bounty toward you has been immense.»69 The angels addressed God: «Glory be to You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. You are indeed the Knowing and Wise!»70 By claiming that they derive rulings concerning lawful and unlawful things which are not found in the Book of God or the Practice of the Messenger of God, these ignorant people have asserted for themselves a status above that of the prophets and the angels. They have turned away from the command of God, contradicted His Book, and claimed to reveal legal rulings just as God did, insolently affronting Him, looking with contempt on His religion, arrogantly defying His chosen wards,71 disdaining to refer what they do not know to those to whom He commanded them to refer, and declining to consult the People of Knowledge among His worshipers whom He commanded them to consult.72 So they instead referred that about which they were ignorant to themselves and consulted themselves regarding what they did not know, rejecting and violating the word of God.
الباب الرابع
ذكر مذهب أهل الحقّ فيما لم يُعلم وجه الحقّ فيه
Chapter Four
The Method of the Adherents of the Truth When the Correct Ruling on an Issue Is Not Known
٢٨
أثبتُ ما أعتمد عليه في هذا الباب وأصحُّ ما أحتجّ به لما قصدت إليه في هذا الكتاب بعد كتاب الله وسنّة نبيّه محمّد صلّى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلّم ما عهده إليّ الإمام المعزّ لدين الله أمير المؤمنين صلوات الله عليه وعلى آبائه الطاهرين الهداة الرّاشدين في كتاب عهد كتبه لي في تأييد أمر القضاء رأيت إثبات نسخته في هذا الكتاب لما فيه من الحجّة لما قصدت إليه فيه، ولكثرة فوائده وجزالة معانيه ولأنّه ممّا ولي بنفسه تأليفه. وما علمت أنّه تقدّم في عهود القضاة قبله مثله. فرأيت مع ما فيه من الحجّة لما يدخل في هذا الباب إبقاء ذكره بتخليده في هذا الكتاب ولما لي في ذلك من إبقاء الذكر وتخليد الشرف بما ذكرني به فيه وليّ الله صلوات الله عليه وسلّم. وهذه نسخة ما فيه١:
١ ساقطة في ز.
The firmest evidence on which I rely in this chapter and the soundest argument I cite for the point I have undertaken to prove in this book, after the Book of God and the Practice of His Prophet Muḥammad, is what the Imam al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh, the Commander of the Faithful, God’s blessings upon him and his pure forefathers, the upright guides, entrusted to me in a letter of appointment which he wrote to confer upon me the office of judge. I have seen fit to record the text of this document in this book because it provides proof of the point I set out to make in it and because it is extremely instructive and profound in meaning. Moreover, it is among those writings which he, God’s blessings upon him, undertook to compose himself, and I am not aware that any such letter exists among earlier letters of appointment to the judiciary. I have also seen fit, in addition to presenting the proof it contains for the arguments of this chapter, to perpetuate his eternal remembrance in this book, and in doing so I also gain perpetual remembrance and eternal honor through the praiseworthy qualities that the chosen Ward of God attributed to me therein. This is the verbatim text of the decree:
٢٩
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
هذا كتاب من عبد الله ووليّه معدّ أبي تميم المعزّ لدين الله أمير المؤمنين لنعمان بن محمّد القاضي.
In the name of God, the Merciful and the Beneficent
This is a decree from the servant and Ward of God, Maʿadd Abū Tamīm al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh, the Commander of the Faithful, to the judge al- Nuʿmān ibn Muḥammad.
٣٠
إنّ أمير المؤمنين للمحلّ الذي اصطفاه الله به من الخلافة السنيّ قدرها والإمامة العليّ خطرها ولأنّه جعله سراجًا١ في أرضه يُهتدى به ويُستضاء بنوره ونصبه علمًا لخلقه وقائمًا بحقّه وموطّدًا دعائم الإيمان ومؤكّدًا وثائق الإسلام ومُنْهِجًا شرائع جدّه محمّد رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلّم رأى أن يرفع من قدر القضاء حسب ما رفعه الله عزّ وجلّ وأن يبيّن٢ حال من نصبه له واستكفاه إيّاه بقدر استحقاقهم في ورعهم وحسن سياستهم ونزاهتهم ليزداد المحسن منهم لنفسه الموفّق لرشده، الشاكر٣ لما حظيه٤ عند ربّه ولدى أمير المؤمنين إمامه إحسانًا، والساعي٥ فيما عاد بحسن الثناء وطيّب الخبر اجتهادًا. والله موفّق أمير المؤمنين ومسدّده ومعينه ومؤيّده.
١ تزيد ل هنا: منيرًا. ٢ تزيد ز هنا: من. ٣ خ: الساعي. ٤ ز: أحضاه، خ: أحصاه، ل: أحظاه، م: أحصاه. ٥ ساقطة في ل.
The Commander of the Faithful, because God has selected him for the lofty position of the caliphate and the exalted station of the Imamate, made him a shining lamp on His earth by which people might be guided and by whose light the path might be illuminated, and set him up as a landmark for His creation who might uphold His right, plant firmly the pillars of faith, confirm the covenants of Islam, and clarify the laws of his forefather Muḥammad the Messenger of God, has seen fit to exalt the status of the judiciary to the extent that God did so and to set forth the status of those whom he has appointed to it and considered qualified therefor, according to their entitlement on account of their piety, good administration, and freedom from corruption, so that whoever among them behaves properly and engages in sensible conduct, who is grateful for the favors he has received from his Lord, God, and from the Commander of the Faithful, his Imam, may increase in good behavior, and he who strives to do what will result in praise and recognition may yet increase his efforts. May God grant the Commander of the Faithful success, guide him aright, help him, and