عبد اللّه ورسوله هم الذين بقوا على دين عيسى، وفرقة ادعوا أن عيسى ولد لله، وفرقة ادعوا أن عيسى هو الله، وفرقة ادعوا أن الآلهة ثلاثة: عيسى وأمه والله. وثالث ثلاثة نهى اللّٰه عنه كما سيأتي "لَقَدْ كَفَرَ الذِينَ قَالَوّا إِنَّ اللَّهَ ثَالِثُ ثَلَثَةٍ ومن تشبه بقوم فهو منهم، حيث أن ثالث ثلاثة كفر.

الجواب باختصار نطقت الآية ﴿مَا يَكُونُ مِن نَّجْوَىٰ ثَلَٰثَةٍ﴾ ...إلخ (المجادلة:7)... وإن كان هو الأول والثاني والثالث والرابع والخامس وما فوق ذلك إلى ما وراء الأعداد إبطالا لمذهب التثليث ﴿لَّقَدْ كَفَرَ ٱلَّذِينَ قَالُوٓاْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ثَالِثُ ثَلَٰثَةٍ﴾...إلخ وتنويها بمقام الثلاثة الذين هو رابعهم والخمسة الذين هو سادسهم، ولا فرق بين المعية والهوية هنا، فقد علمت أن المعية بالذات وإذا بدت فلا معية. في ظاهر الآية قرع قلوب المنافقين أهل النجوى وكانت مجالسهم ثلاثة ثلاثة وخمسة حين نزول الآية فجاء النص بعددهم1 تعليما لشدة اطلاعه تعالى على كليتهم المنبه على معيته تعالى، ومهما قلنا بالسر الرابع فقد قلنا بالسر الخامس. لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم. وأما إتيانه تعالى مع الأوتار فعكس ما ادعي عليه إذ جهلوا اثنين الله ثالثهم فأبى الله إلا أن يكون مع الأوتار حيث جعلوه مع الشفع تكذيبا لهم، دمرهم الله تعالى آمين. والقرآن إعجاز في الإيجاز، تركت الآية ما قبل الثلاثة وما فوق الخمسة وقال: ﴿وَلَآ أَدْنَىٰ مِن ذَٰلِكَ﴾..إلخ إيجاز فدخل جميع الأعداد إلى ما فوق الألوف فسبحانه تعالى. والسلام. إبراهيم بن الحاج عبد الله التجاني لطف الله به. بمدينة كولخ 1372 هـ.

The answer in brief. The verse said ﴿There is no private counsel of three﴾ …etc. (al-Mujādala 7)… even though He is the first and the second and the third and the fourth and the fifth and what is above that, out to what lies beyond numbers — as a nullification of the doctrine of trinity: ﴿Truly they have disbelieved who said: Allah is the third of three﴾ …etc. — and as an announcing of the rank of the three of whom He is the fourth and the five of whom He is the sixth. There is no difference here between maʿiyya [His accompaniment] and huwiyya [His He-ness], for you have come to know that the maʿiyya is by the Essence, and when it appears there is no maʿiyya. In the ẓāhir of the verse there is a striking of the hearts of the hypocrites, the people of secret counsel; their gatherings at the time the verse came down were by threes and by fives, so the text came with their number, as instruction in the severity of His scrutiny, exalted is He, of their whole, which alerts to His maʿiyya, exalted is He. And however much we speak of the fourth secret, we have spoken of the fifth secret. There is no god but Allah - Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. As for His coming, exalted is He, together with the odd numbers: it is the reverse of what was alleged against Him, since they were ignorant of "two of whom Allah is the third"; so Allah refused anything but to be with the odd numbers, seeing that they had placed Him with the even, in order to give them the lie — may Allah, exalted is He, destroy them, āmīn. The Qurʾān is inimitability within concision: the verse left aside what is below three and what is above five and said ﴿nor fewer than that﴾ …etc., by way of concision; so all the numbers up to what is above the thousands entered in. Glory be to Him, exalted is He. And peace. Ibrāhīm b. al-Ḥājj ʿAbd Allāh al-Tijānī, may Allah be gentle with him. In the city of Kaolack, 1372 AH.

Working transcription — not yet proofread against the printing.

Translation by Amadu Kunateh. The compiler's footnotes are not included.

§3. The edition quotes the verse without a printed reference; the identification is inferred.

