Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَلَنْ تَرْضَى عَنْكَ الْيَهُودُ وَلا النَّصَارَى حَتَّى تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى اللَّهِ هُوَ الْهُدَى

   (And neither the Jews nor the Christians will ever be pleased with you until you follow their creed. Say: Truly, the guidance of Allah, that is the true guidance.)

   Abū Jaʿfar said: By His saying — exalted be His praise — وَلَنْ تَرْضَى عَنْكَ الْيَهُودُ وَلا النَّصَارَى حَتَّى تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ (And neither the Jews nor the Christians will ever be pleased with you until you follow their creed) He means: and the Jews, O Muḥammad, nor the Christians will ever be pleased with you. So abandon seeking that which pleases them and accords with them, and devote yourself to seeking the good pleasure of Allah, by calling them to that of the truth with which Allah has sent you. For that to which you call them thereof is precisely the way to the coming together with you therein, in harmony and in the right, steadfast religion. And there is no way for you to please them by following their creed, for Judaism is the opposite of Christianity, and Christianity is the opposite of Judaism, and Christianity and Judaism do not come together in one person in one and the same state. And the Jews and the Christians will not jointly be pleased with you unless you were at the same time both a Jew and a Christian — and that is something that will never proceed from you, for you are a single person, and in you two contradictory religions will never come together in one and the same state. And when there is no way for their coming together in you at one and the same moment, then there is no way for you to please both groups. And when there is no way for you to that, then hold fast to the guidance of Allah, to which there is indeed a way to bring the creatures together in harmony.

   * * *

   As for "the milla" (creed): that is the religion, and its plural is "al-milal".

   * * *

   Then He said — exalted be His praise — to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Say, O Muḥammad, to these Christians and Jews who said: لَنْ يَدْخُلَ الْجَنَّةَ إِلا مَنْ كَانَ هُودًا أَوْ نَصَارَى (None shall enter Paradise except whoever is a Jew or a Christian): (truly, the guidance of Allah, that is the true guidance) — that is to say: truly, the declaration of Allah is the convincing declaration and the decisive judgment between us. So come to the Book of Allah and His declaration — wherein He has set forth for His servants that concerning which they differed, and that is the Torah, which you all acknowledge to be from Allah — so that it may become clear to you therein who of us is in the right and who is in the wrong, and who of us are the people of Paradise (janna) and who of us are the people of the Fire (al-nār), and who of us is upon the right path and who of us is in error.

   And Allah commanded His prophet ﷺ only to call them to the guidance of Allah and His declaration, because therein lies the refutation of the Jews and the Christians in what they claimed — namely that none shall enter Paradise except whoever is a Jew or a Christian — and the clarification of the affair of Muḥammad ﷺ, and that whoever denies him belongs to the people of the Fire, and not whoever holds him to be truthful.

   * * *

   The discourse on the explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَلَئِنِ اتَّبَعْتَ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ بَعْدَ الَّذِي جَاءَكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ مَا لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ وَلا نَصِيرٍ (120)

   (And if you were to follow their desires after the knowledge that has come to you, then you would have against Allah neither protector (walī) nor helper (naṣīr).) (120)

   Abū Jaʿfar said: By His saying — exalted be His praise — (And if you were to follow) He means: and if you, O Muḥammad, were to follow the desire of these Jews and Christians — in that which pleases them concerning you — by becoming a Jew or a Christian, and you thereby were to attain to pleasing them, and you therein were to fulfill their love — after that which has come to you of knowledge concerning their error and their disbelief (kufr) toward their Lord, and after that which I have recounted to you in this surah concerning their history — then you would have against Allah no protector (walī). By that He means: you would have, O Muḥammad, no protector who attends to your affair and a guardian who takes charge of it, nor a helper (naṣīr) who aids you against Allah, so that he might ward off from you what of His punishment (ʿadhāb) descends upon you, and shelter you against it, should your Lord cause that to come down upon you. And we have already set forth previously the meaning of "al-walī" (the protector) and "al-naṣīr" (the helper). (1)

   And it has been said: that Allah — exalted be His mention — sent down this verse upon His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ because the Jews and the Christians were calling him to their religions, and each party of them said: truly, the true guidance is that upon which we are, and not that upon which the others among us are, namely the remaining religious communities. Therefore Allah admonished him against doing that, and taught him the decisive proof between them in that which each group of them claimed.

