Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   Allah, exalted is His remembrance, says: Allah created you, O people, and brought you into existence when you were nothing — not the gods you worship besides Him. So worship the One Who created you, and none other. ثُمَّ يَتَوَفَّاكُمْ He says: Then He causes you to die and takes you back. وَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يُرَدُّ إِلَى أَرْذَلِ الْعُمُرِ He says: And among you are those who grow so old that they return to the most contemptible age, that is, the worst period of it. Of this one says: the man radhula and fasala, yardhulu radhālatan wa-radhūlatan, and I found him contemptible. It has been said that one becomes so at the age of seventy-five years.

   Muhammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Fazārī related to me, saying: Muhammad ibn Sawwār related to us, saying: Asad ibn ʿImrān related to us, on the authority of Saʿd ibn Ṭarīf, on the authority of al-Aṣbagh ibn Nabāta, on the authority of ʿAlī, concerning His word وَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يُرَدُّ إِلَى أَرْذَلِ الْعُمُرِ : he said: seventy-five years.

   And His word لِكَيْ لا يَعْلَمَ بَعْدَ عِلْمٍ شَيْئًا — He says: For We indeed cause him to return to the most contemptible age so that he becomes ignorant as he was in the state of his childhood and youth, after he possessed knowledge — that is: so that he knows nothing anymore after the knowledge he possessed in his youth, knowledge that has vanished with old age and has been forgotten, so that he knows nothing of it anymore and is stripped of his reason, and after having had reason he comprehends nothing anymore. إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ قَدِيرٌ — He says: Allah does not forget, and His knowledge does not change. He is all-knowing of everything that was and will be, all-powerful over what He wills; nothing escapes Him and nothing can resist Him when He wills it.

   Show original Arabic

   يقول تعالى ذكره: والله خلقكم أيها الناس وأوجدكم ولم تكونوا شيئا، لا الآلهة التي تعبدون من دونه، فاعبدوا الذي خلقكم دون غيره ( ثُمَّ يَتَوَفَّاكُمْ ) يقول: ثم يقبضكم ( وَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يُرَدُّ إِلَى أَرْذَلِ الْعُمُرِ ) يقول: ومنكم من يهرم فيصير إلى أرذل العمر، وهو أردؤه، يقال منه: رذل الرجل وفسل، يرذل رذالة ورذولة ورذلته أنا. وقيل: إنه يصير كذلك في خمس وسبعين سنة. حدثني محمد بن إسماعيل الفزاريّ، قال: أخبرنا محمد بن سَوار ، قال: ثنا أسد بن عمران، عن سعد بن طريف، عن الأصبغ بن نَباتة، عن عليّ، في قوله ( وَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يُرَدُّ إِلَى أَرْذَلِ الْعُمُرِ ) قال: خمسٌ وسبعون سنة. وقوله ( لِكَيْ لا يَعْلَمَ بَعْدَ عِلْمٍ شَيْئًا ) يقول: إنما نردّه إلى أرذل العمر ليعود جاهلا كما كان في حال طفولته وصباه ، بعد علم شيئا: يقول: لئلا يعلم شيئا بعد علم كان يعلمه في شبابه ، فذهب ذلك بالكبر ونسى، فلا يعلم منه شيئا، وانسلخ من عقله، فصار من بعد عقل كان له لا يعقل شيئا( إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ قَدِيرٌ ) يقول: إن الله لا ينسى ، ولا يتغير علمه، عليم بكلّ ما كان ويكون، قدير على ما شاء لا يجهل شيئا ، ولا يُعجزه شيء أراده.