The Conclusive Argument — Page 16
16 this doctrine. Ibn Abbas rendered َ مُتَوَفِّیْك [ mutawaff i ka ] as mean- ing َ مُمِیْتُك [ mum i tuka— give you death]. Thus, death stands estab- lished, even though your demon may be unwilling to accept it. O ye who have hurt me! You have heard that the verse اَّمَلَف ْيِنَتْيَّفَوَت [‘but since You caused me to die’ (5:118)] proves by a conclusive argument and a clear statement that the death [of Jesus], which is established from the exegesis of Ibn Abbas, is an event that has already taken place and was consummated, not that it will happen in the future as some people think. Do you believe that the Christians have not associated partners with their Lord and are not caught in snares like prison- ers? If you admit that they have gone astray and have misled oth- ers as well, then you must also admit that the Messiah has died and passed away, because the going astray of the Christians was conditional upon the death of the في هذه العقیدة، وقد قال ابن عباس متوفّیك ممیتُك، فالموت ثابت وإن لم یقبل عفریتُك. وقد سمعت َ یا من آذیتني أن آیة فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّیْتَني تدل بداللة قطعیة إماتة التي ال وعبارة واضحة أن ا ثبتت من تفسیر ابن عباس، قد وقعت وتمّت ولیس بواقع كما ظن بعض الناس. أفأنت تظن أن النصاری ما أشركوا بربهم ولیسوا في شُرُك كاالٔساری؟ وإن أقررت بأنهم قد ضلوا وأضلوا، إ قرار بأن ّ المسیح قد ال فلزمك ا مات َ وفاتَ، فإن ّ ضاللتهم كانت موقوفة علی وفاة المسیح، فتفكَّر