Original Arabic Text

Metre: vāfir (mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün fe‘ûlün); the pattern has been worked out by us from the lines, while the article names the metre "serî‘".

القَولُ فِي إثباتِ الصّانِعِ وَصِفاتِهِ
el-Ḳavlu fī is̱bāti’ṣ-ṣāni‘ ve ṣıfātih (on proving the Maker and His attributes)

وَمُحْدِثُ عالَمٍ رَبُّ السَّماءِ
إلهُ الخَلْقِ بَرٌّ ذُو الجَلالِ

Ve muḥdis̱u ‘ālemin rabbu’s-semā’i
İlāhu’l-ḫalḳı berrun ẕü’l-celālī

إلهٌ واحِدٌ لا شَكَّ فِيهِ
وَمُنْكِرُهُ عَنِ الإيمانِ خالِي

İlāhun vāḥidun lā şekke fīhi
Ve münkiruhū ‘ani’l-īmāni ḫālī

قَدِيمٌ لا يَنالُ لَهُ فَناءٌ
عَدِيمُ المِثْلِ رَبٌّ ذُو التَّعالِي

Ḳadīmun lā yenālu lehū fenā’un
‘Adīmu’l-mis̱li rabbun ẕü’t-te‘ālī

بِذاتِ اللهِ قَدْ قامَتْ صِفاتٌ
أعُدُّ عَلَيكَ إنْ تَسْمَعْ مَقالِي

Bi-ẕāti’llāhi ḳad ḳāmet ṣıfātun
E‘uddu ‘aleyke in tesma‘ maḳālī

لَهُ عِلْمٌ يُحِيطُ بِكُلِّ شَيءٍ
وَيَحْوِي كُلَّ سِرٍّ فِي الخَيالِ

Lehū ‘ilmun yuḥīṭu bi-külli şey’in
Ve yaḥvī külle sirrin fi’l-ḫayālī

قَدِيرٌ عَمَّ قُدْرَتُهُ تَعالَى
عَلَى كُلِّ الأسافِلِ وَالأعالِي

Ḳadīrun ‘amme ḳudretuhū te‘ālā
‘Alā külli’l-esāfili ve’l-e‘ālī

بِقُدْرَتِهِ تَوَرَّدَ خَدُّ وَرْدٍ
وَغَرَّدَ بُلْبُلٌ فَوقَ التِّلالِ

Bi-ḳudretihī teverrede ḫaddu verdin
Ve ġarrede bülbülun fevḳa’t-tilālī

بِقُدْرَتِهِ بَدا فِي المِسْكِ عَرْفٌ
فَإنَّ المِسْكَ بَعْضُ دَمِ الغَزالِ

Bi-ḳudretihī bedā fi’l-miski ‘arfun
Fe-inne’l-miske ba‘żu demi’l-ġazālī

وَحَيٌّ لا يَمُوتُ وَلا يَفُوتُ
وَيُحْيِي مَيِّتًا وَالعَظْمُ بالِي

Ve ḥayyun lā yemūtu ve lā yefūtu
Ve yuḥyī meyyiten ve’l-‘aẓmu bālī

قَوِيٌّ جَلَّ قُوَّتُهُ تَعالَى
وَاتَّصَفَتْ بِأوصافِ الكَمالِ

Ḳaviyyun celle ḳuvvetuhū te‘ālā
Ve’ttaṣafet bi-evṣāfi’l-kemālī

سَمِيعٌ يَسْمَعُ الدَّعَواتِ كُلّاً
وَلَوْ خِيفَتْ مِنْ اسماعِ الرِّجالِ

Semī‘un yesma‘u’d-da‘avāti küllen
Ve lev ḫīfet min ismā‘i’r-ricālī

بَصِيرٌ وَهُوَ يُبْصِرُ رِجْلَ نَمْلٍ
خِلالَ المَشْيِ فِي غَسَقِ اللَّيالِي

Baṣīrun ve hüve yubṣıru ricle nemlin
Ḫilāle’l-meşyi fī ġaseḳı’l-leyālī

وَلِلّهِ الإرادَةُ وَالمَشِيَّةُ
فَصَدِّقْ ذاكَ وَاحْذَرْ عَنْ جِدالِ

Ve li’llāhi’l-irādetu ve’l-meşiyye
Fe-ṣaddıḳ ẕāke ve’ḥẕer ‘an cidālī

فَإنَّ اللهَ يَفْعَلُ ما يَشاءُ
وَيَحْكُمُ ما يُرِيدُ بِلا اعْتِمالِ

Fe-inne’llāhe yef‘alu mā yeşā’u
Ve yaḥkumu mā yürīdu bi-lā’‘timālī

مُكَوِّنُ كُلِّ أفلاكٍ وَأرضٍ
وَما فِيها كَأصْنافِ الرِّجالِ

Mükevvinu külli eflākin ve arżın
Ve mā fīhā ke-eṣnāfi’r-ricālī

كَلِيمٌ قَدْ تَكَلَّمَ بِالكَلامِ
المَجِيدِ بِلا ارْتِيابٍ وَ احْتِيالِ

Kelīmun ḳad tekelleme bi’l-kelāmi
El-mecīdi bi-lā’rtiyābin ve’ḥtiyālī

فَيَأمُرُنا بِهِ بِحِسانِ فِعْلٍ
وَيَنْهَينا مِنْ أنواعِ الفِعالِ

Fe-ye’murunā bihī bi-ḥisāni fi‘lin
Ve yenhānā min envā‘i’l-fi‘ālī

وَما القُرْآنُ إلّا وَصْفُ ذاتٍ
قَدِيمٌ لَيسَ مِنْ جِنسِ المَقالِ

Ve me’l-Ḳur’ānu illā vaṣfu ẕātin
Ḳadīmun leyse min cinsi’l-maḳālī

وَمَكْتُوبٌ عَلَى أوراقِ صُحُفٍ
وَمَحْزُونٌ وَ مَحفُوظٌ بِبالِ

Ve mektūbun ‘alā evrāḳı ṣuḥufin
Ve maḫzūnun ve maḥfūẓun bi-bālī

وَمَسْمُوعٌ وَمَقْرُوٌّ بِأُذْنٍ
وَألْسِنَةٍ وَلكِنْ غيرُ حالِ

Ve mesmū‘un ve maḳrūvun bi-üẕnin
Ve elsinetin ve lākin ġayru ḥālī

يُنافِي لِلسُّكوتِ وَكُلِّ آفَة
فَصَدِّقْهُ وَنِلْ كُلَّ المَنالِ

Yünāfī li’s-sükūti ve külli āfe
