The Meccan Revelations

Manuscript volume 5 · Page 38

Konya manuscript

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Arabic

شهد الله لم يزل أزلا

أنه لا إله إلا هو الله‏

ثم أملاكه بذا شهدت

أنه لا إله إلا هو الله‏

و أولو العلم كلهم شهدوا

أنه لا إله إلا هو الله‏

ثم قال الرسول قولوا معي

إنه لا إله إلا هو الله‏

أفضل ما قلته وقال به

من قبلنا لا إله إلا هو الله‏

ما عدا الإنس كلهم شهدوا

أنه لا إله إلا هو الله‏

(شهادة العلم ومرتبة الإيمان)

قال الله جل ثناؤه في كتابه العزيز: ﴿شَهِدَ الله أَنَّهُ لا إِلهَ إِلَّا هُوَ والْمَلائِكَةُ وأُولُوا الْعِلْمِ قائِماً بِالْقِسْطِ لا إِلهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ﴾ [آل عمران: ١٨]، ثم قال: ﴿إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِنْدَ الله الْإِسْلامُ﴾ [آل عمران: ١٩]. وقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: «الإسلام أن تشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدا رسول الله»، الحديث.

English

God has borne witness from beginninglessness,

that there is no god but He, God.

Then His angels bore witness to this,

that there is no god but He, God.

All those possessed of knowledge bore witness,

that there is no god but He, God.

Then the Messenger said, “Say with me,

that there is no god but He, God.”

The best thing that I have said and that was said

by those before us is “There is no god but He, God.”

All except humankind have borne witness,

that there is no god but He, God.

(The Testimony of Knowledge and the Rank of Faith)

God, glorious is His praise, said in His mighty Book, “God bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the angels and those possessed of knowledge, upholding justice. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise” [Al Imran 3:18]. Then He said, “The religion with God is Islam” [Al Imran 3:19]. The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, “Islam is that you testify that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God,” and so on in the hadith.

Notes

Translator’s note TN1314-1: The recurring formula echoes Quran 3:18, which the following prose quotes. The collective contrast with humankind in the last couplet stands alongside the earlier testimony of those among them who possess knowledge.

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Cairo source reference

Ibn al-Arabi, The Meccan Revelations — Manuscript volume 5 · Page 38 — https://www.futmak.com/english/konya/pages.php?id=1314&text=both