Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   Allah the Exalted says — while He reports the words that ʿĪsā spoke to the people: and He made me blessed and good (barran), that is to say: He made me one who is good toward his mother. Al-barr is the same as al-bārr; one says: huwa barrun bi-wālidihī — he is good to his father — or: bārun bi-hī. With an open bāʾ the reciters of the regions read this word. From Abū Nahīk it is transmitted what Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Muʾmin related to us, on the authority of Abū Nahīk, that he read: (wa-barran bi-wālidatī) — from the words of ʿĪsā, peace be upon him; Abū Nahīk said: He enjoined upon me prayer, the obligatory alms, and being good toward the parents, just as He enjoined me to that.

   It appears that Abū Nahīk directed the interpretation of the statement (wa-barran bi-wālidatī) such that this belongs to ʿĪsā's report concerning Allah's enjoining of it upon him — just as his statement (and He has enjoined upon me prayer and the obligatory alms) is part of his report concerning Allah's enjoining of that. On the basis of this view, the being-good (al-birr) ought to stand in the accusative on account of the governing effect of the enjoining upon it, for although prayer and the obligatory alms stand in the genitive in form, they have the meaning of the accusative because they are the objects of the action.

   And His statement (and He has not made me a haughty and wretched one): that is to say: He has not made me one who is arrogant toward Allah in what He has commanded me and forbidden me, wretched — but He has subdued me to His obedience and made me humble.

   As Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: it has been related to us that ʿĪsā used to say: ask me, for my heart is soft, and I am small in my own eyes — through the humility that Allah had given him.

   And Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning (and good toward my mother, and He has not made me a haughty and wretched one): it has been related to us that a woman saw the son of Maryam while he was raising the dead, healing the one born blind and the leper — among signs over which Allah had given him power and which He had permitted him — and she said: blessed is the belly that bore you, and the breast at which you were nursed. Whereupon the prophet of Allah, the son of Maryam, answered her: blessed is the one who has read the Book of Allah and followed what is in it — (and He has not made me a haughty and wretched one).

   Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Kathīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wāqid Abū Rajāʾ, on the authority of some people of knowledge, who said: you will never find a disobedient one (ʿāqq) but that you will find him to be a haughty wretched one; he then recited: (and good toward my mother, and He has not made me a haughty and wretched one). He said: and you will never find one who mistreats his slaves but that you will find him to be a conceited and overbearing one; he then recited: وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ مُخْتَالًا فَخُورًا .

   Show original Arabic

   يقول تعالى ذكره: مخبرا عن قيل عيسى للقوم: وجعلني مباركا وبرًّا: أي جعلني برًّا بوالدتي. والبرّ هو البارّ، يقال: هو برّ بوالده، وبارّ به، وبفتح الباء قرأت هذا الحرف قرّاء الأمصار. ورُوِي عن أبي نهيك ما حدثنا ابن حميد، قال: ثنا يحيى بن واضح، قال: ثنا عبد المؤمن، عن أبي نهيك أنه قرأ ( وَبَرًّا بِوَالِدَتِي ) من قول عيسى عليه السلام، قال أبو نهيك: أوصاني بالصلاة والزكاة والبرّ بالوالدين، كما أوصاني بذلك. فكأنّ أبا نهيك وجه تأويل الكلام إلى قوله ( وَبَرًّا بِوَالِدَتِي ) هو من خبر عيسى، عن وصية الله إياه به، كما أن قوله ( وَأَوْصَانِي بِالصَّلاةِ وَالزَّكَاةِ ) من خبره عن وصية الله إياه بذلك. فعلى هذا القول يجب أن يكون نصب البرّ بمعنى عمل الوصية فيه، لأن الصلاة والزكاة وإن كانتا مخفوضتين في اللفظ، فإنهما بمعنى النصب من أجل أنه مفعول بهما. وقوله ( وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْنِي جَبَّارًا شَقِيًّا ) يقول: ولم يجعلني مستكبرًا على الله فيما أمرني به، ونهاني عنه، شقيا، ولكن ذللني لطاعته، وجعلني متواضعا. كما حدثنا بشر، قال : ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قال: ذكر لنا أنه يعني عيسى، كان يقول: سلوني، فإن قلبي ليِّن، وإني صغير في نفسي مما أعطاه الله من التواضع. وحدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة ( وَبَرًّا بِوَالِدَتِي وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْنِي جَبَّارًا شَقِيًّا ) ذكر لنا أن امرأة رأت ابن مريم يحيي الموتى، ويُبرئ الأكمه والأبرص ، في آيات سلطه الله عليهنّ، وأذن له فيهنّ، فقالت: طوبى للبطن الذي حملك، والثدي الذي أرضعت به، فقال نبيّ الله ابن مريم يجيبها : طوبى لمن تلا كتاب الله، واتبع ما فيه ( وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْنِي جَبَّارًا شَقِيًّا ). حدثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا الحسين، قال: ثنا محمد بن كثير، عن عبد الله بن واقد أبي رجاء، عن بعض أهل العلم، قال: لا تجد عاقا إلا وجدته جبارًا شقيا. ثم قرأ ( وَبَرًّا بِوَالِدَتِي وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْنِي جَبَّارًا شَقِيًّا ) قال: ولا تجد سيئ المِلْكة إلا وجدته مختالا فخورا، ثم قرأ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُحِبُّ مَنْ كَانَ مُخْتَالا فَخُورًا .