Fe-ṣaddıḳhu ve nil külle’l-menālī

وَقالُوا فَهُوَ مَخْلُوقٌ فَحاشا
تَعالَى شَأنُهُ مِنْ ذَا المَحالِ

Ve ḳālū fe-hüve maḫlūḳun fe-ḥāşā
Te‘ālā şe’nuhū min ẕe’l-muḥālī

صِفاتُ اللهِ قائِمَةٌ بِذاتٍ
قَدِيماتٌ مَصُوناتُ الزَّوالِ

Ṣıfātu’llāhi ḳā’imetun bi-ẕātin
Ḳadīmātun meṣūnātu’z-zevālī

وَلكِنْ لَيسَ عَينَ الذّاتِ طُرًّا
وَلا غَيراً سِواهُ ذا انْفِصالِ

Ve lākin leyse ‘ayne’ẕ-ẕāti ṭurran
Ve lā ġayran sivāhu ẕe’nfiṣālī

In English

57. The One who brought the world into being is the Lord of the heavens, God of creation, the Good, Lord of majesty,

58. One God, about whom there is no doubt; whoever denies Him is empty of faith.

59. He is eternal; extinction does not reach Him. He is a Lord without likeness, the Exalted.

60. There are attributes subsisting in God's essence; I will count them for you if you listen.

61. He has knowledge that encompasses everything and contains every secret hidden in the imagination.

62. He is All-Powerful; His power extends over all things, the lowest and the highest.

63. By His power the rose's cheek turned red and the nightingale sang upon the hills.

64. By His power fragrance appeared in musk, though musk is only a little of the gazelle's blood.

65. He is the Living who neither dies nor passes away; He revives the dead when the bones are decayed.

66. He is Strong, exalted is His strength, and He is described by the attributes of perfection.

67. He is the Hearing, who hears every prayer, even one hidden from the ears of men.

68. He is the Seeing, who sees the ant's foot as it walks in the darkness of the night.

69. Will and volition belong to God; affirm this and keep away from dispute.

70. For God does what He wills and decrees what He wishes without effort. (Footnote: "without disturbance".)

71. He is the Maker of all the spheres and the earth and what is in them, like the many kinds of men.

72. He is the Speaker, who has spoken with the glorious Word, without doubt or uncertainty. (The line ends on "bi’l-kelāmi" and the adjective runs on into the next; a footnote glosses "iḥtiyāl" as "doubt".)

73. By it He commands us to good deeds and forbids us every kind of wrongdoing. (Footnote: "fi‘āl" here means a foul deed.)

74. The Qur'an is nothing other than an attribute of the essence; it is eternal and not of the kind of spoken words.

75. It is written on the leaves of the codices, stored and preserved in the mind. (The print has the undotted "maḥzūn"; the sense requires "maḫzūn", stored.)

76. It is heard by ears and recited by tongues, yet it does not dwell in them. (Footnote: "not indwelling in them".)

77. This attribute excludes silence and every defect; affirm it and attain every good.

78. Some said, "It is created." God forbid; His glory is far above such an absurdity.

79. God's attributes subsist in His essence; they are eternal and protected from passing away.

80. Yet none of them is identical with the essence, nor are they something other, separate from it.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Poet in the Couplets on Power

