الباب الثامن في الربوبية
On Lordship (al-Rubūbiyya)
editorial & collation note
Two-witness collated, staged 2026-06-03. Bāb 8 of the foundational opening band (al-Rubūbiyya, Lordship) -- next in Bāb 4's descending hierarchy (Allāh > Raḥmān > Rabb > Malik). Witness-2 (ibnalarabi.com id=11) clean of navigation chrome; the trailing asterism rule and the site-search widget EXCLUDED. The chapter continues the rank-analysis and grounds the God-servant relation: Lordship intrinsically requires a 'lorded' (there is no Lord without a lorded). It contains a 10-verse theopathic qaṣīda (§19-28) and the tanzīh/tashbīh 'two self-disclosures' doctrine (§29-33). Witness §18 reads an uncertain 'nakiya'; restored to 'khalqan' (creation) from the Real/creation context. A few kāf-as-alif OCR garbles restored. No lossy drop of authorial prose.
الربوبية اسمٌ للمرتبة المقتضية للأسماء التي تطلبها الموجودات، فدخل تحتها الاسم العليم والسميع والبصير والقيوم والمريد والملك وما أشبه ذلك، لأن كل واحدٍ من هذه الأسماء والصفات يطلب ما يقوم عليه، فالعليم يقتضي المعلوم، والقادر يقتضي مقدوراً عليه، والمريد يطلب مراداً، وما أشبه ذلك.
Lordship (al-rubūbiyya) is a name for the rank that requires the Names which the existents seek; so under it enter the Name the Knower (al-ʿAlīm), the Hearer (al-Samīʿ), the Seer (al-Baṣīr), the Self-Subsisting (al-Qayyūm), the Willer (al-Murīd), the Sovereign (al-Malik), and the like of that -- because each one of these Names and Attributes seeks that upon which it stands: so the Knower requires the known, and the Powerful (al-Qādir) requires an object of power, and the Willer seeks a willed [thing], and the like of that.
واعلم أن الأسماء التي تحت اسمه الرب هي الأسماء المشتركة بينه وبين خلقه، والأسماء المختصة بالخلق اختصاصاً تأثيرياً. فالأسماء المشتركة بين ما يختص به وبين ما له وجهٌ إلى المخلوقات كاسمه العليم، فإنه اسمٌ نفسيٌّ، تقول: يعلم نفسه ويعلم خلقه، ويسمع نفسه ويسمع غيره.
And know that the Names that are under His name 'the Lord' (al-Rabb) are the names shared between Him and His creation, and the names particular to the creation by an effect-producing particularity. So the shared names are between what is particular to Him and what has a face toward the creatures -- like His name 'the Knower': for it is a self-related name; you say, 'He knows Himself and knows His creation,' and 'He hears Himself and hears another.'
وتقول: يبصر نفسه ويبصر غيره. فأمثال هذه الأسماء مشتركة بينه وبين خلقه.
And you say, 'He sees Himself and sees another.' So the likes of these names are shared between Him and His creation.
فأعني بالمشتركة أن الاسم له وجهان: وجهٌ مختصٌّ بالجناب الإلهي، ووجهٌ ينظر إلى المخلوقات كما سبق.
So I mean by 'shared' that the name has two faces: a face particular to the divine Side, and a face that looks toward the creatures, as has [just] preceded.
وأما الأسماء المختصة بالخلق فهي كالأسماء الفعلية، واسمه القادر. تقول: خلق الموجودات، ولا تقول: خلق نفسه.
As for the names particular to the creation, they are like the act-related names, and His name 'the Powerful.' You say, 'He created the existents,' and you do not say, 'He created Himself.'
وتقول: رزق الموجودات، ولا تقول: رزق نفسه، ولا قدر على نفسه.
And you say, 'He provided the existents,' and you do not say, 'He provided Himself,' nor 'He had power over Himself.'
فهذه وإن كانت تسوغ على تأويلٍ، فهي مختصة بالخلق، لأنها تحت اسمه الملك. ولا بد للملك من مملكة. والفرق بين اسمه الملك واسمه الربّ: أن الملك اسمٌ لمرتبةٍ تحتها الأسماء الفعلية، وهي التي أشرتُ إليها بما يختص بالخلق فقط.