   ----------------

   Footnotes:

   (1) See what has already preceded in this part, 2: 488, 489.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَلَنْ تَرْضَى عَنْكَ الْيَهُودُ وَلا النَّصَارَى حَتَّى تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى اللَّهِ هُوَ الْهُدَى قال أبو جعفر : يعني بقوله جل ثناؤه: ( وَلَنْ تَرْضَى عَنْكَ الْيَهُودُ وَلا النَّصَارَى حَتَّى تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ ) ، وليست اليهود ، يا محمد ، ولا النصارى براضية عنك أبدا ، فدع طلب ما يرضيهم ويوافقهم ، وأقبل على طلب رضا الله في دعائهم إلى ما بعثك الله به من الحق، فإن الذي تدعوهم إليه من ذلك لهو السبيل إلى الاجتماع فيه معك على الألفة والدين القيم. ولا سبيل لك إلى إرضائهم باتباع ملتهم، لأن اليهودية ضد النصرانية ، والنصرانية ضد اليهودية ، ولا تجتمع النصرانية واليهودية في شخص واحد في حال واحدة ، واليهود والنصارى لا تجتمع على الرضا بك ، إلا أن تكون يهوديا نصرانيا ، وذلك مما لا يكون منك أبدا ، لأنك شخص واحد ، ولن يجتمع فيك دينان متضادان في حال واحدة. وإذا لم يكن إلى اجتماعهما فيك في وقت واحد سبيل ، لم يكن لك إلى إرضاء الفريقين سبيل. وإذا لم يكن لك إلى ذلك سبيل ، فالزم هدى الله الذي لجمع الخلق إلى الألفة عليه سبيل . * * * وأما " الملة " فإنها الدين ، وجمعها الملل. * * * ثم قال جل ثناؤه لنبيه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم: قل يا محمد - لهؤلاء النصارى واليهود الذين قالوا: لَنْ يَدْخُلَ الْجَنَّةَ إِلا مَنْ كَانَ هُودًا أَوْ نَصَارَى -(إن هدى الله هو الهدى) ، يعني إن بيان الله هو البيان المقنع، والقضاء الفاصل بيننا ، فهلموا إلى كتاب الله وبيانه- الذي بين فيه لعباده ما اختلفوا فيه ، وهو التوراة التي تقرون جميعا بأنها من عند الله ، يتضح لكم فيها المحق منا من المبطل ، وأينا أهل الجنة ، وأينا أهل النار ، وأينا على الصواب ، وأينا على الخطأ. وإنما أمر الله نبيه صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يدعوهم إلى هدى الله وبيانه ، لأن فيه تكذيب اليهود والنصارى فيما قالوا من أن الجنة لن يدخلها إلا من كان هودا أو نصارى ، وبيان أمر محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم ، وأن المكذب به من أهل النار دون المصدق به. * * * القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَلَئِنِ اتَّبَعْتَ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ بَعْدَ الَّذِي جَاءَكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ مَا لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ وَلا نَصِيرٍ (120) قال أبو جعفر: يعني جل ثناؤه بقوله: (ولئن اتبعت)، يا محمد ، هوى هؤلاء اليهود والنصارى - فيما يرضيهم عنك - من تهود وتنصر ، فصرت من ذلك إلى إرضائهم ، ووافقت فيه محبتهم - من بعد الذي جاءك من العلم بضلالتهم وكفرهم بربهم ، ومن بعد الذي اقتصصت عليك من نبئهم في هذه السورة - ما لك من الله من ولي = يعني بذلك: ليس لك يا محمد من ولي يلي أمرك ، وقيم يقوم به = ولا نصير ، ينصرك من الله ، فيدفع عنك ما ينـزل بك من عقوبته ، ويمنعك من ذلك، إن أحل بك ذلك ربك.وقد بينا معنى " الولي" و " النصير " فيما مضى قبل. (1) وقد قيل: إن الله تعالى ذكره أنـزل هذه الآية على نبيه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، لأن اليهود والنصارى دعته إلى أديانها ، وقال كل حزب منهم: إن الهدى هو ما نحن عليه دون ما عليه ، غيرنا من سائر الملل. فوعظه الله أن يفعل ذلك ، وعلمه الحجة الفاصلة بينهم فيما ادعى كل فريق منهم. ---------------- الهوامش : (1) انظر ما سلف في هذا الجزء 2 : 488 ، 489 .