
…And I cast upon you love from Me, and that you would be brought up under My Eye.
Sūrat Ṭā Hā, 20:39 Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
To Mūsā He said: wa-li-tuṣnaʿah ʿalā ʿaynī, that you would be brought up under My Eye. The singular, attributed to Allah, names the genus; and the preposition ʿalā gives the meaning of being under His sight and care. The care is the result of the seeing, and the seeing is with the Eye; the verse does not let the Eye be removed and the care kept.
And He said to His Prophet ﷺ:
And be patient for the decision of your Lord, for indeed you are under Our Eyes; and glorify the praise of your Lord when you arise.
Sūrat al-Ṭūr, 52:48 Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
To His Prophet ﷺ He said: be patient, for you are under Our Eyes. The consolation means something only if Allah truly sees His Prophet with His Eyes: the one who is seen and protected by his Lord does not grieve at what his enemies say.
Fourth Issue: The Eyes in the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ
The Prophet ﷺ warned his nation of the Dajjāl, and gave them a sign by which they would know that he is not their Lord.
Al-Bukhārī reported in his Ṣaḥīḥ, in the chapter of Kitāb al-Tawḥīd on “that you would be brought up under My Eye”, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar:
Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl narrated to us: Juwayriyah narrated to us, from Nāfiʿ, from ʿAbd Allāh [ibn ʿUmar], who said: The Dajjāl was mentioned before the Prophet ﷺ, and he said: “Allah is not hidden from you. Allah is not one-eyed” — and he pointed with his hand to his eye — “and the Messiah, the Dajjāl, is blind in the right eye, as though his eye were a floating grape.”
al-Bukhārī, al-Ṣaḥīḥ (al-Sulṭāniyyah), Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, 9/121, no. 7407, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar
Source, chain and authenticity
Authentic. Al-Bukhārī reported it through Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl, from Juwayriyah ibn Asmāʾ, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar — Nāfiʿ from Ibn ʿUmar is among the soundest chains in existence. Muslim reported it as well, and the ḥadīth of the Dajjāl's one eye is reported from a large number of the Companions.
The Prophet ﷺ said: Allah is not one-eyed, and pointed to his own eye; and the Dajjāl is blind in his right eye. The sign is a deficiency in the eye of the Dajjāl that the Lord is free of. Had the Lord no eyes at all, the sign would mean nothing: no one warns that a false god is one-eyed while the true God is without eyes. From this the imams took that Allah has two Eyes, perfect, free of every defect. The pointing is to make the meaning clear, not to liken the Eye of Allah to the eye of the Messenger ﷺ, as Abū Hurayrah reported the Prophet ﷺ placing his thumb on his ear and his finger on his eye when he recited “indeed Allah is Hearing, Seeing”.
Part Three
The statements of the Salaf
Fifth Issue: The Imams of Ḥadīth on the Eyes
Imām Ibn Khuzaymah opened the chapter on the Eye in Kitāb al-Tawḥīd:
: ٤٨] فَوَاجِبٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُؤْمِنٍ أَنْ يُثْبِتَ لِخَالِقِهِ وَبَارِئِهِ مَا ثَبَّتَ الْخَالِقُ الْبَارِئُ لِنَفْسِهِ، مِنَ الْعَيْنِ، وَغَيْرُ مُؤْمِنٍ مَنْ يَنْفِي عَنِ اللَّهِ ﵎ مَا قَدْ ثَبَّتَهُ اللَّهُ فِي مُحْكَمِ تَنْزِيلِهِ، بِبَيَانِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ الَّذِي جَعَلَهُ اللَّهُ مُبَيِّنًا عَنْهُ، ﷿، فِي قَوْلِهِ: ﴿وَأَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ﴾ [النحل: ٤٤] ، فَبَيَّنَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ أَنَّ لِلَّهِ عَيْنَيْنِ، فَكَانَ بَيَانُهُ مُوَافِقًا لِبَيَانِ مُحْكَمِ التَّنْزِيلِ، الَّذِي هُوَ مَسْطُورٌ بَيْنَ الدَّفَّتَيْنِ، مَقْرُوءٌ فِي الْمَحَارِيبِ وَالْكَتَاتِيبِ
