Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   Allah the Exalted says: this being, whose nature I have described to you and concerning whom I have given you tidings, regarding the matter of the boy whom Maryam carried — that is ʿĪsā, the son of Maryam; and this is his nature, and this is his tiding; and it is (the true statement) — that is to say: this tiding that I have told you is the true statement, and the words that I have recited to you are the word of Allah and His tiding — not the tiding of another, in which misunderstanding and doubt, addition and omission, are possible — in accordance with what Allah the Exalted says. So speak then concerning ʿĪsā, O people, this statement which Allah has conveyed to you about him — not what the Jews have said, who claimed that he had come forth from fornication and that he was a sorcerer and a liar; and not what the Christians have said, that he was a son of Allah — whereas Allah has taken no son, and this does not befit Him.

   The exegetes said something corresponding to what we have said here.

   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, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his word (that is ʿĪsā, the son of Maryam — the true statement): he said: Allah is the Truth.

   Yaḥyā ibn Ibrāhīm al-Masʿūdī related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: they used to say concerning this word in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh: he said: (those who doubt therein) — he said: the word of Allah.

   If one were to direct the interpretation of this word toward: that is ʿĪsā, the son of Maryam — the true statement — with the meaning: that is the true statement; whereby then the definite article and the genitival annexation of "statement" to "truth" would be elided, and it connected to the truth; as it is said: this is indeed the true certainty (ḥaqqu l-yaqīn) and as it is said: the promise of truth which they were promised — then that too is a correct interpretation.

   The reciters differed concerning the reading of this word. The majority of the reciters of Ḥijāz and Iraq read (qawlu l-ḥaqqi) — with qawl in the nominative — in accordance with the meaning I have described. And they made it, in its inflection, follow ʿĪsā, as a qualification of him. But the matter of its inflection is, in my opinion, not as those who claimed that it is a nominative as a qualification of ʿĪsā have held — unless the meaning of qawl be the word (al-kalima), in accordance with what we have related from Ibrāhīm as his interpretation of it, in which case it would be correct that it is a qualification of ʿĪsā; otherwise, in my opinion, its nominative is by reason of an implied clause, namely: "this is the true statement" as the commencement of a sentence — because the tiding concerning the story of ʿĪsā and his mother has reached its end at his word (that is ʿĪsā, the son of Maryam), after which a new tiding begins: that, in the matter of ʿĪsā, concerning which the nations are in doubt, it is the true statement, namely this statement which Allah has conveyed to His servants, and not another. But ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Najūd and ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĀmir read it in the accusative; it appears that by this they intended the infinitive (maṣdar): that is ʿĪsā, the son of Maryam — a true statement; and then the definite article and the genitival annexation were introduced into it. As for the transmission from Ibn Masʿūd that he read (dhālika ʿĪsā bnu Maryama qālu l-ḥaqqi) — that has the meaning of qawlu l-ḥaqqi, just as al-ʿāb and al-ʿayb, and al-dhām and al-dhaym.

   Abū Jaʿfar said: the correct reading in our view is the nominative, on account of the unanimity of the authoritative scholars (al-ḥujja) among the reciters concerning it. As for his word, Allah the Exalted — (those who doubt therein): that means: concerning whom they dispute and differ — from their expression: māraytu fulānan — when one disputes with and opposes someone.

   The exegetes said something corresponding to what we have said here.

   We mention who said that:

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word (that is ʿĪsā, the son of Maryam — the true statement, those who doubt therein): the Jews and the Christians have doubted concerning him; the Jews claimed that he was a sorcerer and a liar; the Christians claimed that he was the son of Allah, the third of three, and a god — and they have all lied. But he is the servant of Allah and His messenger, His word and His spirit.

   Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning his word (those who doubt therein): he said: they differed; a group said: he is the servant of Allah and His prophet, and they believed in him; a group said: he is rather Allah; and a group said: he is the son of Allah — exalted and glorified is Allah above what they say, with a lofty and great exaltation. He said: and that is his word the parties differed and that is in the Sūra of the Ornaments (al-Zukhruf). He said: Diqyūs, Nasṭūr and Mār Yaʿqūb — each of them, after Allah had raised ʿĪsā up: the one said: he is Allah; the second said: the son of Allah; the third said: the word of Allah and His servant. The two slanderers said: my word resembles yours, and yours mine, more than the word of this one; come, let us oppose them. They opposed them and trampled Israel, and drove them out; each people expelled its scholar. They disputed over ʿĪsā after he had been raised up; the first said: he is Allah — he descended to the earth, brought to life whom he willed, killed whom he willed, then ascended to heaven — and those are the Nestorians; the two others said: you lie; then one of the two others said to the other: you speak about him; he said: he is the third of three: Allah is a god, he is a god, and his mother is a god — and those are the Israelites, the kings of the Christians; the fourth said: you lie; he is the servant of Allah, His messenger, His spirit and His word — and those are the Muslims. Each of them had partisans for his word, and they opposed one another. The Muslim said: by Allah, do you not know that ʿĪsā ate food, whereas Allah the Blessed and Exalted eats no food? They said: by Allah, yes. He said: do you not then know that ʿĪsā slept? They said: by Allah, yes. And the Muslim defeated them in the debate. He said: the people opposed one another. It has been related to us that the Jacobites gained the victory that day and the Muslims were defeated; whereupon Allah sent down in this connection the Qurʾān: those who reject the signs of Allah and kill the prophets without right, and kill those among the people who command just dealing — give them tidings of a painful punishment .

