Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   And His word (and He has made me blessed (mubārakan)): the exegetes differed concerning its meaning. Some said: the meaning is: He has made me someone who benefits others.

   We mention who said that:

   Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥammād al-Ṭalḥī related to me, saying: al-ʿAlāʾ related to us, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha the wife of Layth, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning (and He has made me blessed): he said: someone who benefits others (naffāʿan).

   Others said: his blessing consisted in enjoining good and forbidding evil.

   We mention who said that:

   Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd ibn Khunays al-Makhzūmī related to us, who said: I heard Wuhayb ibn al-Ward — freedman of Banū Makhzūm — say: a scholar met a scholar who surpassed him in knowledge; he asked him: what is the most prominent part of my knowledge? He answered: enjoining good and forbidding evil, for that is the religion of Allah with which He sent His prophets to His servants. And the jurists (fuqahāʾ) are in agreement concerning the word of Allah: (and He has made me blessed, wherever I am) — and it was asked: what is his blessing? He said: enjoining good and forbidding evil, wherever he was.

   Others said that the meaning is: He has made me a teacher of the good.

   We mention who said that:

   Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Sufyān related to us concerning His word (and He has made me blessed, wherever I am): he said: a teacher of the good.

   Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word (and He has made me blessed, wherever I am): he said: a teacher of the good, wherever I was.

   And His word (and He has enjoined upon me prayer (al-ṣalāh) and the obligatory alms (al-zakāh)): that is to say: He has decreed that He would enjoin upon me prayer and the obligatory alms — that is: guarding the bounds of prayer and maintaining it as it has been imposed upon me. And in the zakāh there are two meanings: the first is the zakāh of possessions, that one renders it; the second is the purification of the body from the defilement of sins — then the meaning is: and He enjoined upon me the abandonment of sins and the avoidance of disobedience.

   And His word (as long as I live) means: as long as I am alive in this world and present. This makes clear that the meaning of zakāh in this context is the purification of the body from sins, because ʿĪsā — may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him — had as a characteristic that he kept nothing for the next day, so that the zakāh of possessions would not be imposed upon him — unless the zakāh that was imposed upon him meant the ṣadaqa with all that remained above his sustenance; then that too would be a correct interpretation.

   Show original Arabic

   وقوله ( وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَكًا ) اختلف أهل التأويل في معنى ذلك، فقال بعضهم: معناه: وجعلني نفاعا. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني سليمان بن عبد الرحمن بن حماد الطلحي، قال: ثنا العلاء، عن عائشة امرأة ليث، عن ليث، عن مجاهد ( وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَكًا ) قال: نفاعا. وقال آخرون: كانت بركته الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني سليمان بن عبد الجبار، قال: ثنا محمد بن يزيد بن خنيس المخزومي، قال: سمعت وُهَيْب ابن ابن الورد مولى بني مخزوم، قال: لقي عالم عالما لما هو فوقه في العلم، قال له: يرحمك الله، ما الذي أعلن من علمي، قال: الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر، فإنه دين الله الذي بعث به أنبياءه إلى عباده، وقد اجتمع الفقهاء على قول الله: ( وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَكًا أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُ ) وقيل: ما بركته؟ قال: الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر أينما كان. وقال آخرون معنى ذلك: جعلني معلم الخير. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني يونس بن عبد الأعلى، قال: ثنا سفيان في قوله ( وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَكًا أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُ ) قال: معلما للخير. حدثنا ابن حميد، قال: ثنا جرير، عن ليث، عن مجاهد ، قوله ( وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَكًا أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُ ) قال: معلمًا للخير حيثما كنت. وقوله ( وَأَوْصَانِي بِالصَّلاةِ وَالزَّكَاةِ ) يقول: وقضى أن يوصيني بالصلاة والزكاة، يعنى المحافظة على حدود الصلاة وإقامتها على ما فرضها عليّ. وفي الزكاة معنيان: أحدهما: زكاة الأموال أن يؤدّيها. والآخر: تطهير الجسد من دنس الذنوب; فيكون معناه: وأوصاني بترك الذنوب واجتناب المعاصي. وقوله ( مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا ) يقول: ما كنت حيا في الدنيا موجودا، وهذا يبين عن أن معنى الزكاة في هذا الموضع: تطهير البدن من الذنوب، لأن الذي يوصف به عيسى صلوات الله وسلامه عليه أنه كان لا يدّخر شيئا لغد، فتجب عليه زكاة المال ، إلا أن تكون الزكاة التي كانت فرضت عليه الصدقة بكلّ ما فضل عن قوته، فيكون ذلك وجهًا صحيحًا.