الْمُبْدِئُ

يقال: بدأ وأبدأ بمعنًى واحد، فهو بادئٌ ومبدئ، كما قال الخطّابي والزجّاج، وأنشد الزجّاجُ لجرير: «بدأنا بالزيارة ثم عُدنا، فلا بَدئي جفوتُ ولا مَعادي». والمبدئُ الذي أبدأ الأشياء، أي ابتدأها مخترعًا فأوجدها عن عدم؛ والمبدئُ المُظهِرُ ابتداءً، كما قال القشيري، يقال: بدأ اللهُ الخلقَ وأبدأهم بمعنًى.

Badaʾa and abdaʾa mean the same — He is Bādiʾ and Mubdiʾ — as al-Khaṭṭābī and az-Zajjāj say; az-Zajjāj cites Jarīr: “We began with the visit, then came back again — I was not unkind at my first coming, nor at my return.” Al-Mubdiʾ is the One who began things — originated them, inventing, and brought them into being from nothing; al-Mubdiʾ is the One who brings to light for the first time, as al-Qushayrī says: badaʾa Allāhu al-khalq and abdaʾahum mean the same.

قال الغزالي: معناه الموجِد، لكنّ الإيجادَ إذا لم يكن مسبوقًا بمثله سُمّي إبداءً، وإذا كان مسبوقًا بمثله سُمّي إعادة؛ والله سبحانه بدأ خلقَ الناس، ثم هو الذي يعيدهم، أي يحشرهم؛ والأشياءُ كلُّها منه بدأت وإليه تعود، وبه بدأت وبه تعود. وقال الزجّاجي: هو بارئُ الخلق، ومبتدئُهم ابتداءً من غير أصل. وفي الحديث: كان اللهُ ولم يكن شيءٌ غيرُه؛ فكلُّ ما سواه كان بعد أن لم يكن، وهو الأوّلُ الذي لم يُسبق بعدم، فالإبداءُ فعلُه لا يشاركه فيه أحد.

Al-Ghazālī says: its meaning is the One who brings into being; but bringing into being, when nothing like it came before, is called originating, and when something like it came before, it is called restoring. Allah, glory be to Him, began the creation of people, then it is He who restores them — gathers them again; all things began from Him and return to Him, began by Him and return by Him. Az-Zajjājī says: He is the Maker of creatures, who began them with no root before them. In the ḥadīth: Allah was, and there was nothing other than Him. Everything besides Him came to be after it was not; He is the First, whom no nothingness went before; and originating is His act, which no one shares with Him.

حظُّ العبد من هذا الاسم أن يكون مبتدئًا بالخير لا منتظرًا له: يبدأ بالسلام، ويبدأ بالعطاء قبل السؤال، ويبدأ بالصلة قبل أن يُوصَل؛ وقد قال سيّدُنا رسولُ الله ﷺ: «من سنّ في الإسلام سنّةً حسنةً فله أجرُها وأجرُ من عمل بها بعده، من غير أن ينقص من أجورهم شيء»؛ فمن ابتدأ خيرًا جرى له أجرُه ما جرى. ومن حظّه أن يعلم أنّ كلَّ خيرٍ ابتدأه فالمبدئُ على الحقيقة هو الله، ألهمه إيّاه قبل أن يخطر له.

The servant’s share in this Name is to begin the good rather than wait for it: to be first with the greeting, first to give before he is asked, first to keep ties before they are kept with him. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever begins a good practice in Islam has its reward and the reward of all who act on it after him, without any of their reward being lessened” — whoever begins a good thing, its reward flows to him for as long as it flows. And of his share is to know that for every good he began, the true Originator was Allah, who inspired it in him before it ever crossed his mind.

قال القشيري: إنّ الله تعالى يُبدي فضلَه وإحسانه لعبيده ويكرّره؛ وإذا كان المخلوقُ إذا تركتَ سؤاله تركك، فكيف بالخالق الذي كلّما زدتَه سؤالًا زادك حبًّا ونوالًا! فالمبدئُ ابتدأك بالنعمة قبل أن تسأل، وابتدأك بالهداية قبل أن تطلب، وابتدأ ذكرَك قبل أن تذكره؛ فكلُّ خطوةٍ لك إليه جوابٌ عن خطوةٍ منه إليك سبقت، وما أحسنتَ إلا لأنه ابتدأ.

Al-Qushayrī says: Allah, exalted is He, begins His grace and goodness to His servants and then repeats it. If a creature, when you stop asking him, stops giving to you — what then of the Creator, who, the more you ask of Him, gives you the more love and the more gifts! Al-Mubdiʾ began you with blessing before you asked, began you with guidance before you sought it, and began remembering you before you remembered Him. Every step you take toward Him answers a step of His toward you that went before; you did good only because He began.