Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of the tafsīr of the word of Allah the Exalted: وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لآمَنَ مَنْ فِي الأَرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا أَفَأَنْتَ تُكْرِهُ النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَكُونُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ (And had your Lord willed, all who are on the earth would have believed together — would you then compel the people until they become believers?) (10:99)

   Abū Jaʿfar says: Allah the Exalted says to His prophet: وَلَوْ شَاءَ — "And had your Lord willed" — O Muḥammad — رَبُّكَ لآمَنَ مَنْ فِي الأَرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا — "all who are on the earth would have believed in you together" — so that they would have affirmed you as being My messenger, and that what you have brought them and to which you invite them — namely the oneness of Allah (tawḥīd) and the sincere worship of Him alone — is the truth. But He does not will that, because in Allah's foreordainment it had already been established, before He sent you as a messenger, that no one would believe in you and follow you and affirm you in that with which Allah has sent you of guidance and light, except the one for whom, in the first Book — before the creation of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them — felicity had already been preordained. And these — who are astonished at the genuineness of Our revelation to you of this Qurʾān, so that you would thereby warn those whom you were commanded to warn — are among those for whom, with Me in the preceding Book, it had already been established that they will not believe in you.

   * * *

   And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes also spoke.

   *Noteworthy statements concerning this:*

   17909 — Al-Muthnā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لآمَنَ مَنْ فِي الأَرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا and وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ إِلا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ (And it is not possible for any soul to believe except with Allah's permission) [Surah Yūnus: 100], and the like thereof in the Qurʾān: the Prophet ﷺ was eagerly intent that all people should believe and follow him in the guidance. But Allah informed him that no one believes except the one for whom Allah, in the first mention, had preordained felicity, and that no one goes astray except the one for whom Allah, in the first mention, had preordained wretchedness.

   * * *

   Now if someone were to say: "What is the meaning of the expression كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا ('all of them together'), when 'kull' already denotes 'jamīʿ' and 'jamīʿ' already denotes 'kull' — what then is the reason for the repetition, when each of the two words renders the other superfluous?"

   About this the Arabic philologists have differed:

   Some grammarians of the school of Baṣra say: The word "jamīʿan" is here used for emphasis (tawkīd), just as Allah also says: لا تَتَّخِذُوا إِلَهَيْنِ اثْنَيْنِ (Take not two gods) [Surah al-Naḥl: 51], where "ilāhayni" (two gods) already indicates the number two.

   Others say: "jamīʿan" was placed after "kulluhum" because "jamīʿan" occurs solely as emphasis (tawkīd), whereas "kulluhum" can occur both as emphasis and as a substantive noun; therefore "jamīʿan" was added after "kulluhum." He says: and if one were to say that both words together are used to make clear that their meaning is one, then that too could be the case here. He says: and likewise with إِلَهَيْنِ اثْنَيْنِ: the number explains everything, one may say "I saw a group of four," so when one used "ithnayn" (two) while the number before it was already sufficient — for one says: "with me is one dirham and two dirham" without one needing to say "with me is one dirham and two dirham" — then that is so because with "dirham" (plural) one says "three," for the plural is ambiguous, whereas "one" and "two" are not ambiguous; then the singular and the dual form are built upon the build of what occurs in the plural, because with every singular there must be a singular, for "dirham" indicates the genus to which it belongs, and "one" indicates all genera. And likewise "two" indicate all genera, whereas "two dirham" indicate themselves; hence the numbers were used, for that is the base form.

   * * *

   And His word: أَفَأَنْتَ تُكْرِهُ النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَكُونُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ — Allah the Exalted says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: no one will affirm you, O Muḥammad, no one will follow you and agree with what you have brought, except the one whom your Lord has willed to affirm you — not through your compulsion and not through your zeal for it. أَفَأَنْتَ تُكْرِهُ النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَكُونُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ — would you then compel the people until they become believers in you and affirmers of what you have brought them from your Lord? Allah the Exalted says to him: proclaim then what you have been commanded, and turn away from the polytheists (mushrikīn) concerning whom the word of your Lord has been realized that they will not believe.

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   Footnotes:

   (15) In the printed edition it reads: "no one of his people believes" — with an addition that is not in the manuscript; this I have removed.