   Show original Arabic

   يقول تعالى ذكره: هذا الذي بيَّنت لكم صفته، وأخبرتكم خبره، من أمر الغلام الذي حملته مريم ، هو عيسى ابن مريم، وهذه الصفة صفته، وهذا الخبر خبره، وهو ( قَوْلَ الْحَقِّ ) يعني أن هذا الخبر الذي قصصته عليكم قول الحقّ، والكلام الذي تلوته عليكم قول الله وخبره، لا خبر غيره، الذي يقع فيه الوهم والشكّ، والزيادة والنقصان، على ما كان يقول الله تعالى ذكره: فقولوا في عيسى أيها الناس، هذا القول الذي أخبركم الله به عنه، لا ما قالته اليهود، الذين زعموا أنه لغير رشدة، وأنه كان ساحرًا كذّابا، ولا ما قالته النصارى، من أنه كان لله ولدا، وإن الله لم يتخذ ولدا، ولا ينبغي ذلك له. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا القاسم، قال : ثنا الحسين، قال: ثني حجاج، عن ابن جريج، عن مجاهد قوله ( ذَلِكَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ قَوْلَ الْحَقِّ ) قال: الله الحقّ. حدثني يحيى بن إبراهيم المسعودي، قال: ثني أبي، عن أبيه، عن جدّه، عن الأعمش، عن إبراهيم، قال: كانوا يقولون في هذا الحرف في قراءة عبد الله، قال: ( الَّذِي فِيهِ يَمْتَرُونَ ) ، قال: كلم الله. ولو وُجِّه تأويل ذلك إلى: ذلك عيسى ابن مريم القول الحقّ، بمعنى ذلك القول الحقّ، ثم حذفت الألف واللام من القول، وأضيف إلى الحقّ ، كما قيل: إِنَّ هَذَا لَهُوَ حَقُّ الْيَقِينِ . وكما قيل: وَعْدَ الصِّدْقِ الَّذِي كَانُوا يُوعَدُونَ كان تأويلا صحيحًا. وقد اختلفت القراء في قراءة ذلك ، فقرأته عامَّة قرّاء الحجاز والعراق ( قَوْلُ الحَقّ ) برفع القول على ما وصفت من المعنى. وجعلوه في إعرابه تابعًا لعيسى، كالنعت له، وليس الأمر في إعرابه عندي على ما قاله الذين زعموا أنه رفع على النعت لعيسى، إلا أن يكون معنى القول الكلمة، على ما ذكرنا عن إبراهيم من تأويله ذلك كذلك، فيصحّ حينئذ أن يكون نعتا لعيسى ، وإلا فرفعه عندي بمضمر، وهو هذا قول الحقّ على الابتداء، وذلك أن الخبر قد تناهى عن قصة عيسى وأمه عند قوله ( ذَلِكَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ ) ثم ابتدأ الخبر بأن الحق فيما فيه تمتري الأمم من أمر عيسى، هو هذا القول، الذي أخبر الله به عنه عباده، دون غيره ، وقد قرأ ذلك عاصم بن أبي النجود وعبد الله بن عامر بالنصب، وكأنهما أرادا بذلك المصدر: ذلك عيسى ابن مريم قولا حقا، ثم أدخلت فيه الألف واللام ، وأما ما ذُكر عن ابن مسعود من قراءته ( ذلكَ عِيسَى ابنُ مَرْيَمَ قالُ الحقّ) فإنه بمعنى قول الحقّ، مثل العاب والعيب، والذام والذيم. قال أبو جعفر: والصواب من القراءة في ذلك عندنا: الرفع، لإجماع الحجة من القرّاء عليه. وأما قوله تعالى ذكره: ( الَّذِي فِيهِ يَمْتَرُونَ ) فإنه يعني: الذي فيه يختصمون ويختلفون، من قولهم: ماريت فلانا: إذا جادلته وخاصمته. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله ( ذَلِكَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ قَوْلَ الْحَقِّ الَّذِي فِيهِ يَمْتَرُونَ ) امترت فيه اليهود والنصارى; فأما اليهود فزعموا أنه ساحر كذّاب; وأما النصارى فزعموا أنه ابن الله، وثالث ثلاثة، وإله، وكذبوا كلهم، ولكنه عبد الله ورسوله، وكلمته وروحه. حدثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا الحسين، فال: ثني حجاج، عن ابن جريج، قوله ( الَّذِي فِيهِ يَمْتَرُونَ ) قال: اختلفوا ؛ فقالت فرفة: هو عبد الله ونبيه، فآمنوا به. وقالت فرقة: بل هو الله. وقالت فرقة: هو ابن الله. تبارك وتعالى عما يقولون علوًّا كبيرا ، قال: فذلك قوله فَاخْتَلَفَ الأَحْزَابُ مِنْ بَيْنِهِمْ والتي في الزخرف، قال دِقْيوس ونسطور ومار يعقوب، قال أحدهم حين رفع الله عيسى: هو الله، وقال الآخر: ابن الله، وقال الآخر: كلمة الله وعبده، فقال المفتريان: إن قولي هو أشبه بقولك، وقولك بقولي من قول هذا، فهلمّ فلنقاتلهم، فقاتلوهم وأوطئوهم إسرائيل، فأخرجوا منهم أربعة نفر، أخرج كلّ قوم عالمهم، فامتروا في عيسى حين رُفِع، فقال أحدهم: هو الله هبط إلى الأرض وأحيا من أحيا، وأمات من أمات، ثم صعد إلى السماء، وهم النسطورية ، فقال الاثنان: كذبت، ثم قال أحد الاثنين للآخر: قل فيه، قال: هو ثالث ثلاثة: الله إله، وهو إله، وأمه إله، وهم الإسرائيلية ملوك النصارى; قال الرابع: كذبت، هو عبد الله ورسوله وروحه وكلمته، وهم المسلمون، فكان لكل رجل منهم أتباع على ما قال، فاقتتلوا، فظهر على المسلمين، وذلك قول الله : وَيَقْتُلُونَ الَّذِينَ يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْقِسْطِ مِنَ النَّاسِ قال قتادة: هم الذين قال الله: فَاخْتَلَفَ الأَحْزَابُ اختلفوا فيه فصاروا أحزابا.