Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of the words: هُنَالِكَ الْوَلايَةُ لِلَّهِ الْحَقِّ (There the authority belongs to Allah, the True One [18:44])

   Allah, the Almighty, says: then — that is, at the moment when the punishment of Allah befell the owner of the two gardens on the Day of Resurrection.

   The reciters differed in their recitation of the word "al-walāya." Some reciters of Medina, Baṣra, and Kūfa recited it as هُنَالِكَ الْوَلايَةُ with a fatḥa on the wāw of "al-walāya" — thereby intending the relationship of friendship (al-muwālāt) with Allah, as in the word of Allah: اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا (Allah is the protecting friend of those who believe) and His word: ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ مَوْلَى الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا (That is because Allah is the Master of those who believe) — they understood it as the relationship of friendship in religion. Most of the reciters of Kūfa recited it as هُنالِك الوِلايَةُ with a kasra on the wāw — derived from possession and authority, from the expression of one who says: I have taken upon myself the administration of such-and-such a task or such-and-such a land, with the meaning of "wilāya" (governance).

   The most correct recitation in my judgment is the recitation of the one who read it with a kasra on the wāw, because Allah immediately follows this with His report concerning His possession and His authority, and that the one upon whom His punishment has descended on the Day of Resurrection has no helper on that day. Following this with the report concerning His sole sovereignty and His authority is more fitting than the report concerning the relationship of friendship, which was not previously mentioned and for which the context gives no occasion. Those who say that the authority of Allah cannot be called "wilāya" (governance) — because this is a term for the governance of human beings — are mistaken: for the wilāya has the meaning that He administers the affairs of His creation, alone and without partners from among His creation. It does not entail that He is a monarch over them.

   The reciters also differed in the recitation of الْحَقِّ. Most of the reciters of Medina and Iraq read it in the genitive — as an adjectival qualifier of Allah — and the meaning of the sentence is then: there the authority belongs to Allah, Whose divinity is the True one, not the false divinity which the polytheists (mushrikīn) invoke as gods. Some reciters of Baṣra and a few of the younger reciters of Kūfa recited it as للهِ الحَقُّ — with a nominative on "al-ḥaqq" — understood as an adjectival qualifier of "al-walāya," with the meaning: there the True authority, not the false, belongs to Allah alone, without partners.

   The most correct recitation in my judgment is the reading with the genitive as an adjectival qualifier of Allah, and its meaning is what I described for the recitation of those who read it thus.

   The words هُوَ خَيْرٌ ثَوَابًا (He is the best in reward) — Allah, the Almighty, says: for those who return to Him, He is, in the present and the future, the best in reward. وَخَيْرٌ عُقْبًا (And the best in outcome) — He says: and the best in final destination in the Hereafter when the one obedient to Him — who acts according to what Allah commanded him and abstains from what Allah forbade him — arrives at Him. The "ʿuqb" is the final destination: one says "ʿāqibat amr kadhā" and "ʿuqbāh" and "ʿuqubuh" — that is its end and the destination to which it leads.

   The reciters also differed in the recitation of this: most of the reciters of Kūfa recited it as "ʿuqban" with a ḍamma on the ʿayn and a sukūn on the qāf. The correct view in our judgment is that both recitations are widespread in the recitations of the great cities and have the same meaning. Whoever recites with either of the two is correct.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : ( هُنَالِكَ الْوَلايَةُ لِلَّهِ الْحَقِّ ) يقول عزّ ذكره: ثم وذلك حين حلّ عذاب الله بصاحب الجنتين في القيامة. واختلفت القرّاء في قراءة قوله الولاية، فقرأ بعض أهل المدينة والبصرة والكوفة ( هُنَالِكَ الْوَلايَةُ ) بفتح الواو من الولاية، يعنون بذلك هنالك المُوالاة لله، كقول الله: اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وكقوله: ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ مَوْلَى الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يذهبون بها إلى الوَلاية في الدين. وقرأ ذلك عامَّة قراء الكوفة ( هُنالِك الوِلايَةُ ) بكسر الواو: من الملك والسلطان، من قول القائل: وَلِيتُ عمل كذا، أو بلدة كذا أليه ولاية. وأولى القراءتين في ذلك بالصواب، قراءة من قرأ بكسر الواو، وذلك أن الله عقب ذلك خبره عن مُلكه وسلطانه، وأن من أحلّ به نقمته يوم القيامة فلا ناصر له يومئذ، فإتباع ذلك الخبر عن انفراده بالمملكة والسلطان أولى من الخبر عن الموالاة التي لم يجر لها ذكر ولا معنى، لقول من قال: لا يسمَّى سلطان الله ولاية، وإنما يسمى ذلك سلطان البشر، لأن الوِلاية معناها أنه يلي أمر خلقه منفردا به دون جميع خلقه، لا أنه يكون أميرا عليهم. واختلفوا أيضا في قراءة قوله (الحَقِّ) فقرأ ذلك عامَّة قرّاء المدينة والعراق خفضا، على توجيهه إلى أنه من نعت الله، وإلى أن معنى الكلام: هنالك الولاية لله الحقّ ألوهيته، لا الباطل بطول (5) ألوهيته التي يدعونها المشركون بالله آلهة ، وقرأ ذلك بعض أهل البصرة وبعض متأخري الكوفيين ( للهِ الحَقُّ ) برفع الحقّ توجيها منهما إلى أنه من نعت الولاية، ومعناه: هنالك الولاية الحقّ، لا الباطل لله وحده لا شريك له. وأولى القراءتين عندي في ذلك بالصواب، قراءة من قرأه خفضا على أنه من نعت الله، وأن معناه ما وصفت على قراءة من قرأه كذلك. وقوله: ( هُوَ خَيْرٌ ثَوَابًا ) يقول عزّ ذكره: خير للمنيبين في العاجل والآجل ثوابا( وَخَيْرٌ عُقْبًا ) يقول: وخيرهم عاقبة في الآجل إذا صار إليه المطيع له، العامل بما أمره الله، والمنتهي عما نهاه الله عنه ، والعقب هو العاقبة، يقال: عاقبة أمر كذا وعُقْباه وعُقُبه، وذلك آخره وما يصير إليه منتهاه. وقد اختلف القرّاء في قراءة ذلك، فقرأته عامة قرّاء الكوفة (عُقْبا ) بضم العين وتسكين القاف. (6) والقول في ذلك عندنا ، أنهما قراءتان مستفيضتان في قراءة الأمصار بمعنى واحد، فبأيتهما قرأ القارئ فمصيب.