132 Y. Tzvi Langermann
Why are these verses, and their proper interpretation, so important
for Ibn al-Qayyim? I believe that the answer lies in the fourth query
of Ibn Ḥanbal’s (d. 241/855) al-Radd ʿalā al-zanādiqa wal-jahmiyya,
a formative text for the Ḥanbalī school.^23 In that query, Ibn Ḥanbal
answers the complaint of the heretics that the Koran has a confused,
if not self-contradictory, account of the creation of man: in differ-
ent verses he is said to have been made from earth (turāb), clay (ṭīn),
choicest clay (sulāla), mud (ḥamāʾ), or dry clay (ṣalṣāl). Ibn Ḥanbal
replies that the Koran’s account is completely consistent; the different
materials mentioned refer to different stages in the formation of man,
beginning with earth, the fundamental constituent of the human body,
and culminating with the drop of sperm (the Koran’s sulāla), by means
of which the human race propagates itself. The polemical edge to this
account was probably lost by Ibn al-Qayyim’s day. Nonetheless, Ibn
al-Qayyim may well have wanted to remind his readers of the consis-
tent and full description of man’s creation found in the Koran, much
along the lines that the Shaykh of his madhhab had established.
Two manuscripts have other texts in lieu of the preface printed in
the Hyderabad editions. Escorial 1590 exhibits at the beginning a brief
biography (tarjama) of Ibn al-Qayyim, taken from an unidentified
source. The India Office manuscript has, or should I say had, an exten-
sive preface; in the present state of the manuscript, I cannot say wheth-
er it purports to be written by Ibn al-Qayyim himself. The opening
page is now torn and damaged, and the photocopies that I received are
barely legible. Loth, however, copied out this opening sentence, which
differs from any of the other prefaces I have seen:
...ϩΎδϋϭϩήϣΥϟΎΧϦϣϝάϣϭϪϋΎρϦϣ˷ ΰόϣͿΪϤΤϟ˷
“Praise to God, Who raises in esteem whosoever obeys Him, and hum-
bles whosoever transgresses His command and disobeys Him...”^24The end of the preface is legible; I copy out here the final few lines:
ΩΎλϪϨϋϩΪμϳϻϩήϣΎΑΎϋΩΎλΩέϪϨϋϩΩήϳϻௌΕΫςϓήϬθϣϢϠγϭϪΘϠϋௌκϠλϝΰϳϢϠϓ
έΎτϗϻςϓβϤθϟΓήΘδϣϪΗϮϋΩΕέΎγϭϥΎϓήόϟϭΪΘΣϮΘϟβϤηφήηϭϥΎϤϳϻήΠϓϊϠρκΘΣ
ϡϭΪΑΔϤΩΓϮϠλϦϳήϫΎτϟϦΘΒΘτϟϪϟκϠϋϭϪΘϠϋௌκϠμϓέΎϬϨϟϭϞΘϠϟώϠΑΎϣϪϨϳΩώϠΑϭ
ϙέΎΑϭϢϠγϭϦΘοέϻϭΕϮϤδϟ
23 Ibn Ḥanbal’s tract has been published several times, and it is available on the
web as well. The most widely available version is found in the edition by ʿAlī
Sāmī al-Nashshār, Alexandria 1971.
24 Loth, Catalogue, p. 41 (see note 13 above)
Brought to you by | Nanyang Technological University
Authenticated