Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The exposition of the meaning of the word of Allah the Exalted: قُلِ ادْعُوا الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ فَلَا يَمْلِكُونَ كَشْفَ الضُّرِّ عَنْكُمْ وَلَا تَحْوِيلًا (Say: Call upon those whom you claimed besides Him — they have no power to remove harm from you nor to transfer it) (17:56).

   Allah the Exalted says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Say, O Muḥammad, to the polytheists among your people who worship, besides Allah, those of His creation whom they worship: Call, O people, upon those whom you claimed to be lords and gods besides Him — when a harm descends upon you — and see whether they are able to ward that off from you or to transfer it from you to others, so that you call upon them as gods. For they are not able to do that and do not possess that power. Only your Creator and their Creator possesses that and has the power to do it. And it has been said: those whom the Prophet ﷺ was commanded to say this to were people who worshipped the angels, ʿUzayr, and the Messiah, and some of them worshipped a group of the jinn.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word قُلِ ادْعُوا الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ فَلَا يَمْلِكُونَ كَشْفَ الضُّرِّ عَنْكُمْ وَلَا تَحْوِيلًا: he said: "The people of polytheism (shirk) said: We worship the angels and ʿUzayr — and they are the ones who are called upon, that is to say the angels, the Messiah, and ʿUzayr."

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : قُلِ ادْعُوا الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ فَلا يَمْلِكُونَ كَشْفَ الضُّرِّ عَنْكُمْ وَلا تَحْوِيلا (56) يقول تعالى ذكره لنبيه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم: قل يا محمد لمشركي قومك الذين يعبدون من دون الله من خلقه، ادعوا أيها القوم الذين زعمتم أنهم أرباب وآلهة من دونه عند ضرّ ينـزل بكم، فانظروا هل يقدرون على دفع ذلك عنكم، أو تحويله عنكم إلى غيركم، فتدعوهم آلهة، فإنهم لا يقدرون على ذلك، ولا يملكونه، وإنما يملكه ويقدر عليه خالقكم وخالقهم. وقيل: إن الذين أمر النبيّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يقول لهم هذا القول، كانوا يعبدون الملائكة وعزيرا والمسيح، وبعضهم كانوا يعبدون نفرا من الجنّ. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد بن سعد، قال: ثني أبي، قال: ثني عمي، قال: ثني أبي، عن أبيه، عن ابن عباس، قوله ( قُلِ ادْعُوا الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ فَلا يَمْلِكُونَ كَشْفَ الضُّرِّ عَنْكُمْ وَلا تَحْوِيلا ) قال: كان أهل الشرك يقولون: نعبد الملائكة وعُزَيرا، وهم الذين يدعون، يعني الملائكة والمسيح وعُزيرا..