Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   Allah, exalted be His remembrance, says: Zacharia said, after Allah had brought him the glad tidings of Yaḥyā: رَبِّ أَنَّى يَكُونُ لِي غُلَامٌ ("My Lord, how shall I have a boy?") — from where and in what manner shall this come to me, while my wife is barren and bears no children, and I myself have become too weak through advanced old age for intercourse with women? A request: strengthen me for that for which I have become too weak, and make my wife one who bears — for You are capable of that and of all that You will; or: let me marry another wife besides my barren wife? With these words he sought from his Lord certainty concerning the manner in which the child would be granted to him that Allah had promised him — not because he ﷺ denied the reality of what Allah had pledged to him of offspring. How could this be a denial on his part that Allah would grant him the child that He had promised him, while he himself was the one who had asked his Lord for it with the words: فَهَبْ لِي مِنْ لَدُنْكَ وَلِيًّا * يَرِثُنِي وَيَرِثُ مِنْ آلِ يَعْقُوبَ ("So grant me from Your presence an heir, who shall inherit from me and inherit from the family of Yaʿqūb") — after his words: إِنِّي وَهَنَ الْعَظْمُ مِنِّي وَاشْتَعَلَ الرَّأْسُ شَيْبًا ("Indeed, the bones within me have weakened and the head is white with greyness").

   Al-Suddī said the following concerning this: Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me — he said: ʿAmr related to us — he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: Jibrāʾīl called out to Zacharia: إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلَامٍ اسْمُهُ يَحْيَى لَمْ نَجْعَلْ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ سَمِيًّا ("We give you the glad tidings of a boy, named Yaḥyā, for whom We have not made before any namesake"). When he heard the call, Satan came to him and said: "O Zacharia, the voice you have heard is not from Allah; it is merely a satan mocking you. If it were from Allah, He would have revealed it to you as He reveals to you other matters." Thereupon he doubted and said: أَنَّى يَكُونُ لِي غُلَامٌ ("How shall I have a boy?") — that is to say: from where shall he come? وَقَدْ بَلَغَنِيَ الْكِبَرُ وَامْرَأَتِي عَاقِرٌ ("While old age has reached me and my wife is barren").

   His word: وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا ("And I have reached through old age a worn-out state") — that is to say: I have become so wasted through old age that my bones have become thin and dry. A dry stick is said to be "ʿātin" or "ʿāsin." The verb is: ʿatā yaʿtū ʿatiyyan wa-ʿutuwwan; and ʿasā yaʿsū ʿisiyyan wa-ʿasuwwan. Everything that has reached its utmost limit in old age, corruption, or unbelief (kufr) is called ʿātin or ʿāsin.

   In accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) also spoke.

   Mention of those who said this:

   Yaʿqūb related to me — he said: Hushaym related to us — he said: Ḥuṣayn informed us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "I knew the whole year, except that I do not know whether the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited aloud in the noon prayer and the afternoon prayer or not — and I also do not know how he recited this word: وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا or ʿisiyyan."

   Mohammed ibn Saʿd related to me — he said: my father related to me — he said: my uncle related to me — he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word: وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا — he said: "By al-ʿitiyy is meant: old age."

   Mohammed ibn ʿAmr related to me — he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us — he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me — he said: al-Ḥasan related to us — he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his word: عِتِيًّا — he said: "The drying out of the bones."

   Al-Qāsim related to us — he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us — he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — to the same effect.

   Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us — he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us — he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word: مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا — he said: "Old age; and he was in his seventies (bud ʿa wa-sabʿīna sana)."

   Yūnus related to me — he said: Ibn Wahb informed us — he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning his word: وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا — he said: "Al-ʿatiyy is the one who is worn out through old age as regards begetting children, according to his own judgment: he supposes that no child will be born to him anymore."

   It was related to me through al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj — he said: "I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us — he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning his word: وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا — he said: It is old age."

   Show original Arabic

   يقول تعالى ذكره: قال زكريا لما بشره الله بيحيى: ( رَبِّ أَنَّى يَكُونُ لِي غُلامٌ ) ومن أيّ وجه يكون لي ذلك، وامرأتي عاقر لا تحبل، وقد ضعُفت من الكبر عن مباضعة النساء بأن تقوّيني على ما ضعفت عنه من ذلك، وتجعل زوجتي ولودا، فإنك القادر على ذلك وعلى ما تشاء، أم بأن أن أنكح زوجة غير زوجتي العاقر، يستثبت ربه الخبر، عن الوجه الذي يكون من قبله له الولد، الذي بشره الله به، لا إنكارا منه صلى الله عليه وسلم حقيقة كون ما وعده الله من الولد، وكيف يكون ذلك منه إنكارا لأن يرزقه الولد الذي بشَّره به، وهو المبتدئ مسألة ربه ذلك بقوله فَهَبْ لِي مِنْ لَدُنْكَ وَلِيًّا * يَرِثُنِي وَيَرِثُ مِنْ آلِ يَعْقُوبَ بعد قوله إِنِّي وَهَنَ الْعَظْمُ مِنِّي وَاشْتَعَلَ الرَّأْسُ شَيْبًا . وقال السديّ في ذلك: ما حدثني موسى بن هارون، قال: ثنا عمرو، قال: ثنا أسباط، عن السديّ، قال: نادى جبرائيل زكريا إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلامٍ اسْمُهُ يَحْيَى لَمْ نَجْعَلْ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ سَمِيًّا فلما سمع النداء، جاءه الشيطان فقال: يا زكريا إن الصوت الذي سمعت ليس من الله، إنما هو من الشيطان يسخر بك، ولو كان من الله أوحاه إليك كما يوحي إليك غيره من الأمر، فشك وقال ( أَنَّى يَكُونُ لِي غُلامٌ ) يقول: من أين يكون وَقَدْ بَلَغَنِيَ الْكِبَرُ وَامْرَأَتِي عَاقِرٌ . وقوله ( وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا ) يقول: وقد عتوت من الكبر فصرت نحل العظام يابسها، يقال منه للعود اليابس، عوت عاتٍ وعاسٍ، وقد عتا يعتو عَتِيًّا وعُتُوّا، وعسى يعسو عِسِيا وعسوّا، وكلّ متناه إلى غايته في كبر أو فساد، أو كفر، فهو عات وعاس. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني يعقوب ، قال: ثنا هشيم، قال: أخبرنا حصين، عن عكرمة، عن ابن عباس، قال: قد علمتُ السنة كلها، غير أني لا أدري أكان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقرأ في الظهر والعصر أم لا ولا أدري كيف كان يقرأ هذا الحرف ( وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا ) أو (عِسِيًّا). حدثني محمد بن سعد، قال: ثني أبي، قال: ثنى عمي، قال: ثني أبي، عن أبيه، عن ابن عباس، قوله ( وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا ) قال: يعني بالعِتيّ: الكبر. . 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، قوله (عِتِيًّا) قال: نحول العظم. حدثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا الحسين، قال: ثني حجاج، عن ابن جريج، عن مجاهد، مثله. حدثنا الحسن بن يحيى، قال: أخبرنا عبد الرزاق، قال: أخبرنا معمر، عن قتادة، في قوله ( مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا ) قال: سنًّا، وكان ابن بضع وسبعين سنة. حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد، في قوله ( وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا ) قال: العتيّ: الذي قد عتا عن الولد فيما يرى نفسه لا يولد له. - حُدثت عن الحسين بن الفرج، قال: سمعت أبا معاذ يقول: ثنا عبيد بن سليمان، قال: سمعت الضحاك يقول في قوله ( وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا ) قال: هو الكبر.