Chapter: the mention of the affirmation of the Eye for Allah, Majestic and Exalted, as the Creator, the Maker, affirmed it for Himself in the precise verses of His revelation and on the tongue of His Prophet ﷺ. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said to His Prophet Nūḥ, the blessings of Allah be upon him: {And build the ark under Our Eyes and Our revelation}; and He, Majestic and Exalted, said: {sailing under Our Eyes}; and He, Mighty and Majestic, said in mentioning Mūsā: {And I cast upon you love from Me, and that you would be brought up under My Eye}; and He said: {And be patient for the decision of your Lord, for indeed you are under Our Eyes}. So it is obligatory upon every believer to affirm for his Creator and Maker what the Creator, the Maker, affirmed for Himself of the Eye; and he is not a believer who denies of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, what Allah has affirmed in the precise verses of His revelation, with the explanation of the Prophet ﷺ, whom Allah made the explainer from Him, Mighty and Majestic, in His saying: {And We sent down to you the Reminder, that you may explain to the people what was sent down to them}. So the Prophet ﷺ explained that Allah has two Eyes, and his explanation agreed with the explanation of the precise revelation, which is written between the two covers and recited in the miḥrābs and the schools
Ibn Khuzaymah, Kitāb al-Tawḥīd 1/96–97
Source, chain and authenticity
Ibn Khuzaymah, the imam of the imams, did not treat the Eye as a matter of opinion. It is obligatory on every believer to affirm it, and he is not a believer who denies what Allah affirmed in His Book with the explanation of His Prophet ﷺ. Then he gave the source of the dual: the Prophet ﷺ explained that Allah has two Eyes, and his explanation agreed with what is written between the two covers and recited in the miḥrābs and the schools.
Al-Tirmidhī’s report on the Jahmiyyah, which is given in the chapter on the Hands, covers the Eyes as well. The one who interprets the Eyes as mere seeing has taken the Jahmī’s way with the Hand.
Part Four
The imams after them
Sixth Issue: The Imams Who Gathered the Verses of the Eyes
Ibn Taymiyyah gathered the verses of the Face, the Hands and the Eyes together in al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah:
And His saying: {And there will remain the Face of your Lord, Owner of Majesty and Honour}; {Everything will perish except His Face}; and His saying: {What prevented you from prostrating to what I created with My two Hands?}; {And the Jews said: the Hand of Allah is chained. Chained are their hands, and they are cursed for what they said. Rather, both His Hands are outstretched; He spends however He wills}; and His saying: {And be patient for the decision of your Lord, for indeed you are under Our Eyes}; {And We carried him on a vessel of planks and nails, sailing under Our Eyes — a recompense for him who had been denied}; {And I cast upon you love from Me, and that you would be brought up under My Eye}.
Ibn Taymiyyah, al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah
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وقوله: ﴿وَيَبْقَى وَجْهُ رَبِّكَ ذُو الْجَلَالِ وَالإِكْرَام (٢٧)﴾ [الرحمن]، ﴿كُلُّ شَيْءٍ هَالِكٌ إِلاَّ وَجْهَهُ﴾ [القصص: ٨٨]، وقوله: ﴿مَا مَنَعَكَ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ﴾ [ص: ٧٥]، ﴿وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ يَدُ اللّهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ غُلَّتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَلُعِنُوا بِمَا قَالُوا بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ يُنْفِقُ كَيْفَ يَشَاء﴾ [المائدة: ٦٤]، وقوله: ﴿وَاصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا﴾ [الطور: ٤٨]، ﴿وَحَمَلْنَاهُ عَلَى ذَاتِ أَلْوَاحٍ وَدُسُر (١٣) تَجْرِي بِأَعْيُنِنَا جَزَاء لِمَنْ كَانَ كُفِر (١٤)﴾ [القمر] [٢٦/ ٢]، ﴿وَأَلْقَيْتُ عَلَيْكَ مَحَبَّةً مِنِّي وَلِتُصْنَعَ عَلَى عَيْنِي (٣٩)﴾ [طه].