قال العلامة الشيخ محمد عليش في فتاويه ما نصه: وقد سئل شيخ مشايخي خاتمة المحققين أبو محمد الأمير عن معنى قوله في صفات الله تبارك وتعالى واحد لا من قلة وموجود لا من علة. فأجاب بما نصه: الحمد لله الذي يحضر الفقير في شرحه وجوه.. إلى أن قال: الثالث أن وحدته تعالى ليست وحدات القلة كما يقع في الحوادث بل هو واحد إليه ترجع جميع الكثرات وعلى وحدته تدور ﴿أَلَآ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ تَصِيرُ ٱلْأُمُورُ﴾ (الشورى: 53) فهو واحد ظهرت وحدته في جميع المظاهر فهو الأول والآخر والظاهر والباطن ﴿مَا يَكُونُ مِن نَّجْوَىٰ ثَلَٰثَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ رَابِعُهُمْ وَلَا خَمْسَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ سَادِسُهُمْ وَلَآ أَدْنَىٰ مِن ذَٰلِكَ وَلَآ أَكْثَرَ إِلَّا هُوَ مَعَهُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كَانُواْ﴾ (المجادلة:7)، ﴿أَلَآ إِنَّهُۥ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُّحِيطٌ﴾ (فصلت: 54) وهذا معنى شريف لا يمكن شرحه بالتعبير إنما يذاق بحسب الفتح والتجلي من الفتاح الخبير، وهو معنى شهود الوحدة في الكثرة الذي يعبر عنه القوم بوحدة الوجود، وقد سفكت فيها دماء كثيرة بسبب العبارات الموهمة والمعنى قد يتعاظم على العبارة فلا يمكنها الإحاطة به حق الإحاطة. فمن تكلف في ذلك التعبير وقع في أمر خطير. قال الشاعر: ويكفيك من ذاك المسمى إشارة ودعه مصونا بالجلال محجبا1 فحاشا الله ومعاذ الله من أن يريد القوم حلولا واتحادا كما توهمه العبارة قال العارف ابن وفا - رضي الله تعالى عنه حاكيا عن الحضرة: وعلمك أن كل الأمر أمري هو المعنى المسمى باتحاد1 ومقام العامة في هذا تصديق الإيمان بأن الأمر كله لله تعالى، وإنما اختص الخواص بالذوق والعبارة، والفرق بينهما من يعرف أن العسل حلو وبين حال من يذوقه بالفعل. وهذا بحر لا ساحل له، فلنمسك عنان القلم. قال بعض العارفين: إنما كفر من قال ﴿إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ثَالِثُ ثَلَٰثَةٍ﴾ (المائدة:73) لأنه جعله بعضا من ثلاثة كما هو قاعدة فاعل مع ما اشتق منه من العدد فأوقع المشاكلة والمشابهة وجعله بعضا من متعدد بخلاف ﴿مَا يَكُونُ مِن

The scholar Shaykh Muḥammad ʿIllaysh said in his fatwās, in these words: the shaykh of my shaykhs, the seal of the verifiers, Abū Muḥammad al-Amīr, was asked about the meaning of the statement concerning the attributes of Allah, blessed and exalted, "One, not out of fewness; existent, not out of a cause." He answered in these words: Praise belongs to Allah — aspects which come to the faqīr in explaining it.. — until he said: the third is that His oneness, exalted is He, is not the onenesses of fewness, such as occur among originated things. Rather He is One to whom all multiplicities go back and upon whose oneness they turn: ﴿Take note — to Allah all matters come home﴾ (al-Shūrā 53). He is One whose oneness has appeared in every locus of manifestation; He is the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward — ﴿There is no private counsel of three but He is their fourth, nor of five but He is their sixth, nor fewer than that nor more but He is with them wherever they may be﴾ (al-Mujādala 7), ﴿Take note — He encompasses every thing﴾ (Fuṣṣilat 54). This is a noble meaning which cannot be explained by expression; it is tasted only in the measure of the opening and the tajallī from the Opener, the Aware. It is the sense of witnessing oneness within multiplicity, which the folk express as waḥdat al-wujūd; and much blood has been spilt over it on account of expressions that mislead. The meaning may grow too great for the expression, so that the expression cannot encompass it as it deserves. Whoever strains himself at that expression falls into a grave matter. The poet said: A hint of that Named One is enough for you so leave Him guarded, veiled by majesty Far be it from Allah, and refuge be sought with Allah, that the folk should mean indwelling or fusion, as the expression misleads one into imagining. The ʿārif Ibn Wafā — may Allah, exalted is He, be pleased with him — said, relating from the Presence: And your knowing that the whole affair is My affair that is the meaning named union The station of the generality in this is the assent of faith that the whole affair belongs to Allah, exalted is He; the elect alone have the tasting and the expression. And the difference between the two is one who knows that honey is sweet and the state of one who actually tastes it. This is an ocean with no shore, so let us hold back the rein of the pen. Some of the ʿārifūn said: the one who said ﴿Allah is the third of three﴾ (al-Māʾida 73) fell into unbelief only because he made Him a part of three — as is the rule for the fāʿil form together with the number it is derived from — and so brought about assimilation and resemblance, and made Him a part of a plurality…

Working transcription — not yet proofread against the printing.

Translation by Amadu Kunateh. The compiler's footnotes are not included.

§12. The edition quotes the verse without a printed reference; the identification is inferred.