Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The statement concerning the explanation of the word of Allah the Exalted: أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ كَانُوا مِنْ آيَاتِنَا عَجَبًا (9)

   Allah the Exalted says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: or did you suppose, O Muḥammad, that the companions of the cave (al-kahf) and the Raqīm were something marvelous among Our signs? For what I have created of the heavens and the earth, and the wonders therein, is more marvelous than the matter of the companions of the cave — and My proof thereby is firm against these polytheists (mushrikīn) of your people, and against others among all My servants.

   The exegetes said something in agreement with what we have mentioned here.

   We mention who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us — and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — all together on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning (or did you suppose that the companions of the cave and the Raqīm were something marvelous among Our signs): Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr mentioned in his narration: they were not the most marvelous among Our signs; and al-Ḥārith mentioned in his narration in their wording: the most marvelous of Our signs — they are not the most marvelous of Our signs.

   Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: (or did you suppose that the companions of the cave and the Raqīm were something marvelous among Our signs): they used to say: they are a wonder.

   Bishr related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: (or did you suppose that the companions of the cave and the Raqīm were something marvelous among Our signs): he says: there was among Our signs what was more marvelous than that.

   Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, concerning (or did you suppose that the companions of the cave and the Raqīm were something marvelous among Our signs): that is to say: and what worth they had, compared with what I have done in creation, and the proofs that I have set up for the servants — that is greater than that.

   Others said: rather the meaning is: or did you suppose, O Muḥammad, that the companions of the cave and the Raqīm were something marvelous among Our signs — for what I have given you of knowledge and wisdom is more excellent.

   We mention 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: (or did you suppose that the companions of the cave and the Raqīm were something marvelous among Our signs): he says: what I have given you of knowledge, the Sunna and the Book is more excellent than the matter of the companions of the cave and the Raqīm.

   We have held that the first statement is the correct explanation of the verse, because Allah the Exalted revealed the story of the companions of the cave to His prophet as a proof against the polytheists of his people — as we have mentioned in the narration of Ibn ʿAbbās, when they asked him about it to test him, whether he would answer with that which would prove his truthfulness. That they were furnished with something that pointed against them more strongly as a proof than that about which they asked and concerning which they claimed they would believe if an answer were given — that is more fitting than a report about the favors Allah bestowed upon His messenger.

   As for the cave: it is the cave in the mountain to which the people took refuge, whose story Allah has told in this sura.

   As for the Raqīm: the exegetes differed concerning the meaning intended. Some said: it is the name of a village, or of a valley — though they differed therein.

   We mention who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, they said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Shaybānī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Kaʿb claims that the Raqīm is the village.

   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 (or did you suppose that the companions of the cave and the Raqīm): he said: the Raqīm is a valley between ʿUsfān and Ayla, beyond Palestine, close to Ayla.

   Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard my father, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, who said: the Raqīm is a valley.

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word (or did you suppose that the companions of the cave and the Raqīm): we used to say that the Raqīm is the valley in which the companions of the cave dwell.

   Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Simāk ibn Ḥarb, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word (the Raqīm): he said: Kaʿb claims that it is the village.

   Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word (the Raqīm): he said: some say: the Raqīm is a writing of theirs; and some say: it is the valley in which their cave is located.

   It was related to us concerning al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say, saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, who said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say: the cave is the cavern of the valley, and the Raqīm is the name of the valley.

   Others said: the Raqīm is the writing (al-kitāb).

   We mention who said that:

   ʿAlī related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (or did you suppose that the companions of the cave and the Raqīm): he says: the writing.

   Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Ibn Qays, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: the Raqīm is a stone slab on which they wrote the story of the companions of the cave, which they then placed at the entrance of the cave.

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: the Raqīm is a writing; and that writing has a report — but Allah did not tell us about that writing and we were not informed about it. And he recited: and what will make you know what the ʿIlliyyūn are? An inscribed book (kitābun marqūm), to which those brought near bear witness and and what will make you know what the Sijjīn is? An inscribed book .

   Others said: rather it is the name of the mountain of the companions of the cave.

   We mention who said that:

   Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: the Raqīm is the mountain in which the cave is located.

   Abū Jaʿfar said: and it is said that the name of that mountain is Bānājilūs.

   That was related to us by Ibn Ḥumayd, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: and it is said that its name is Banjilūs.

   Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Wahb ibn Sulaymān informed me, on the authority of Shuʿayb al-Jabaʾī, that the name of the mountain of the cave is Bānājilūs, the name of the cave is Ḥayzam, and the name of the dog is Ḥumrān.

   It has also been related from Ibn ʿAbbās concerning the Raqīm what al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Isrāʾīl informed us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the entire Qurʾān I know, except for Ḥanānan, al-Awwāh and al-Raqīm.

   Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: ʿAmr ibn Dīnār informed me, that he heard ʿIkrima say: Ibn ʿAbbās said: I do not know what the Raqīm is — is it a writing, or a building?