هذه الآيات ساقها المؤلِّف شواهد وأدلَّة على إثبات بعض صفات الرَّب ﷾ فهي من نصوص الصفات، فدلَّت الآيتان الأُوْلَيان على إثبات الوجه له ﷾، والآيتان الأُخريان على إثبات اليدين، والثلاث الأخيرة على إثبات العينين له ﷾، وأهل السُّنة والجماعة يثبتون هذا كلَّه لله على ما يليق به سبحانه مع نفي التمثيل، ونفي العلم بالكيفية، يثبتون الوجه واليدين والعينين لله، وأن وجهه تعالى ليس كوجوه العباد، ﴿وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَّاضِرَة (٢٢)﴾ [القيامة]، العباد لهم وجوه، وليس
Ibn Taymiyyah placed the two verses of the Face, the two verses of the Hands and the three verses of the Eyes side by side, as proofs of the attributes of the Essence. Ahl al-Sunnah affirm all of this for Allah as befits Him, with the denial of likeness and the denial of any knowledge of the modality: the Face of the Creator is not like any face, His Hands are Hands with which He acts and creates and are not like the hands of the servants, and His Eyes are Eyes with which He sees, and are not like their eyes.
Part Five
Principles drawn from the evidence
Seventh Issue: The Rules Concerning the Eyes
The first rule: Allah has two Eyes. The dual is established by the explanation of the Prophet ﷺ in the ḥadīth of the Dajjāl, as Ibn Khuzaymah said; the singular in the Qurʾān names the genus, and the plural is the plural of majesty, and neither contradicts the dual.
The second rule: the Eyes are attributes of the Essence, and seeing is the act of the Eyes. Allah sees everything; His sight is an attribute of His, and His Eyes are an attribute of His, and neither is the other. Whoever makes the Eye mean the sight has made two attributes one, against the wording of the texts.
The third rule: the care and protection mentioned with the Eye, “under Our Eyes”, are the fruit of the seeing, not a replacement for it. The Salaf explained the verses as being under Allah's sight and watching, and this explanation affirms the Eye and its seeing; it does not deny them.
Part Six
The claims of the opponents and their refutation
The Jahmiyyah, and those who followed them: “the Eye means sight” or “care”
The claim
Said by the Jahmiyyah and the Muʿtazilah, by al-Zamakhsharī in al-Kashshāf, and by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī and the later Ashʿarīs and Māturīdīs
“‘Under Our Eyes’ means under Our care and protection, and ‘under My Eye’ means under My sight. Allah has no Eye, for an eye is an organ, and affirming it is likening.”
Its origin The Jahmiyyah, who rejected the narrations of the attributes and called them tashbīh, as al-Tirmidhī recorded.
The response
Al-Rāzī said in Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb, on “And build the ship under Our Eyes”:
As for His saying “under Our Eyes”, this cannot be run according to its apparent sense, for several reasons. The first is that it entails that Allah, the Exalted, has many eyes, and this contradicts the apparent sense of His saying “and that you be brought up under My Eye”. The second is that it entails that Nūḥ made that ship with those eyes, as one says “I cut with the knife, and I wrote with the pen”, and it is known that that is false. The third is that it is established by decisive rational proofs that He, the Exalted, is exalted above organs, limbs, parts and portions, so one must have recourse to interpretation. This has several forms. The first: the meaning of “under Our Eyes” is under the eye of the angel who was teaching him how to build the ship; it is said “so-and-so is an eye over so-and-so”, one set over him to examine his states, whose eye does not turn from him. The second: whoever has great care for a thing places his eye on it; so since placing the eye on a thing is a cause of extreme caution and care, the eye was made an expression for caution. For this reason the mufassirūn said that its meaning is: by Our protecting you with the protection of one who sees you and has the power to repel evil from you.