So these [act-names], even though they are permissible upon an interpretation [in respect of God], are [yet] particular to the creation, because they are under His name 'the Sovereign'; and the Sovereign must have a kingdom. And the difference between His name 'the Sovereign' and His name 'the Lord' is: that the Sovereign is a name for a rank beneath which are the act-related names -- and they are those I [just] indicated by 'what is particular to the creation only.'
والربّ اسمٌ لمرتبةٍ تحتها نوعا الأسماء: المشتركة، والمختصة بالخلق.
And the Lord is a name for a rank beneath which are the two kinds of names: the shared, and [those] particular to the creation.
والفرق بين الرب والرحمن: أن الرحمن اسمٌ لمرتبةٍ اختصت بجميع الأوصاف العلية الإلهية، سواء انفردت الذات بها كالعظيم والفرد، أو حصل الاشتراك كالعليم والبصير، أو اختصت بالمخلوقات كالخالق والرازق.
And the difference between the Lord and the All-Merciful: that the All-Merciful is a name for a rank specialized with all the lofty divine qualities -- whether the Essence is singled out by them, like the Magnificent (al-ʿAẓīm) and the Single (al-Fard); or sharing occurs, like the Knower (al-ʿAlīm) and the Seer (al-Baṣīr); or they are particular to the creatures, like the Creator (al-Khāliq) and the Provider (al-Rāziq).
والفرق بين اسمه الرحمن واسمه الله: أن الله اسمٌ لمرتبةٍ ذاتيةٍ جامعةٍ لحقائق الموجودات، علوّها وسفلها. فدخل اسم الرحمن تحت حيطة اسمه الله، ودخل اسم الربّ تحت حيطة اسم الرحمن، ودخل اسم الملك تحت حيطة اسم الرب. فكانت الربوبية عرشاً -- أي مظهراً ظهر فيها وبها نظرُ الرحمن إلى الموجودات. ومن هذه المرتبة صحّت النسبة بين الله تعالى وبين عباده.
And the difference between His name 'the All-Merciful' and His name 'Allāh': that 'Allāh' is a name for an essential rank, gathering the realities of the existents -- their high and their low. So the name 'the All-Merciful' entered under the encompassment of His name 'Allāh,' and the name 'the Lord' entered under the encompassment of the name 'the All-Merciful,' and the name 'the Sovereign' entered under the encompassment of the name 'the Lord.' So Lordship was a Throne -- that is, a locus-of-manifestation in which and by which the regard of the All-Merciful toward the existents appeared. And from this rank, the relation between God (exalted is He) and His servants became valid.
ألا ترى إلى قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم: "إنه وُجد الرحِمُ، أخذ من حَقْوِ الرحمن".
Do you not see his saying (may God bless him and grant him peace): 'Truly the womb [/kinship-bond, al-raḥim] came to be, [and] took hold of the loin (ḥaqw) of the All-Merciful'?
والحَقْو: محلُّ الوسط، لأن الربوبية لها وسط الرحمانية، إذ الرحمانية جامعةٌ لما ينفرد به الحق، ولما يشاركه فيه الخلق، ولما يختص بالمخلوقات. فكانت الأسماء المشتركة وسطاً، أي هي محلُّ الربوبية.
And the 'loin' (al-ḥaqw) is the place of the middle [/waist] -- because Lordship has the 'waist' of All-Mercifulness, since All-Mercifulness gathers what the Real is singled out by, and what the creation shares with Him in, and what is particular to the creatures. So the shared names were a middle -- that is, they are the place of Lordship.
فتعلّق الرحِمُ بحَقْوِ الرحمن للصِّلة بين الربّ والمربوب، إذ لا ربَّ إلاَّ وله مربوب.
So the womb clung to the loin of the All-Merciful, for the bond between the Lord and the lorded -- since there is no Lord but that He has a lorded [one].
وكانت هذه النسبة في هذه المرتبة لازمةً بين الله تعالى وبين العباد.
And this relation, in this rank, was necessary [/binding] between God (exalted is He) and the servants.
فانظر لهذا التعلُّق بهذا الحَقْو، وافهم سرَّ التعلُّق.
So look at this clinging to this loin, and understand the secret of the clinging.
فإنه سبحانه وتعالى منزَّهٌ عن أن يتصل به منفصلٌ عنه، أو ينفصل عنه متصلٌ به.
