The supreme imamate

— contrary to the Muʻtazilah in all of that. And one who holds an act of disobedience to be licit falls into unbelief; and we do not pronounce unbelief upon anyone of the people of the qiblah, the one who holds [it] licit being outside their number, since he gives the lie to the messengership.

And God has books that He sent down upon His prophets; some of them we know, and the knowledge of the rest belongs to Him. Among them are the noble Qurʼān, the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalter, and the scrolls of our master Ibrāhīm. And God has angels whose number none knows but God, who are described neither by maleness nor by femaleness: “they do not disobey God in what He commands them, and they do what they are commanded.” And the night ascent (miʻrāj) of our Prophet — God bless him and grant him peace — is true. And supplication is of benefit, as the Sunnah has come down concerning it and as the Book has indicated — contrary to the Muʻtazilah, who deny that and interpret away the plain proofs. And the charism of the saints (karāmat al-awliyāʼ) is established, and it is the custom-breaking event that God brings forth at the hand of one outwardly righteous, righteousness being the following of the Law and the halting at its rulings and its bounds — and this contrary to the Muʻtazilah and to some of the Ashʻarīs, who maintain the denial of the charism of the saints.

The Supreme Imamate

And it is among the obligations to install a just imam, who establishes the prescribed penalties, defends the frontier, and decides between men. It is necessary that he be of Quraysh, and the office is not confined to the Banū Hāshim, or to ʻAlī — may God ennoble his countenance. His condition is knowledge of what is entailed by this grave charge committed to him, and that he be of those possessed of absolute and complete authority, able to carry the rulings of the Law into effect. It is not necessary that he be inerrant — contrary to the Shīʻah.

And the first of the imams, and the most excellent of men after our Prophet — God bless him and grant him peace — is our master Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may God be pleased with him; and next to him in excellence, and his successor in the caliphate, is our master ʻUmar al-Fārūq; and after him our master ʻUthmān; and next to them in excellence and in the caliphate is our master ʻAlī ibn Ṭālib — may God ennoble his countenance. And the most excellent of creation absolutely is our Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, and his excellence is established even over our master Jibrīl and the rest of the angels brought near, and over others a fortiori — contrary to the Muʻtazilah, who claim the superiority of our master Jibrīl over the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace.

And the interpreting of the texts in a way that permits the abandonment of the outward works, as the Bāṭiniyyah claim, is apostasy; and despair of God’s comfort is unbelief; and belief in the efficacy of the planets and the stars, and the crediting of the soothsayers who claim knowledge of the unseen in their errors, is unbelief.

And faith in all the beliefs we have set forth is the giving of credence to them; and credence grows more firmly rooted in the soul by righteous deeds, though deeds have no part in the reality of faith — contrary to the Muʻtazilah; and it and islām are one in meaning. Only, compliance with the commands of the Law, the shunning of the things prohibited, and the cultivation of the manners of the purified Law clarify the spirit, kindle a light in the heart, turn one’s face toward the divine side, release the soul from the bond of habits and of base traits of character, and take it away from this world, the world of bodily pleasures and appetites. Thereupon the servant is cut off from working for any but God, so that he does nothing but what profits his hereafter — and of that is the undertaking of what benefits men and is of use to all, to the measure of his capacity. And when the journey along this way carries him swiftly on, and he remains turned toward God in all his affairs, the foundations of gnosis (ʻirfān) become firmly fixed in his spirit, the lights of divine love flood all his faculties, his spiritual intellect prevails over all his sensations, and he is rendered oblivious of everything other than God, so that he sees in existence none but Him who has taken charge of him — and He is the Real, exalted be His loftiness (1). And praise be to God at the beginning and at the end.

Its wording was composed and its meanings arranged by the one poor before his Lord, Muḥammad ʻAbduh — may God grant him success in what pleases Him, amen — and that on the day of the fifth of Jumādā the Second, in the year 1294 of the Hijrah reckoning; and upon him to whom it belongs be the most excellent blessing and the most complete peace. Its publication was completed on the sixth of Rabīʻ the First, in the year 1299 of the Hijrah. And may God bless our master Muḥammad and his family and his companions, and grant them peace.

— Notes —

[31] «1» This is what is called the unity of witnessing (waḥdat al-shuhūd), and it is true — unlike the unity of being (waḥdat al-wujūd), which is false; and the author kept rejecting it to the end of his life, may God Most High have mercy upon him.