Preface

The Author and His Works

1. The Metaphorical Interpretation of the Baring of the Shank (Kashfu 'S-Saq)

2. The Metaphorical Interpretation of "The Hand (Al-Yad)"

3. The Breathing of the Spirit (into man) (Nafkhu 'l-Arwah)

4. Metonym and Metaphor (in the Qur’an)

5. The Attribution of Scheming: beguiling and Mockery to Allah

6. The Attribution of Forgetfulness to Allah

7. The Attributes of Allah (Sifat Allah)

8. The Belief concerning the Origination of Human Actions

9. Concerning Human Actions (faslun fi af‘Ali 'L-khalq)

10. Predestination and Free Will (Al-Jabr wa 't-tafwid)

11. The Belief concerning Allah's Intention and Will (Al-Mashiah Wa 'l-Iradah)

12. The belief concerning destiny and decree (Al-Qada’ wa 'L-Qadar)

13. The interpretation of the reports concerning Al-Qada’ and Al-Qadar

14. The Natural Religion (Al-Fitrah)

15. Concerning Human Capacity (Al -Istita‘Ah)

16. Concerning Al-bada’

17. Concerning Religious Disputation (Al-Jidal)

18. The belief concerning the tablet and the pen (Al-Lawh Wa 'L-Qalam)

19. The Metaphysical Meaning of the Throne (Al-‘Arsh)

20. Concerning Souls and Spirits (Al-Arwah wa 'n-Nufus)

21. What Ash-Shaykh Abu Ja‘far has described about Death

22. The Belief concerning the questioning in the Grave

23. What Ash-Shaykh Abu Ja‘far has mentioned about Divine Justice

24. Chapter on Al-A‘raf

25. The Belief concerning the Bridge (As-Sirat)

26. Chapter concerning Al-‘Aqabat

27. The belief concerning reckoning and balance (Al-Hisab wa 'l-Mizan)

28. Concerning Paradise and Hell (Al -Jannah wa 'N-nar)

29. The Point of Unbelief

30. Concerning the descent of revelation (Nuzulu 'l-Wahy)

31. On the Revelation of the Qur’an (Nuzulu 'l-Qur’an)

32. The Belief on Impeccability (Al-‘Ismah)

33. Chapter on Excess and Delegation (Al-Ghuluww wa’t-Tafwid)

34. On Dissimulation (At-Taqiyyah)

35. That the ancestors of the prophet were monotheists (Muwahhidun)

36. Concerning the interpretation of the verse 42:43

37. On Prohibition and Permission (Al-Hazr wa 'l-Ibahah)

38. On Medicine (At-Tibb)

39. On the Divergent Traditions (Al -Ahadithu 'l-Mukhtalifah)

Bibliography

This text is a translation of Tashihu 'l-I‘tiqad of Abu ‘Abdillah,
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Nu‘man, Known as ash-Shaykh al-Mufid (336/948
or 338/950 – 413/1022)


The Emendation of A Shi‘ite Creed

4. Metonym and Metaphor (in the Qur’an)
=======================================

Abu Ja‘far, may Allah have mercy upon him, has said, concerning the
interpretation of the Speech of Allah, the Exalted:

***(O Iblis!) What prevented thee from prostrating thyself before that I
created with My two hands (yadayy)? [38:75].***

(By 'two hands'), He means 'My strength and My power (qudrati wa
quwwati).'

Abu ‘Abdillah (al-Mufid) says: This is not correct[^1], since it
involves repetition in meaning and implies that Allah says: 'By My
strength, by My strength', or 'By My power, by My power', because
literally 'strength' is equivalent to 'power', and vice versa, and there
is no meaning in such a statement.

The correct explanation is that advanced above concerning grace (lutf);
consequently, the verse signifies, 'Allah's double grace in this world
and the world hereafter'. In the same way, the ba in Allah's saying (bi
yadayya), 'with My two hands', stands for (lam), as if Allah has said:
"(Khalaqtu liyadayya), I have created for My hands", meaning by this,
'for My double grace', as He has said:

***And I have not created jinn and mankind except to worship Me
[51:56],***

since worship is a gift from Allah, and His grace upon them, for it
leads them to His perpetual grace. A probable meaning of 'both My
hands', is the double meaning of power and grace as though the Almighty
said, "created with My own power and grace". Another explanation is that
the attribution of the 'hands' to Allah was intended to stress the
overwhelming power of Allah, and the act was accomplished by His sole
will, irrespective of His strength or grace or anything else.

This interpretation is supported by the verse:

***That is for what thy hands have forwarded [22:10],***

and it means 'what you have forwarded of your deeds'; and also by
Allah's saying:

***Whatever misfortune may visit you is for what your own hands have
earned [42:30],***

which signifies 'what you have acquired'. The Arabs often used the
proverb: "Thy hand hath tied, and thy mouth hath blown into it" (yadaka
awkata wa fuka nafakh)[^2], in the sense that it was your doing and you
carried it out and performed it though you did not use your actual hands
(limbs) in it.

[^1]: T, laysa hadha huwa 'l-wajh fi 't-tafsir: N, laysa huwa 'l-wajh.

[^2]: See al-Maydani, op. cit., vol.2, p.248.