al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb 17/344–345, on Hūd 11:37
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[سورة هود (١١) : آية ٣٧]
وَاصْنَعِ الْفُلْكَ بِأَعْيُنِنا وَوَحْيِنا وَلا تُخاطِبْنِي فِي الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا إِنَّهُمْ مُغْرَقُونَ (٣٧)
وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ قَوْلَهُ تَعَالَى: أَنَّهُ لَنْ يُؤْمِنَ مِنْ قَوْمِكَ إِلَّا مَنْ قَدْ آمَنَ [هود: ٣٦] يَقْتَضِي تَعْرِيفَ نُوحٍ ﵇ أَنَّهُ مُعَذِّبُهُمْ وَمُهْلِكُهُمْ، فَكَانَ يَحْتَمِلُ أَنْ يُعَذِّبَهُمْ بِوُجُوهِ التَّعْذِيبِ، فَعَرَّفَهُ اللَّه تَعَالَى أَنَّهُ يُعَذِّبُهُمْ بِهَذَا الْجِنْسِ الَّذِي هُوَ الْغَرَقُ، وَلَمَّا كَانَ السَّبِيلُ الَّذِي بِهِ يَحْصُلُ النَّجَاةُ مِنَ الْغَرَقِ تَكْوِينَ السَّفِينَةِ. لا جرم أمر اللَّه تَعَالَى بِإِصْلَاحِ السَّفِينَةِ وَإِعْدَادِهَا، فَأَوْحَى اللَّه تَعَالَى إِلَيْهِ أَنْ يَصْنَعَهَا عَلَى مِثَالِ جُؤْجُؤِ الطَّائِرِ.
فَإِنْ قِيلَ: قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: وَاصْنَعِ الْفُلْكَ أَمْرُ إِيجَابٍ أَوْ أَمْرُ إِبَاحَةٍ.
قُلْنَا: الْأَظْهَرُ أَنَّهُ أَمْرُ إِيجَابٍ، لِأَنَّهُ لَا سَبِيلَ لَهُ إِلَى صَوْنِ رُوحِ نَفْسِهِ وَأَرْوَاحِ غَيْرِهِ عَنِ الْهَلَاكِ إِلَّا بِهَذَا الطَّرِيقِ وَصَوْنُ النَّفْسِ عَنِ الْهَلَاكِ وَاجِبٌ وَمَا لَا يَتِمُّ الْوَاجِبُ إِلَّا بِهِ فَهُوَ وَاجِبٌ، وَيَحْتَمِلُ أَنْ لَا يَكُونَ ذَلِكَ الْأَمْرُ أَمْرَ إِيجَابٍ بَلْ كَانَ أَمْرَ إِبَاحَةٍ، وَهُوَ بِمَنْزِلَةِ أَنْ يَتَّخِذَ الْإِنْسَانُ لِنَفْسِهِ دَارًا لِيَسْكُنَهَا وَيُقِيمَ بِهَا.
أَمَّا قَوْلُهُ: بِأَعْيُنِنا فَهَذَا لَا يُمْكِنُ إِجْرَاؤُهُ عَلَى ظَاهِرِهِ مِنْ وُجُوهٍ: أَحَدُهَا: أَنَّهُ يَقْتَضِي أَنْ يَكُونَ للَّه تَعَالَى أَعْيُنٌ كَثِيرَةٌ. وَهَذَا يُنَاقِضُ ظَاهِرَ قَوْلِهِ تعالى: وَلِتُصْنَعَ عَلى عَيْنِي [طه: ٣٩] وَثَانِيهَا: أَنَّهُ يَقْتَضِي أَنْ يَصْنَعَ نُوحٌ ﵇ ذَلِكَ الْفُلْكَ بِتِلْكَ الْأَعْيُنِ، كَمَا يُقَالُ: قَطَعْتُ بِالسِّكِّينِ، وَكَتَبْتُ بِالْقَلَمِ، وَمَعْلُومٌ أَنَّ ذَلِكَ بَاطِلٌ.وَثَالِثُهَا: أَنَّهُ ثَبَتَ بِالدَّلَائِلِ الْقَطْعِيَّةِ الْعَقْلِيَّةِ كَوْنُهُ تَعَالَى مُنَزَّهًا عَنِ الْأَعْضَاءِ وَالْجَوَارِحِ وَالْأَجْزَاءِ وَالْأَبْعَاضِ، فَوَجَبَ الْمَصِيرُ فِيهِ إِلَى التَّأْوِيلِ، وَهُوَ مِنْ وُجُوهٍ: الْأَوَّلُ: أَنَّ مَعْنَى بِأَعْيُنِنا أَيْ بِعَيْنِ الْمَلَكِ الَّذِي كَانَ يُعَرِّفُهُ كَيْفَ يَتَّخِذُ السَّفِينَةَ، يُقَالُ فُلَانٌ عَيْنٌ عَلَى فُلَانٍ نُصِّبَ عليه ليكون منفحصا عَنْ أَحْوَالِهِ وَلَا تُحَوَّلُ عَنْهُ عَيْنُهُ. الثَّانِي: أَنَّ مَنْ كَانَ عَظِيمَ الْعِنَايَةِ بِالشَّيْءِ فَإِنَّهُ يَضَعُ عَيْنَهُ عَلَيْهِ، فَلَمَّا كَانَ وَضْعُ الْعَيْنِ عَلَى الشَّيْءِ سَبَبًا لِمُبَالَغَةِ الِاحْتِيَاطِ وَالْعِنَايَةِ جَعَلَ الْعَيْنَ كِنَايَةً/ عَنِ الِاحْتِيَاطِ، فَلِهَذَا قَالَ الْمُفَسِّرُونَ مَعْنَاهُ بِحِفْظِنَا إِيَّاكَ حِفْظَ مَنْ يَرَاكَ وَيَمْلِكُ دَفْعَ السُّوءِ عَنْكَ، وَحَاصِلُ الْكَلَامِ أَنَّ إِقْدَامَهُ عَلَى عَمَلِ السَّفِينَةِ مَشْرُوطٌ بِأَمْرَيْنِ أَحَدُهُمَا: أَنْ لَا يَمْنَعَهُ أَعْدَاؤُهُ عَنْ ذَلِكَ الْعَمَلِ. وَالثَّانِي: أَنْ يَكُونَ عَالِمًا بِأَنَّهُ كَيْفَ يَنْبَغِي تَأْلِيفُ السَّفِينَةِ وَتَرْكِيبُهَا وَدَفْعُ الشَّرِّ عَنْهُ، وَقَوْلُهُ: وَوَحْيِنا