For He (glory be to Him, exalted is He) is transcendent above [the possibility] that something separate from Him should connect to Him, or that something connected to Him should separate from Him.
فلم يبقَ بعد ذلك إلاَّ تنوّعاتُ تجلياته فيما يسميه حقاً أو خلقاً بمخلوقاته:
So there remained, after that, nothing but the varieties of His self-disclosures, in what He names 'Real' or 'creation,' among His creatures:
ما نحن إلاَّ أنتمو ....... قاربتمو أو بِنتمو
We are nothing but you -- / [whether] you drew near or you parted.
ما في الوجودِ سواكمو ....... أظهرتمو أو صنتمو
There is nothing in existence but you -- / [whether] you made [it] appear or you kept [it] hidden.
هو صورةٌ لجمالكم ....... معناه هذا أنتمو
It [the world] is a form for your beauty; / its meaning is this: [it is] you.
كان الوجودُ بكونكم ....... وبكونه قد كنتمو
Existence came to be by your coming-to-be, / and by its coming-to-be, you came to be.
وكشفتمو ثوبَ السِّوى ....... عن حُسنكم فأَبَنتمو
And you unveiled the garment of the other-than[-you] / from your beauty, [so] you made [it] manifest.
سمّيتمُ الحُسنَ العزيزَ ....... بعزّكم فأهنتمو
You named the mighty beauty 'mighty' / by your might -- [and yet] you abased [it].
قلتم سوانا قسوةٌ ....... هلاّ فنحن أَلَنتمو
You said: 'other than us is harshness' -- / well then -- [for] us, [were] you [not] made gentle?
دان الخليفةُ باسمكم ....... وباسمِ خلقٍ دِنتمو
The vicegerent submitted by your name; / and by the name of 'creation' you [yourself] submitted.
نوّعتمو حُسنَ الجمالِ ....... وفي الوفا ما خِنتمو
You diversified the comeliness of [your] beauty, / and in fidelity you never betrayed.
فلكم كمالٌ لا يزالُ ....... له البريّةُ يَنتمو
For yours is a perfection ever-lasting, / to which the creatures belong.
واعلم أن للربوبية تجليين: تجلٍّ معنوي، وتجلٍّ صوري.
And know that Lordship has two self-disclosures: a meaning-based self-disclosure (tajallī maʿnawī), and a form-based self-disclosure (tajallī ṣūrī).
فالتجلي المعنوي ظهورُه في أسمائه وصفاته على ما اقتضاه القانون التنزيهي من أنواع الكمالات.
So the meaning-based self-disclosure is His appearing in His Names and His Attributes, according to what the law of transcendence (al-qānūn al-tanzīhī) required, of the kinds of perfections.
والتجلي الصوري ظهورُه في مخلوقاته على ما اقتضاه القانون الخلقي التشبيهي، وما حواه المخلوق من أنواع النقص.
And the form-based self-disclosure is His appearing in His creatures, according to what the creaturely law of likening (al-qānūn al-tashbīhī) required, and what the creature contains of the kinds of deficiency.
فإذا ظهر سبحانه في خلقٍ من مخلوقاته على ما استحقه ذلك المظهر من التشبيه، فإنه على ما هو من التنزيه. والأمرُ بين صوريٍّ ملحقٍ بالتشبيه، ومعنويٍّ ملحقٍ بالتنزيه.
So when He (glory be to Him) appears in [some] created [thing] of His creatures, according to what that locus-of-manifestation deserves of likening, He is [yet] upon what He is of transcendence. And the matter is between a form-based [aspect], annexed to likening, and a meaning-based [aspect], annexed to transcendence.
إن ظهر الصوري فالمعنوي مظهرٌ له، وإن ظهر المعنوي فالصوري مظهرٌ له. وقد يغلب حكمُ إحداهما فيستتر الثاني تحته، فيُحكم بالأمر الواحد على الحجاب، فافهم.
If the form-based [aspect] appears, the meaning-based is a locus-of-manifestation for it; and if the meaning-based appears, the form-based is a locus-of-manifestation for it. And the rule of one of the two may dominate, so that the second is hidden beneath it, [and] judgment is made by the single [dominant] matter over the veil. So understand.
والله تعالى يقول الحق، وهو يهدي السبيل.
And God (exalted is He) speaks the truth, and He guides to the way.