   The most correct of these statements concerning the Raqīm in my view is that thereby is intended a slab, or a stone, or something upon which a writing has been inscribed. The historians say that it was a slab on which the names of the companions of the cave and their story were written, when they took refuge in the cave.

   Some said thereafter: that slab was stored in the treasury of the king; others said: it was placed at the entrance of their cave; and some said: it was kept with some people from their city. The word al-raqīm is a faʿīl form, whose original form is marqūm, which was then converted into faʿīl, just as al-majrūḥ (the wounded) becomes jarīḥ, and al-maqtūl (the slain) becomes qatīl. One says: raqamtu kadhā wa-kadhā — when one writes something down; hence one also says raqm for the marking on a garment, because it is the notation by which its price becomes known; and hence the snake is called arqam because of the spots on its skin. The Arabs say: keep to the raqma (the marking of the valley) and let go of the ṣaffa (the side) — with the meaning: keep to the raqma of the valley where the water is, and let go of the extended bank. The ṣaffatān are the two sides of the valley. I suspect that the one who said the Raqīm is the valley explained this word on that basis — namely the raqma of the valley.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ كَانُوا مِنْ آيَاتِنَا عَجَبًا (9) يقول تعالى ذكره لنبيه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم: أم حسبت يا محمد أن أصحاب الكهف والرقيم كانوا من آياتنا عجبا، فإن ما خلقت من السماوات والأرض، وما فيهنّ من العجائب أعجب من أمر أصحاب الكهف، وحجتي بكل ذلك ثابتة على هؤلاء المشركين من قومك، وغيرهم من سائر عبادي. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك، قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد بن عمرو، قال: ثنا أبو عاصم، قال: ثنا عيسى ، وحدثني الحارث، قال: ثنا الحسن قال: ثنا ورقاء، جميعا عن ابن أبي نجيح ، عن مجاهد ( أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ كَانُوا مِنْ آيَاتِنَا عَجَبًا ) قال محمد بن عمرو في حديثه، قال: ليسوا عجبا بأعجب آياتنا ، وقال الحارث في حديثه بقولهم: أعجب آياتنا: ليسوا أعجب آياتنا. حدثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا الحسين، قال: ثني حجاج، عن ابن جريج، عن مجاهد، قوله: ( أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ كَانُوا مِنْ آيَاتِنَا عَجَبًا ) كانوا يقولون هم عجب. حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله: ( أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ كَانُوا مِنْ آيَاتِنَا عَجَبًا ) يقول: قد كان من آياتنا ما هو أعجب من ذلك. حدثنا ابن حميد، قال: ثنا سلمة، عن ابن إسحاق ( أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ كَانُوا مِنْ آيَاتِنَا عَجَبًا ) أي وما قدروا من قَدْر فيما صنعت من أمر الخلائق، وما وضعت على العباد من حججي ما هو أعظم من ذلك. وقال آخرون: بل معنى ذلك: أم حسبت يا محمد أن أصحاب الكهف والرقيم كانوا من آياتنا عَجَبا، فإن الذي آتيتك من العلم والحكمة أفضل منه. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد بن سعد، قال: ثني أبي، قال: ثني عمي، قال: ثني أبي، عن أبيه، عن ابن عباس، قوله: ( أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ كَانُوا مِنْ آيَاتِنَا عَجَبًا ) يقول: الذي آتيتك من العلم والسنة والكتاب أفضل من شأن أصحاب الكهف والرقيم. وإنما قلنا: إن القول الأول أولى بتأويل الآية، لأنّ الله عزّ وجلّ أنـزل قصة أصحاب الكهف على نبيه احتجاجا بها على المشركين من قومه على ما ذكرنا في الرواية عن ابن عباس، إذ سألوه عنها اختبارا منهم له بالجواب عنها صدقه، فكان تقريعهم بتكذييهم بما هو أوكد عليهم في الحجة مما سألوا عنهم، وزعموا أنهم يؤمنون عند الإجابة عنه أشبه من الخبر عما أنعم الله على رسوله من النعم. وأما الكهف، فإنه كهف الجبل الذي أوى إليه القوم الذين قصّ الله شأنهم في هذه السورة. وأما الرقيم، فإن أهل التأويل اختلفوا في المعنيّ به، فقال بعضهم : هو اسم قرية، أو واد على اختلاف بينهم في ذلك. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا محمد بن بشار، قال: ثنا يحيى بن عبد الأعلى وعبد الرحمن، قالا ثنا سفيان، عن الشيباني، عن عكرمة، عن ابن عباس، قال: يزعم كعب أن الرقيم: القرية. حدثني محمد بن سعد، قال: ثني أبي، قال: ثني عمي، قال: ثني أبي، عن أبيه، عن ابن عباس ( أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ ) قال: الرقيم: واد بين عُسْفان وأيَلة دون فلسطين، وهو قريب من أيَلة. حدثنا أبو كريب، قال: ثنا ابن إدريس، قال: سمعت أبي، عن عطية، قال: الرقيم: واد. حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله ( أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ ) كنَّا نحدّث أن الرقيم: الوادي الذي فيه أصحاب الكهف. حدثنا الحسن بن يحيى، قال: أخبرنا عبد الرزاق، قال: أخبرنا الثوري، عن سماك بن حرب، عن عكرمة، عن ابن عباس، في قوله (الرَّقِيمِ) قال: يزعم كعب: أنها القرية. حدثنا الحسن بن يحيى، قال: أخبرنا عبد الرزاق، قال: أخبرنا معمر، عن ابن أبي نجيح عن مجاهد ، في قوله: (الرَّقِيمِ) قال: يقول بعضهم: الرقيم: كتاب تبانهم ، ويقول بعضهم: هو الوادي الذي فيه كهفهم. حدثنا عن الحسين بن الفرج، قال: سمعت أبا معاذ، قال: ثنا عبيد بن سليمان ، قال: سمعت الضحاك يقول: أما الكهف: فهو غار الوادي، والرقيم : اسم الوادي. وقال آخرون: الرقيم: الكتاب. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا عليّ، قال: ثنا عبد الله، قال: ثني معاوية، عن عليّ، عن ابن عباس، قوله: ( أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ ) يقول: الكتاب. حدثنا أبو كريب، قال: ثنا ابن إدريس، قال: ثنا أبي، عن ابن قيس، عن سعيد بن جبير، قال: الرقيم: لوح من حجارة كتبوا فيه قصص أصحاب الكهف، ثم وضعوه على باب الكهف. حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد: الرقيم: كتاب، ولذلك الكتاب خبر فلم يخبر الله عن ذلك الكتاب وعنا فيه، وقرأ: وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا عِلِّيُّونَ * كِتَابٌ مَرْقُومٌ * يَشْهَدُهُ الْمُقَرَّبُونَ ، وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا سِجِّينٌ * كِتَابٌ مَرْقُومٌ . وقال آخرون: بل هو اسم جبل أصحاب الكهف. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا الحسين، قال: ثني حجاج ، عن ابن جريج، قال: قال ابن عباس: الرقيم: الجبل الذي فيه الكهف. قال أبو جعفر: وقد قيل إن اسم ذلك الجبل: بناجلوس. حدثنا بذلك ابن حميد، قال: ثنا سلمة، عن ابن إسحاق، عن عبد الله بن أبي نجيح، عن مجاهد، عن ابن عباس: وقد قيل: إن اسمه بنجلوس. حدثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا الحسين، قال : ثني حجاج، عن ابن جريج، قال: أخبرني وهب بن سليمان عن شعيب الجَبئي (4) أن اسم جبل الكهف: بناجلوس. واسم الكهف: حيزم. والكلب : حُمران. وقد روي عن ابن عباس في الرقيم ما حدثنا به الحسن، قال: أخبرنا عبد الرزاق، قال: أخبرنا إسرائيل عن سماك، عن عكرمة، عن ابن عباس قال: كل القرآن أعلمه، إلا حنانا، والأوّاه، والرقيم. حدثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا الحسين، قال: ثني حجاج، عن ابن جريج، قال: أخبرني عمرو بن دينار، أنه سمع عكرمة يقول: قال ابن عباس: ما أدري ما الرقيم، أكتاب، أم بنيان؟ . وأولى هذه الأقوال بالصواب في الرقيم أن يكون معنيا به: لوح، أو حجر، أو شيء كُتب فيه كتاب، وقد قال أهل الأخبار: إن ذلك لوح كتب فيه أسماء أصحاب الكهف وخبرهم حين أوَوْا إلى الكهف. ثم قال بعضهم: رُفع ذلك اللوح في خزانة الملك، وقال بعضهم: بل جُعل على باب كهفهم، وقال بعضهم: بل كان ذلك محفوظا عند بعض أهل بلدهم ، وإنما الرقيم: فعيل، أصله: مرقوم، ثم صُرف إلى فعيل، كما قيل للمجروح: جريح، وللمقتول: قتيل، يقال منه: رقمت كذا وكذا: إذا كتبته، ومنه قيل للرقم في الثوب رقم، لأنه الخطّ الذي يعرف به ثمنه ، ومن ذلك قيل للحيَّة: أرقم، لما فيه من الآثار ، والعرب تقول: عليك بالرقمة، ودع الضفة: بمعنى عليك برقمة الوادي حيث الماء، ودع الضفة الجانبة. والضفتان: جانبا الوادي، وأحسب أن الذي قال الرقيم: الوادي، ذهب به إلى هذا، أعني به إلى رقمة الوادي.