The two most memorable couplets of this section seem to come from a divan rather than a book of creed. By God's power the rose's cheek reddens and the nightingale sings on the hills; by His power, too, fragrance appears in musk, though musk is only a little of the gazelle's blood. Sa‘dī Çelebi is not content to define the attribute of power; he shows it in the language of rose and nightingale, musk and gazelle. The contrast in the second couplet is finely made: the power that draws the most precious scent in the world out of a common, even shunned, substance like blood explains in a single example what creating means. The example chosen for the attribute of sight is made with the same care: the foot of an ant walking in the dark of night. A concrete example stays in the mind; the fluency promised in the introduction is felt most in these couplets.

The Order of the Section

The twenty-four couplets fall into two parts. The first four state the existence and oneness of the "Ṣāni‘", the Maker: the One who brought the world into being is the Lord of the heavens, He is one, whoever denies Him is empty of faith, He is eternal and extinction does not reach Him. The previous section said that the world came into being in time; here the conclusion is drawn: what has come into being has One who brought it into being. The count of the attributes follows: knowledge, power, life, strength, hearing, sight, will and volition, bringing into being (tekvin), and speech. Sa‘dī defines each attribute in one couplet and illustrates it in another; the example for hearing is a prayer hidden from human ears, for sight the ant's foot. In the seventy-first couplet God is called "mükevvin", the One who brings into being the heavens, the earth and what is in them. For Ünlüsoy and Asım the poem as a whole carries the basic positions of the Māturīdī tradition.

The Qur'an, and "Neither Identical nor Other"

The attribute of speech takes up the longest part of the section. God has spoken with speech; the Qur'an is an attribute of His essence, eternal and not of the kind of spoken words. It is written on the leaves of codices, stored in memories, heard by ears and recited by tongues, yet it has not entered and settled in any of these. This last qualification is the finest point of the text. The sound that is recited and the ink that is written have come into being in time; the attribute that is the Qur'an itself does not dwell in them. In the seventy-eighth couplet the claim of those who say "it is created" is rejected with "God forbid". The speakers go unnamed and the story of the controversy is left untold; the couplet gives only the verdict.

The last two couplets are given to the relation between the attributes and the essence: the attributes subsist in the essence, are eternal and protected from passing away, yet they are neither identical with the essence nor something separate from it. These two negations seek a middle way between merging the attributes into the essence until they vanish and treating them as beings apart from it. In putting this into metre the poem clarifies it with the words "ṭurran" (all of them) and "ẕe’nfiṣāl" (separated): no attribute is the essence itself, and none is cut off from it.

Bibliography

Online sources