   (16) In the printed edition it reads: "for the singular and the dual form are based on the contradiction of the plural" — which has no meaning. In the manuscript it reads: "then the singular and the dual form are built upon the contradiction of the plural" — thus, without dots, and I have tried to read it as I have established it, with the addition of "mā" (what) between "binā" (build) and "fī al-jamīʿ" (in the plural). Nevertheless, something of the meaning of these words remains unclear in my mind; I fear that something has dropped out, for it is not clear to me.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لآمَنَ مَنْ فِي الأَرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا أَفَأَنْتَ تُكْرِهُ النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَكُونُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ (99) قال أبو جعفر : يقول تعالى ذكر لنبيه: (ولو شاء) ، يا محمد ، (ربك لآمن من في الأرض كلهم جميعًا)، بك، فصدَّقوك أنك لي رسول ، وأن ما جئتهم به وما تدعوهم إليه من توحيد الله وإخلاص العبودة له ، حقٌّ، ولكن لا يشاء ذلك، لأنه قد سبق من قضاء الله قبل أن يبعثك رسولا أنه لا يؤمن بك ، ولا يتّبعك فيصدقوك بما بعثك الله به من الهدى والنور ، إلا من سبقت له السعادةُ في الكتاب الأوّل قبل أن تخلق السموات والأرض وما فيهن، وهؤلاء الذين عجبوا من صِدْق إيحائنا إليك هذا القرآن لتنذر به من أمرتك بإنذاره ، ممَّن قد سبق له عندي أنهم لا يؤمنون بك في الكتاب السابق. * * * وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. *ذكر من قال ذلك: 17909- حدثني المثنى قال ، حدثنا عبد الله بن صالح قال ، حدثني معاوية، عن علي، عن ابن عباس قوله: (ولو شاء ربك لآمن من في الأرض كلهم جميعًا) ، وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ إِلا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ ، [سورة يونس: 100] ، ونحو هذا في القرآن، فإن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يحرص أن يؤمن جميعُ الناس ويتابعوه على الهدى، فأخبره الله أنه لا يؤمن إلا من قد سبق له من الله السعادة في الذكر الأَوّل (15) ولا يضلّ إلا من سبق له من الله الشقاء في الذّكر الأول. * * * فإن قال قائل: فما وجه قوله: (لآمن من في الأرض كلهم جميعًا)، فـ " الكل " يدل على " الجميع "، و " الجميع " على " الكل "، فما وجه تكرار ذلك ، وكل واحدة منهما تغني عن الأخرى؟ قيل: قد اختلف أهل العربية في ذلك: فقال بعض نحويي أهل البصرة: جاء بقوله " جميعًا " في هذا الموضع توكيدًا ، كما قال: لا تَتَّخِذُوا إِلَهَيْنِ اثْنَيْنِ ، [سورة النحل: 51] ، ففي قوله: " إلهين " دليل على " الاثنين ". وقال غيره: جاء بقوله " جميعًا " بعد " كلهم "، لأن " جميعًا " لا تقع إلا توكيدًا، و " كلهم " يقع توكيدًا واسمًا، فلذلك جاء ب " جميعًا " بعد " كلهم ". قال: ولو قيل إنه جمع بينهما ليعلم أن معناهما واحد ، لجاز ههنا. قال: وكذلك: إِلَهَيْنِ اثْنَيْنِ ، العدد كله يفسر به، فيقال: " رأيت قومًا أربعة "، فلما جاء " باثنين " ، وقد اكتفى بالعدد منه ، لأنهم يقولون: " عندي درهم ودرهمان " ، فيكفي من قولهم: " عندي درهم واحد ، ودرهمان اثنان " ، فإذا قالوا : " دراهم " قالوا : " ثلاثة "، لأن الجمع يلتبس ، و " الواحد " و " الاثنان " لا يلتبسان، ثم بُنِي الواحد والتثنية على بناء [ما] في الجميع، (16) لأنه ينبغي أن يكون مع كل واحدٍ واحدٌ، لأن " درهمًا " يدل على الجنس الذي هو منه، و " واحد " يدل على كل الأجناس. وكذلك " اثنان " يدلان على كل الأجناس، و " درهمان "، يدلان على أنفسهما، فلذلك جاء بالأعداد ، لأنه الأصل. * * * وقوله: (أفأنت تكره الناس حتى يكونوا مؤمنين) ، يقولُ جل ثناؤه لنبيّه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم: إنه لن يصدقك يا محمد ، ولن يتبعك ويقرّ بما جئت به إلا من شاء ربك أن يصدّقك، لا بإكراهك إياه ، ولا بحرصك على ذلك ، (أفأنت تكره الناس حتى يكونوا مؤمنين ) لك ، مصدقين على ما جئتهم به من عند ربك؟ يقول له جل ثناؤه: فاصدَعْ بما تؤْمر ، وأعرض عن المشركين الذين حقَّت عليهم كلمة ربّك أنَّهم لا يؤمنون . ------------------------------ الهوامش : (15) في المطبوعة : " لا يؤمن من قومه " ، زاد ما ليس في المخطوطة ، فحذفته . (16) في المطبوعة : " لم يثن الواحدة والتثنية على تنافي الجمع " ، وهو لا معنى له . وفي المخطوطة : " ثم بنى الواحد والتثنية على تنافي الجمع " ، هكذا غير منقوطة ، واستظهرت قراءتها كما أثبتها ، بزيادة " ما " بين " بناء " ، و" في الجميع " . ومع ذلك فبقى في بيان معنى هذا الكلام ، شيء في نفسي ، أخشى أن يكون سقط منه شيء ، فإنه غير واضح عندي