Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   Allah the Exalted says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: even though you would ardently desire, O Muḥammad, that these polytheists (mushrikīn) be guided to faith (īmān) in Allah and to following the truth, فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي مَنْ يُضِلُّ.

   The Qurʾān-reciters differed over the reading of this passage. The majority of the reciters of Kūfa read: فإنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَهْدِي مَنْ يَضِلُّ with an open yāʾ on yahdī and a closed ḍamma on yaḍillu. Those who read it thus differed among themselves about the meaning: some grammarians of Kūfa claimed that the meaning is: "he whom Allah has caused to go astray does not find the way"; they said: "The Arabs say: qad hadā al-rajul — meaning: he has found the way, and hadā and ihtadā are synonyms." Others among them claimed that the meaning is: "Allah does not guide the one whom He has caused to go astray," that is to say: whomever Allah causes to go astray, Allah does not guide him. The majority of the reciters of Medina, Syria, and Basra read: فإنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُهْدَى with a closed ḍamma on the yāʾ of yuhdā and an open fatḥa on the dāl of yuhdā, with the meaning: whomever Allah causes to go astray, for him there is no guide.

   This reading I consider the most correct of the two, because yahdī in the meaning of yahtadī is rare in Arabic and not widespread. Moreover, it contains no useful information if someone says: whomever Allah causes to go astray, Allah does not guide him — for that is something with which no one is unfamiliar. And because this is so, the reading that is widespread in Arabic and that contains great, useful information deserves preference and is more fitting.

   The meaning of the words is then, if the matter is as we have described: even though you would ardently desire, O Muḥammad, that they be guided, whomever Allah has caused to go astray has no guide — so do not let your soul exert itself over him, but convey to him that which you were sent to convey, so that the proof (ḥujja) may be completed against him. وَمَا لَهُمْ مِنْ نَاصِرِينَ — He says: and they have no helper who helps them against Allah when He wills their punishment, who interposes himself between Allah and what He wills of their punishment.

   Concerning His word إِنْ تَحْرِصْ: there are two dialectal variants. Some of the Arabs say: ḥaraṣa yaḥriṣu with an open rāʾ in the past tense and a bent kasra in the present tense; others say: ḥariṣa yaḥraṣu with a kasra on the rāʾ in the past tense and a fatḥa in the present tense. The customary reading is with the fatḥa in the past tense and the kasra in the present tense — this is the dialect of the people of the Ḥijāz.

   Show original Arabic

   يقول تعالى ذكره لنبيه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم: إن تحرص يا محمد على هدى هؤلاء المشركين إلى الإيمان بالله واتباع الحق ( فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَهْدِي مَنْ يُضِلُّ ) واختلفت القرّاء في قراءة ذلك ، فقرأته عامَّة قرّاء الكوفيين (فإنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَهْدِي مَنْ يَضِلُّ ) بفتح الياء من يهدي، وضمها من يضلّ ، وقد اختلف في معنى ذلك قارِئوه كذلك، فكان بعض نحويي الكوفة يزعم أن معناه: فإن الله من أضله لا يهتدي، وقال: العرب تقول: قد هدى الرجل: يريدون قد اهتدى، وهدى واهتدى بمعنى واحد ، وكان آخرون منهم يزعمون أن معناه: فإن الله لا يهدي من أضله، بمعنى: أن من أضله الله فإن الله لا يهديه. وقرأ ذلك عامَّة قرّاء المدينة والشام والبصرة (فإنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُهْدَى) بضم الياء من يُهدى ومن يضل ، وفتح الدال من يُهدَى بمعنى: من أضله الله فلا هادي له. وهذه القراءة أولى القراءتين عندي بالصواب، لأن يهدي بمعنى يهتدي قليل في كلام العرب غير مستفيض، وأنه لا فائدة في قول قائل: من أضله الله فلا يهديه، لأن ذلك مما لا يجهله أحد ، وإذ كان ذلك كذلك، فالقراءة بما كان مستفيضا في كلام العرب من اللغة بما فيه الفائدة العظيمة أولى وأحرى. فتأويل الكلام لو كان الأمر على ما وصفنا: إن تحرص يا محمد على هداهم، فإن من أضله الله فلا هادي له ، فلا تجهد نفسك في أمره ، وبلغه ما أرسلت به لتتم عليه الحجة ( وَمَا لَهُمْ مِنْ نَاصِرِينَ ) يقول: وما لهم من ناصر ينصرهم من الله إذا أراد عقوبتهم، فيحول بين الله وبين ما أراد من عقوبتهم. وفي قوله ( إِنْ تَحْرِصْ ) لغتان: فمن العرب من يقول: حرَص، يحرَص بفتح الراء في فعَل وكسرها في يفعل ، وحرِص يحرَص بكسر الراء في فعِل وفتحها في يفعَل ، والقراءة على الفتح في الماضي ، والكسر في المستقبل، وهي لغة أهل الحجاز.