In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Verily, all praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, we seek His help, and we ask for His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evils of our souls and from our wicked deeds. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead astray, and whomever He leads astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.
To proceed:
This is a concise treatise on an important chapter of creed (‘aqidah); namely, the affirmation of a limit (hadd) for Allah the Exalted, His loftiness (‘uluww) over His creation, and His rising (istiwa’) over His Throne. It was authored in the seventh century of the Hijrah.
To the best of our knowledge, it is being published here for the first time. Despite its small size, it contains significant narrations (athar) from the righteous predecessors (al-salaf al-salih), numerous benefits, and citations from prominent imams sourced from lost works that are hardly found elsewhere but in this treatise. We ask Allah the Exalted to grant us success in producing it and providing commentary upon it in accordance with the truth and the Sunnah.
The Subject of the Book:
Al-Dashti (may Allah have mercy on him) discussed in this book two monumental issues from among the...
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
إنَّ الحمدَ لله نحمدهُ ونستعينه ونستغفره، ونعوذُ بالله من شرور أنفسنا، ومن سيئات أعمالنا، مَنْ يهده اللهُ فلا مُضِلَّ له، ومن يُضلل فلا هادي له، وأشهدُ أن لا إله إلا اللهُ وحده لا شريك له، وأشهدُ أنَّ محمدًا عبده ورسوله.
أما بعد،
فهذه رسالة لطيفة في بابٍ مهمٍ من أبوابِ الاعتقاد؛ وهو إثباتُ الحدِّ لله تعالى، وعلوِّه على خلقه، واستوائِه على عرشه، أُلِّفت في القرنِ السابع من الهجرة.
وهي تُنشرُ لأوَّلِ مَرَّةٍ - حسب علمنا -.
وهي مع صغر حجمها تضمُّ آثارًا مُهِمَّةً عن السَّلفِ الصَّالح، وفوائدَ جمَّةً، ونقولات عن أئمَّةٍ أعلامٍ من مصنَّفاتٍ مفقودةٍ لا تكاد تقف عليها في غير هذه الرِّسالة.
نسأل الله تعالى أن يوفقنا لإخراجها، والتَّعليق عليها بما يُوافق الحقَّ والسُّنَّة.
موضوع الكتاب:
تكلَّم الدشتي رحمه الله في هذا الكتابِ عن مسألتين عظيمتين من