Al-Rāzī has given his interpretation, and the Muʿtazilī who came before him gave the same one.
Al-Zamakhsharī the Muʿtazilī had said in al-Kashshāf:
“Under Our Eyes” is in the position of a circumstantial clause, meaning: build it protected. And its literal sense is: being in the company of Our Eyes, as though Allah had eyes with him that guard him.
al-Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf 2/392, on Hūd 11:37
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[سورة هود (١١) : الآيات ٣٦ الى ٣٧]
وَأُوحِيَ إِلى نُوحٍ أَنَّهُ لَنْ يُؤْمِنَ مِنْ قَوْمِكَ إِلاَّ مَنْ قَدْ آمَنَ فَلا تَبْتَئِسْ بِما كانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ (٣٦) وَاصْنَعِ الْفُلْكَ بِأَعْيُنِنا وَوَحْيِنا وَلا تُخاطِبْنِي فِي الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا إِنَّهُمْ مُغْرَقُونَ (٣٧)
لَنْ يُؤْمِنَ إقناط من إيمانهم، وأنه كالمحال الذي لا تعلق به للتوقع إِلَّا مَنْ قَدْ آمَنَ إلا من قد وجد منه ما كان يتوقع من إيمانه، وقد للتوقع وقد أصابت محزها فَلا تَبْتَئِسْ فلا تحزن حزن بائس مستكين. قال:
مَا يَقْسِمُ اللَّهُ فَاقْبَلْ غَيْرَ مُبْتَئِسٍ … مِنْهُ وَاقْعُدْ كَرِيماً نَاعِمَ الْبَالِ «٢»
والمعنى: فلا تحزن بما فعلوه من تكذيبك وإيذائك ومعاداتك، فقد حان وقت الانتقام لك منهم بِأَعْيُنِنا في موضع الحال، بمعنى: اصنعها محفوظا، وحقيقته: ملتبساً بأعيننا، كأن لله معه أعينا تكلؤه أن يزيغ في صنعته عن الصواب، وأن لا يحول بينه «٣» وبين عمله أحد من أعدائه. ووحينا: وأنا نوحى إليك ونلهمك كيف تصنع. عن ابن عباس رضى الله عنه:
لم يعلم كيف صنعة الفلك، فأوحى الله إليه أن يصنعها مثل جؤجؤ الطائر وَلا تُخاطِبْنِي فِي الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا ولا تدعني في شأن قومك واستدفاع العذاب عنهم بشفاعتك إِنَّهُمْ مُغْرَقُونَ إنهم محكوم عليهم بالإغراق، وقد وجب ذلك وقضى به القضاء وجف القلم، فلا سبيل إلى كفه، كقوله:
Take al-Rāzī’s three reasons one at a time. The first assumes that a plural said by Allah of Himself is a count. Ibn Taymiyyah answered that from the Book itself:
He said in Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā:
وَأَمَّا صِيغَةُ التَّثْنِيَةِ فَتَدُلُّ عَلَى الْعَدَدِ الْمَحْصُورِ وَهُوَ مُقَدَّسٌ عَنْ ذَلِكَ
There He attributed the hands to a plural form, so it became like His saying “sailing under Our Eyes”. And this in the plural is the parallel of His saying “in His Hand is the dominion” and “in His Hand is the good” in the singular. For Allah, glorified is He, mentions Himself at times in the singular form, explicit or as a pronoun, and at times in the plural form, as in His saying “Indeed We have given you a clear victory”, and the like. And He never mentions Himself in the dual form, because the plural form entails the magnification that He deserves, and it can indicate the meanings of His Names. As for the dual form, it indicates a limited number, and He is sanctified above that.
Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 3/45–46
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وَأَمَّا صِيغَةُ التَّثْنِيَةِ فَتَدُلُّ عَلَى الْعَدَدِ الْمَحْصُورِ وَهُوَ مُقَدَّسٌ عَنْ ذَلِكَ فَلَوْ قَالَ: ﴿مَا مَنَعَكَ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ﴾ لَمَا كَانَ كَقَوْلِهِ: ﴿مِمَّا عَمِلَتْ أَيْدِينَا﴾ وَهُوَ نَظِيرُ قَوْلِهِ: ﴿بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ﴾ وَبِيَدِهِ الْخَيْرُ وَلَوْ قَالَ خَلَقْت بِصِيغَةِ الْإِفْرَادِ لَكَانَ مُفَارِقًا لَهُ؛ فَكَيْفَ إذَا قَالَ خَلَقْت بِيَدَيَّ؟ بِصِيغَةِ التَّثْنِيَةِ هَذَا مَعَ دَلَالَاتِ الْأَحَادِيثِ الْمُسْتَفِيضَةِ بَلْ الْمُتَوَاتِرَةِ وَإِجْمَاعِ السَّلَفِ عَلَى مِثْلِ مَا دَلَّ عَلَيْهِ الْقُرْآنُ كَمَا هُوَ مَبْسُوطٌ فِي مَوْضِعِهِ مِثْلُ قَوْلِهِ: ﴿الْمُقْسِطُونَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ عَلَى مَنَابِرَ مِنْ نُورٍ عَنْ يَمِينِ الرَّحْمَنِ وَكِلْتَا يَدَيْهِ يَمِينٌ: الَّذِينَ يَعْدِلُونَ فِي حُكْمِهِمْ وَأَهْلِيهِمْ وَمَا وُلُّوا﴾ وَأَمْثَالُ ذَلِكَ وَإِنْ كَانَ الْقَائِلُ يَعْتَقِدُ أَنَّ ظَاهِرَ النُّصُوصِ الْمُتَنَازَعِ فِي مَعْنَاهَا مِنْ جِنْسِ ظَاهِرِ النُّصُوصِ الْمُتَّفَقِ عَلَى مَعْنَاهَا - وَالظَّاهِرُ هُوَ الْمُرَادُ فِي الْجَمِيعِ - فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَّا أَخْبَرَ أَنَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ وَأَنَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ وَاتَّفَقَ أَهْلُ السُّنَّةِ وَأَئِمَّةُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ عَلَى أَنَّ هَذَا عَلَى ظَاهِرِهِ وَأَنَّ ظَاهِرَ ذَلِكَ مُرَادٌ: كَانَ مِنْ الْمَعْلُومِ أَنَّهُمْ لَمْ يُرِيدُوا بِهَذَا الظَّاهِرِ أَنْ يَكُونَ عِلْمُهُ كَعِلْمِنَا وَقُدْرَتُهُ كَقُدْرَتِنَا وَكَذَلِكَ لَمَّا اتَّفَقُوا عَلَى أَنَّهُ حَيٌّ حَقِيقَةً عَالِمٌ حَقِيقَةً قَادِرٌ حَقِيقَةً؛ لَمْ يَكُنْ مُرَادُهُمْ أَنَّهُ مِثْلُ الْمَخْلُوقِ الَّذِي هُوَ حَيٌّ عَلِيمٌ قَدِيرٌ؛ فَكَذَلِكَ إذَا قَالُوا فِي قَوْله تَعَالَى ﴿يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ﴾ ﴿رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ﴾ وَقَوْلِهِ: ﴿ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ﴾ أَنَّهُ عَلَى ظَاهِرِهِ لَمْ يَقْتَضِ ذَلِكَ أَنْ يَكُونَ ظَاهِرُهُ اسْتِوَاءً كَاسْتِوَاءِ الْمَخْلُوقِ وَلَا حُبًّا كَحُبِّهِ وَلَا رِضًا كَرِضَاهُ
So “Our Eyes” is said by the One who says “We” of Himself, and nobody supposes from “We have given you a victory” that there are several gods. The second reason is a slander on the language. The letter bāʾ in the verse is not the bāʾ of the instrument, and no Arab who hears “you are under my eyes” pictures a man working with another man's eyes. The third reason is the whole of the case: “decisive rational proofs”, which are the proofs from bodies. And then he makes the eye that of an angel, a meaning that not one Companion gave, and which he himself drops two lines later.
