Jami' al-Saghir / Jam' al-Jawami' (al-Suyuti) 4-2322b

Translation

Machine translation, not reviewed

"From Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-'Alabi, narrated to us al-'Abbas ibn Bakkar, narrated to us Abu Bakr al-Hudhali, from 'Ikrimah who said: When 'Ali returned from Siffin, an elderly man from among his companions stood up to him and said: O Commander of the Faithful, inform us about our march to the people of Syria: was it by divine decree and predestination? 'Ali said: By He who created the grain and produced the soul, we did not cross a valley nor ascend a hill except by divine decree and predestination. The elderly man said: I think my thoughts are at fault. 'Ali said: And why? Rather, Allah has magnified your reward for your march, while you were ascending, and on your descent, while you were descending, and you were not compelled in any of your affairs, nor were you forced to them. The elderly man said: How, O Commander of the Faithful, when divine decree and predestination drove us to it? He said: Woe to you, perhaps you thought it was a binding decree and a final predestination. If that were so, the promise and the threat would have been void, the reward and the punishment would have been nullified, and there would be no blame from Allah for a sin, nor praise from Allah for one who does good, and the doer of good would not have been more deserving of the reward of good than the sinner. That is the saying of the parties of worshippers of idols, the soldiers of Satan, and the adversaries of the Most Merciful, and they are the Qadariyyah of this nation and its Magians. But Allah, the Exalted, commanded us to good by giving us choice, and forbade us from evil by warning us. He was not disobeyed as one overpowered, nor obeyed under compulsion, nor did He hand over authority, and He did not create the heavens and the earth and what I see in them of wonders as falsehood. {That is the assumption of those who disbelieved, so woe to those who disbelieved from the Fire}. The elderly man said: O Commander of the Faithful, then what is this divine decree and predestination in which our journeying and our returning consisted? He said: That is the command of Allah and His wisdom. Then 'Ali recited: {And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him}."

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