Al-Rāzī's own predecessors stand against him. Ibn ʿAbbās explained the verse as “under the Eye of Allah”, as al-Bayhaqī reports:
Al-Bayhaqī said in al-Asmāʾ wa-l-Ṣifāt, after reporting it with his chain from ʿIkrimah from Ibn ʿAbbās:
“And build the ship under Our Eyes”: he said, under the Eye of Allah, blessed and exalted. I say: and among our companions are those who took the Eye mentioned in the Book as vision, and said that His saying “and that you be brought up under My Eye” means “in My sight”, and His saying “be patient for the judgement of your Lord, for you are under Our Eyes” means “in Our sight”, and likewise “sailing under Our Eyes”. And that can be among the attributes of the Essence, and be one attribute with the plural in it having the meaning of magnification, as in His saying “the words of Allah were not exhausted”. And among them are those who took it as protection and guarding, and claimed that it is among the attributes of action, and the plural in it is permitted, and Allah knows best. And whoever says either of these claims that what is meant by the report is the negation of the deficiency of one-eyedness from Allah, glorified is He, and that what is possible for creatures of defects and deficiencies is not possible for Him. And what the apparent sense of the Book and the Sunnah indicates, namely the affirmation of the Eye for Him as an attribute, not in the sense of an eyeball, is more fitting.
al-Bayhaqī, al-Asmāʾ wa-l-Ṣifāt 2/116–117
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Thus the Ashʿarī muḥaddith, having surveyed the interpretations of his companions, says that the apparent sense of the Book and the Sunnah, the Eye as an Attribute, is more fitting.
The Ashʿarīs affirm the sight and the seeing, because the mind can accept them, and deny the Eyes, because they imagine them as organs. But they affirm the sight while the sight of creatures is the act of an organ, and they say: His sight is not like ours. The same answer applies to the Eye: His Eye is not like ours. If affirming an Eye is likening, then affirming sight is likening; and if affirming sight with the denial of likeness is not likening, then neither is affirming the Eye.
The care and protection that they make the meaning of the verses are true, and Ahl al-Sunnah affirm them; but they are the result of the Eye's seeing, as the protection of the one who watches over a child is the result of his watching. The verse states the cause and the result together. To keep the result and deny the cause is to cut the verse in half.
The ḥadīth of the Dajjāl answers them. The Prophet ﷺ contrasted the one-eyed Dajjāl with the Lord who is not one-eyed, and pointed to his eye. Care and protection are not one-eyed or two-eyed; the contrast is only meaningful if the Lord has Eyes free of defect. The Jahmī reading turns the Prophet's sign into nonsense, and Ibn Khuzaymah's words apply to it: he is not a believer who denies of Allah what Allah has affirmed.
Sources
- Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lughah
- Ibn Khuzaymah, Kitāb al-Tawḥīd
- Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā
- Ibn Taymiyyah, al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah
- Qurʾān
- al-Bayhaqī, al-Asmāʾ wa-l-Ṣifāt
- al-Bukhārī, al-Ṣaḥīḥ (al-Sulṭāniyyah), Kitāb al-Tawḥīd
- al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb
- al-Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf