Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:255
Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the words of the Exalted: اللَّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ (Allah, there is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting Sustainer)
Abū Jaʿfar said: We have already given, in what preceded, the explanation of His word "Allah."
* * *
As for the explanation of His word "there is no god but He" (lā ilāha illā huwa): its meaning is the prohibition of worshipping anything other than Allah, the Living (al-Ḥayy), the Self-Subsisting Sustainer (al-Qayyūm), whose attribute is that with which He — exalted be His mention — described Himself in this verse. He says: "Allah," to whom the worship of creation is due — "the Living, the Self-Subsisting Sustainer," there is no god besides Him, no one worshipped besides Him. That is to say: worship nothing besides the Living, the Self-Subsisting Sustainer, whom neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes, and whose attribute is what is described in this verse.
* * *
This verse is a clarification from Allah — exalted be His mention — to those who believe in Him and in His Messenger, concerning that which the statements of those who differed over the clear proofs (al-bayyināt) brought forth — after the messengers, of whom the Exalted has informed us that He favored some of them above others — and they differed over that, and they fought one another over it, some of them in disbelief in it, and some of them in belief in it. So praise be to Allah, who guided us to its affirmation, and who enabled us to profess it.
* * *
As for His word "the Living" (al-Ḥayy): by it He means the One to whom belongs the abiding life, and the permanence that has no beginning bounded by a limit, and no end bounded by a term — since everything else besides Him, even if it is living, has a life with a bounded beginning and a stretched-out end, which ceases at the ceasing of its term, and ends at the ending of its limit.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said about this, a group of the exegetes has spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
5763 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His word "the Living": living, He does not die.
5764 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, the like of that.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of inquiry (ahl al-baḥth, i.e. the speculative theologians) have differed over the explanation of that.
Some of them said: Allah named Himself "Living" only on account of His governing affairs in their proper ways and His determining things according to their measures; thus He is living through governance, not through a life.
Others said: No, He is living through a life that is an attribute belonging to Him.
Yet others said: No, that is a name among the names by which He names Himself, and we say it in submission to His command.
* * *
As for His word "the Self-Subsisting Sustainer" (al-Qayyūm): this is the form "al-fayʿūl" derived from "al-qiyām" (standing/subsisting), and its origin is "al-qayyūwūm." The ʿayn of the verb — namely a wāw — was preceded by a quiescent yāʾ, whereupon both were assimilated and turned into a doubled yāʾ. Thus the Arabs do likewise with every wāw that forms the ʿayn of the verb and is preceded by a quiescent yāʾ. And the meaning of His word "the Self-Subsisting Sustainer" is: the One who takes charge of providing for what He has created and of preserving it, as Umayya said:
The heaven and the stars were not created, and the sun, with it together a moon that swims,
— the Guardian, the Sustainer has decreed it — and the bridge, and the Garden, and the Fire,
except for an affair whose matter is mighty.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
5765 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah "the Self-Subsisting Sustainer," he said: the One who watches over everything.
5766 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Jaʿfar, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "the Self-Subsisting Sustainer," the sustainer of all things, He guards it, provides for it, and preserves it.
5767 — Mūsā related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "the Self-Subsisting Sustainer," that is the One who subsists (al-qāʾim).
5768 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "the Living, the Self-Subsisting Sustainer," he said: the Subsisting, the Abiding.
* * *
The explanation of the words of the Exalted: لا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلا نَوْمٌ (neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means by His word "drowsiness does not overtake Him": no slumber (nuʿās) overtakes Him so that He would slumber, nor sleep so that He would sink into heavy sleep.
* * *
"Al-wasan" is the thickening of sleep, and of this is the saying of ʿAdī ibn al-Riqāʿ:
And a drowsy man, drowsiness has killed him, so that in his eye a drowsiness quivers, while yet he does not sleep.
And among the evidence for what we have said — namely that it is the thickening of sleep in the eye of a person — is the saying of al-Aʿshā Maymūn ibn Qays:
The bedfellow she offers, when she shows herself willing, still far from the slumber and before the drowsiness.
And another said:
In the morning the cups were brought to her in the slumber of sleep, and so it flows between the thorns of the sayāl-tree.
— that is to say: at her waking from sleep and the drowsiness of sleep in her eye. One says of this: "wasina fulān, fa-huwa yawsanu wasanan wa-sinatan, wa-huwa wasnān" (so-and-so drowsed, he drowses, a drowsiness, and he is a drowsy one), when that is the case.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
5769 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word, the Exalted, "drowsiness does not overtake Him," he said: drowsiness (sina) is slumber (nuʿās), and sleep (nawm) is sleep.
5770 — Muḥammad 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: "drowsiness does not overtake Him," drowsiness is slumber.
5771 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda and al-Ḥasan, concerning His word "drowsiness does not overtake Him," they both said: a slumbering.
5772 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, he said: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word "neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him," he said: drowsiness (sina) is slumber (wasna), and that is less than sleep, and sleep is sinking into heavy sleep.
5773 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him," drowsiness is slumber, and sleep is sinking into heavy sleep.
5774 — Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, he said: Yazīd informed us, he said: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, exactly the like of that.
5775 — Mūsā related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him," as for "drowsiness," that is the vapor of sleep that seizes the face, by which the person comes to slumber.
5776 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him," he said: "drowsiness" is the slumbering state between the sleeper and the waker.
5777 — ʿAbbās ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, he said: Minjāb ibn al-Ḥārith related to us, he said: ʿAlī ibn Mushir related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Rāfiʿ: "drowsiness does not overtake Him," he said: slumber.
5778 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word "neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him," he said: "the drowsy one" (al-wasnān) is the one who rises from sleep without being in his senses, until at times he even takes up the sword against his own household.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means by His word "neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him" only: no defects afflict Him, and no shortcomings touch Him. And that is because "drowsiness" and "sleep" are two states that overwhelm the understanding of the understanding man, and that snatch the one whom they afflict away from the state in which he was before they afflicted him.
* * *
The explanation of the words — since the matter is as we have described — is thus: اللَّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ الْحَيُّ (Allah, there is no god but He, the Living), who does not die — الْقَيُّومُ (the Self-Subsisting Sustainer) over all that is below Him, through provision, preservation, governance, and the conveying from state to state — "neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him," that which changes others does not change Him, and the alternation of states and the passing away of the nights and the days do not snatch Him away from that upon which He has been from all eternity; rather, He is the Abiding in one state, and the Sustainer of all created beings. Were He to sleep, He would be overcome and subdued, for sleep overcomes and subdues the sleeper. And were He to drowse, the heavens and the earth and all that is in them would be shattered, for the existence of all this rests upon His governance and His power, and sleep diverts the governor from governance, and slumber holds back the disposer from disposing through its drowsiness. As:
5779 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, he said: al-Ḥakam ibn Abān informed me, on the authority of ʿIkrima, the freedman of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word "neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him": that Mūsā asked the angels: Does Allah sleep? Then Allah revealed to the angels and commanded them to keep him awake for three days and not to let him sleep. They did that, and afterward they gave him two flasks and made him hold them; then they let him go and warned him not to break them. He said: He began to slumber, while they were in his hands, in each hand one. He said: He began to slumber and to wake, to slumber and to wake, until he once dozed off and struck the one against the other, whereby he broke them. Maʿmar said: It is only a parable that Allah has given; He says: thus are the heavens and the earth in His hands.
5780 — Isḥāq ibn Abī Isrāʾīl related to us, he said: Hishām ibn Yūsuf related to us, on the authority of Umayya ibn Shibl, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn Abān, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the pulpit relating about Mūsā ﷺ, he said: There arose in the heart of Mūsā the thought: Does Allah sleep — exalted be His mention? Then Allah sent an angel to him and kept him awake for three days, after which He gave him two flasks, in each hand a flask, and commanded him to guard them well. He said: He began to sleep, and his hands almost came together, then he would wake and hold the one away from the other, after which he slept once and his hands struck against each other and the two flasks broke. He said: Allah gave for him a parable: that if Allah were to sleep, the heaven and the earth would not stand fast.
* * *
The explanation of the words of the Exalted: لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلا بِإِذْنِهِ (To Him belongs what is in the heavens and what is on the earth. Who is it that intercedes with Him, except by His permission?)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means by His word "To Him belongs what is in the heavens and what is on the earth" that He is the Owner of all this, without partner and without equal, and the Creator of all this, to the exclusion of all gods and objects of worship.
And by it is meant only that worship is due to nothing besides Him, for the owned is only at the service of the hand of its owner, and it has no service to another except by his command. He says: everything that is in the heavens and the earth is My possession and My creation; it is not fitting, then, that any of My creatures should worship anything other than Me, while I am its Owner, for it is not fitting for the slave to worship anyone other than his owner, nor to obey anyone other than his master.
* * *
As for His word "Who is it that intercedes with Him, except by His permission": by it He means: who is it that intercedes for those whom He owns if He wills to punish them, unless He grants him leeway and permits him to intercede for them. And the Exalted said that only because the polytheists (mushrikīn) said: "We worship these idols of ours only that they may bring us nearer to Allah!" Then Allah — exalted be His mention — said to them: to Me belongs what is in the heavens and what is on the earth, together with the heavens and the earth as a possession; worship, then, is due to nothing other than Me, so do not worship the idols which you claim bring you nearer to Me, for they avail you nothing with Me and avert nothing from you, and with Me no one intercedes for anyone except by My leeway therein and with intercession for the one for whom intercession is made — by My messengers, My intimates, and the people of My obedience.
* * *
The explanation of the words of the Exalted: يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَلا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلا بِمَا شَاءَ (He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He wills)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means by it that He is the One who encompasses with knowledge everything that has been and everything that exists; nothing of that remains hidden from Him.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
5781 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Ḥakam: "He knows what is before them," the world — "and what is behind them," the hereafter.
5782 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "He knows what is before them," what has passed of the world — "and what is behind them," of the hereafter.
5783 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, he said: Ibn Jurayj said concerning His word "He knows what is before them," what has passed before them of the world — "and what is behind them," what will come after them of the world and the hereafter.
5784 — Mūsā related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "He knows what is before them," he said: [as for] "what is before them," that is the world — "and what is behind them," that is the hereafter.
* * *
As for His word "and they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He wills": the Exalted means by it that He is the Knowing from whom nothing remains hidden, who encompasses all of that, knowing it fully to the exclusion of all who are below Him — and that no one besides Him knows anything except that which He wills that he should know, so that He willed it and thus he knew it. And by it is meant only: that worship is not due to one who is ignorant of things; how then could that be worshipped which understands nothing at all, such as an idol and an image?! He says: devote worship sincerely to the One who encompasses all things and knows them, from whom the small and the great of them do not remain hidden.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
5786 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and they encompass nothing of His knowledge," he says: they know nothing of His knowledge — "except what He wills," namely that He makes them know it.
* * *
The explanation of the words of the Exalted: وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ (His Seat (kursī) encompasses the heavens and the earth)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes have differed over the meaning of "the Seat" (al-kursī) which Allah — exalted be His mention — has reported in this verse encompasses the heavens and the earth.
Some of them said: it is the knowledge of Allah — exalted be His mention.
* Mention of who said that:
5787 — Abū Kurayb and Salm ibn Junāda related to us, they both said: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Muṭarrif, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Abī l-Mughīra, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "His Seat encompasses," he said: His Seat is His knowledge.
5788 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, he said: Hushaym related to us, he said: Muṭarrif informed us, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Abī l-Mughīra, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the like of that — and he added to it: Do you not see His word وَلا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا (and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him)?
* * *
Others said: "the Seat" is the place of the two feet.
* Mention of who said that:
5789 — ʿAlī ibn Muslim al-Ṭūsī related to me, he said: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith related to us, he said: my father related to me, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaḥāda related to me, on the authority of Salama ibn Kuhayl, on the authority of ʿUmāra ibn ʿUmayr, on the authority of Abū Mūsā, he said: The Seat is the place of the two feet, and it has a creaking like the creaking of the saddle.
5790 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "His Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth" — the heavens and the earth are within the interior of the Seat, and the Seat is before the Throne (al-ʿarsh), and it is the place of His two feet.
5791 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word "His Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth," he said: His Seat which is placed beneath the Throne, upon which the kings set their feet.
5792 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAmmār al-Duhnī, on the authority of Muslim al-Baṭīn, he said: The Seat is the place of the two feet.
5793 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "His Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth," he said: When "His Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth" was revealed, the companions of the Prophet ﷺ said: O Messenger of Allah, this Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth, then how is the Throne? Then Allah the Exalted revealed: وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ (And they did not appraise Allah with His true appraisal) up to His word سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ (Glorified and exalted is He above what they associate as partners) [al-Zumar: 67].
5794 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word "His Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth," Ibn Zayd said: and my father related to me, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The seven heavens are in the Seat only like seven dirhams cast into a shield." He said: and Abū Dharr said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: The Seat is in the Throne only like an iron ring cast into a wide desert of the earth.
* * *
Others said: the Seat is the Throne itself.
* Mention of who said that:
5795 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, he said: al-Ḥasan used always to say: the Seat is the Throne.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: Each of these statements has an aspect and a tendency, but what is most fitting for the explanation of the verse is that which the transmission from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has brought forth, namely that which:
5796 — ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ziyād al-Qaṭawānī related to me, he said: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, he said: Isrāʾīl informed us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Khalīfa, he said: A woman came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: Pray to Allah that He admit me into the Garden! Then he glorified the Lord — exalted be His mention — and afterward he said: "Truly, His Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth, and He is seated upon it, and there remains of it no more than the measure of four fingers — then he pointed with his fingers and brought them together — and truly, it has a creaking like the creaking of the new saddle when one rides upon it, on account of its weight."
5797 — ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ziyād related to me, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Bakr related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Khalīfa, on the authority of ʿUmar, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, the like of that.
5798 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Khalīfa, he said: A woman came — and he mentioned the like of that.
* * *
And as for that which demonstrates its correctness from the outward meaning of the Qurʾān: that is the statement of Ibn ʿAbbās which Jaʿfar ibn Abī l-Mughīra transmitted, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on his authority, that he said: "It is His knowledge." And that is because of the indication of His word — exalted be His mention — وَلا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا (and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him) that it is indeed so, for He reported that the preservation of what He knows and encompasses with knowledge of what is in the heavens and the earth does not weigh upon Him. And just as He reported about His angels that they said in their supplication: رَبَّنَا وَسِعْتَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ رَحْمَةً وَعِلْمًا (Our Lord, You encompass all things in mercy and knowledge) [Ghāfir: 7] — so the Exalted reported that His knowledge encompasses all things. And likewise is His word "His Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth."
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the origin of "al-kursī" is knowledge. From this, the sheet upon which written knowledge stands is called "kurrāsa," and from this is the saying of the rajaz-poet in the description of a hunter:
* until, when he had captured her, he had acquired knowledge *
— that is to say: he knew it. And from this the scholars are called "al-karāsī" (the seats), because they are those upon whom one relies, as one says: "the tent-pegs of the earth." By it is meant that they are the scholars by whom the earth is kept in order. And from this is the saying of the poet:
Around them are people with white faces and a throng, seats (pillars of support) at calamities when they befall.
— by it are meant scholars concerning befalling events and presenting calamities. And the Arabs call the origin of every thing "al-kirs"; one says of this: "so-and-so is of noble kirs," that is to say: of noble origin. Al-ʿAjjāj said:
The All-Holy, the Lord of holiness, has known that Abū l-ʿAbbās is the most worthy of persons
* in the mine-place of the noble king of noble origin (al-kirs) *
— by it he means: the noble of origin. And it is also read:
* in the mine-place of the noble honor of noble origin (al-kirs) *
* * *
The explanation of the words of the Exalted: وَلا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ (255) (and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him, and He is the Most High, the Magnificent) (255)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means by His word "and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him": it is not difficult for Him and does not burden Him.
* * *
One says of this: "qad ādanī hādhā l-amr, fa-huwa yaʾūdunī awdan wa-iyādan" (this matter has burdened me, it burdens me, a burdening), and one says: "mā ādaka fa-huwa lī āʾid" (what burdens you, that is burdening for me) — by it is meant: what weighs upon you, that is weighing upon me.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
5799 — Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him," he says: it does not burden Him.
5800 — Muḥammad 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: "and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him," he said: the preservation of both does not burden Him.
5801 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word "and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him": it does not burden Him, the preservation of both does not tire Him.
5802 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan and Qatāda, concerning His word "and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him," he said: nothing burdens Him.
5803 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bazīʿ related to me, he said: Yūsuf ibn Khālid al-Samtī related to us, he said: Nāfiʿ ibn Mālik related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word "and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him," he said: the preservation of both does not burden Him.
5804 — Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us — and Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to us, he said: Yazīd informed us — they both said: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him," he said: it does not burden Him.
5805 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayd, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, the like of that.
5806 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: I heard him — namely Khallād — say: I heard Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Madanī say concerning this verse: "and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him," he said: it is not difficult for Him.
5807 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Maymūn, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah "and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him," he said: it does not grieve Him nor burden Him.
5808 — Mūsā related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him," he said: it does not burden Him.
5809 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His word "and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him," he says: the preservation of both does not burden Him.
5810 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word "and the preservation of both does not weigh upon Him," he said: the preservation of both is not difficult for Him.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The hāʾ, the mīm, and the alif in His word "ḥifẓihimā" (the preservation of both) refer back to السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ (the heavens and the earth). The explanation of the words is thus: His Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of the heavens and the earth does not burden Him.
* * *
As for the explanation of His word "and He is the Most High" (wa-huwa l-ʿalī): by it He means: and Allah is the Most High.
* * *
And "al-ʿalī" is the form "al-faʿīl" from your saying "ʿalā yaʿlū ʿuluwwan" (he rose high, he rises high, a rising), when something rises up — "fa-huwa ʿālin wa-ʿalī" (he is high and most high). And "al-ʿalī" is the Possessor of height and exaltedness above His creation through His power.
* * *
Likewise His word "the Magnificent" (al-ʿaẓīm): the Possessor of magnificence, beneath whom is everything, and so there is nothing more magnificent than He. As:
5811 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "the Magnificent," the One who is perfect in His magnificence.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of inquiry (the speculative theologians) have differed over the meaning of His word "and He is the Most High."
Some of them said: by it is meant: and He is the Most High above the peer and the likenesses — and they denied that the meaning of it would be "and He is the Most High in place." And they said: it is not permissible that a place should be devoid of Him, and it makes no sense to describe Him with highness of place, for that would mean describing Him as being in one place and not in another.
* * *
Others said: the meaning of it is: and He is the Most High above His creation through the highness of His place above the places of His creation, for the Exalted is above His entire creation, and His creation is below Him, just as He described Himself as being upon the Throne; He is by that exalted above them.
* * *
Likewise they differed over the meaning of His word "the Magnificent."
Some of them said: the meaning of "the Magnificent" (al-ʿaẓīm) in this place is: the Magnified (al-muʿaẓẓam), where the form "al-mufaʿʿal" has been transformed into "faʿīl," just as the matured wine is called "wine ʿatīq" (old wine), as the poet said:
And it is as though the old wine from the isfanṭ were mixed with clear, pure water,
while in reality it is "muʿattaqa" (matured). They said: His word "the Magnificent," then, means: the Magnified, whom His creation magnifies, holds in awe, and fears. They said: the statement of one who says "He is magnificent" can have only one of two meanings: the one is what we have described, namely that He is magnified, and the other is that He is magnificent in size and weight. They said: and in the invalidity of the view that the meaning of it would be that He is magnificent in size and weight lies the correctness of the view that we have given.
* * *
Others said: no, the explanation of His word "the Magnificent" is that He has a magnificence that is an attribute belonging to Him. And they said: we do not describe His magnificence with a modality (kayfiyya), but we attribute that to Him from the standpoint of affirmation (al-ithbāt), and we deny of Him that this should be in the sense of resemblance to the magnificence that is known among the servants, for that would equate Him with His creation, and it is not so. And these denied what the people of the view previously mentioned by us said, and they said: if the meaning of it were that He is "magnified," then it would be necessary that He had been non-magnificent before He created the creation, and that the meaning of it would lapse upon the passing away of the creation, for there is in these states no one who magnifies Him.
* * *
Yet others said: no, His word that He is "the Magnificent" is a description of Himself with magnificence. And they said: all that is below Him of His creation is in the sense of smallness, on account of their smallness in relation to His magnificence.
------------------
The footnotes:
(17) See the explanation of "Allah" in what preceded, part 1: 122–126.
(18) In the printed edition it reads: "and worship nothing besides Him, the Living, the Self-Subsisting Sustainer," but the correct reading is that of the manuscript.
(19) In the printed edition it reads: "of those who differ over the clear proofs," with the addition of the preposition "fī," which is an error that disrupts the sentence; the correct reading is that of the manuscript. "Al-bayyināt" is the subject of "jāʾat bihi" (brought forth), and "al-mukhtalifīn" (those who differ) is the object. The clause placed between the two dashes is a parenthetical clause, and his word after it "and they differed over that, and they fought one another over it…" is connected to his word "concerning that which… brought forth."
(20) In the printed edition it reads: "lā awwala lahu yaḥuddu" with a yāʾ, as a verb, and then the following word was made into "wa-lā ākhira lahu yuʾmadu," whereby a strange verb that does not exist in Arabic was introduced. In the manuscript it reads "biḥadd" without diacritical points, and the correct reading is with the bāʾ of the preposition at the beginning. And in it is "bi-amad" as I have established; al-amad is the limit at which one ends. He says: He has no beginning bounded by a limit from which it commences, and He has no end bounded by a term at which it ends.
(21) In the printed edition it reads: "wa-ākhirun maʾmūd," whereby something astonishing was likewise introduced in the alteration of the manuscript, with the digging up of a word that Arabic derivation does not permit and that was never used in any speech. In the manuscript it reads "mamdūd" as I have established it. It comes from their saying "madda lahu fī kadhā," that is to say: it is extended for him therein. Indeed, it is rather said that it comes from "al-madd," which is a period of time. And from "al-mudda" one uses: "mādadtu l-qawm," that is to say: I fixed for them a term at which they would end. And in the tradition: "Woe to Quraysh, war has exhausted them! What would it harm them if we granted them a term (mādadnāhum mudda)," that is to say: if we fixed for them a term, namely the time of the truce. Ibn Ḥajar said in his introduction to al-Fatḥ, p. 182: "His word (during the term in which Abū Sufyān was): that is to say, he fixed between himself and him a term of peace, and from this: (if they wish, I grant them a term — mādadtuhum). It is thus the form 'fāʿala' from 'al-madd.' And there is no doubt that the triliteral form of it is permissible, so that one may say: 'madda lahu mudda,' that is to say: he fixed for him a term at the end of which one ends. And it is as though I have read it in some of the biography-books, and I hope to obtain it and establish it, if Allah wills. The meaning of his word "wa-ākhirun mamdūd yanqaṭiʿu bi-nqiṭāʿi amadihā" is thus: an end for which a term has been fixed, which ceases at the ceasing of its limit.
(22) This is the first time that Ṭabarī uses "ahl al-baḥth" (the people of inquiry), by which he means the people of speculative reflection among the theologians (mutakallimūn).
(23) In the printed edition it reads: "fa-qulnāhu," and what is in the manuscript is likewise correct and good.
(24) This is Umayya ibn Abī l-Ṣalt al-Thaqafī.
(25) His dīwān: 57, and al-Qurṭubī 3: 271, and the tafsīr of Abū Ḥayyān 25: 277. In the printed edition and in al-Qurṭubī it reads "qamarun yaqūmu," which has no meaning; the correct is in the manuscript and in the tafsīr of Abū Ḥayyān. "ʿĀmati l-nujūmu taʿūmu ʿawman" means: they ran, as in their saying "sabaḥati l-nujūmu fī l-falaki tasbaḥu sabḥan."
(26) In all the sources it reads "wa-l-ḥashr," which is an error and a corruption about which there is no doubt with me. In the manuscript it reads "wa-l-ḥasr" without diacritical points, and the correct reading is "al-jisr" (the bridge) as I have established. In the transmission of al-Bukhārī: "then the bridge (al-jisr) is brought forth," Ibn Ḥajar said: that is to say al-ṣirāṭ, and it is like a bridge between the Garden and the Fire, over which the believers pass. It is not mentioned in the relevant chapter in the lexicons, and ought to be established there, for this is the cause of the corruption of this word. And in some sources it reads "wa-l-janna wa-l-naʿīm," but what is in Ṭabarī is the correct. Moreover, the poetry of Umayya has frequently been falsified.
(27) Al-khuthūra is the opposite of thinness; one says "khathara l-laban wa-l-ʿasal" and the like, when it thickens and clots together. The figurative meaning of this is their saying "fulān khāthir al-nafs," that is to say: heavy-spirited, neither cheerful nor energetic, having become weary. Ṭabarī used it brilliantly by ascribing to sleep "khuthūra," which is intense languor, as though its thinness vanished and it became stiff and heavy. This is an expression that I have not encountered before him.
(28) From verses of his in al-Shiʿr wa-l-shuʿarāʾ: 602, and al-Aghānī 9: 311, and Majāz al-Qurʾān 1: 78, and al-Lisān (w-s-n) (r-n-q), and in all of them are many references. Before the verse in which he mentions his beloved "Umm al-Qāsim":
And it is as though her, amid the women, his eyes have lent a dark-eyed gazelle from Jāsim,
drowsy, drowsiness has killed him… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
her speech captures the wakeful men, and her beauty flies away with the spirit of the dreamer.
Al-jāʾādhir are the wild cows, and they are beautiful of eye. Jāsim: a place where the gazelles are numerous. And "aqṣada-hu l-nuʿās": drowsiness killed him and did away with him. One says: "ʿaḍḍathu ḥayya fa-aqṣadathu," that is to say: it killed him on the spot — immediately. And "rannaqat" means: it mingled with his eye. Its origin is from the troubling of water, namely the befouling of it with mud until it overwhelms the water. And it is good to say that it comes from the "tarnīq" of the bird with its wings, namely its flapping when it beats its wings in the air and remains hovering still without flying; and this figurative meaning pleases me more in the poetry.
(29) His dīwān: 15, and it follows upon the verse that occurred earlier in 1: 345, 346, in the mention of women whom he enjoyed:
When they fought their peers, and the sword-fighting took place with what was in the "jawn" —
the bedfellow she offers… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
a ṣarīfī-wine, pleasant of taste, with foam between cup and vat.
His word "tuʿāṭī" comes from their saying about the woman: "hiya tuʿāṭī khillahā," that is to say: her beloved — that she offers him her kiss and saliva. And his word "aqbalat" is, in my opinion, in the sense of: she showed herself compliant, willing, and obedient, from "al-qubūl," which is contentment. The lexicographers did not mention that, but it is good Arabic, comparable to their saying "asmaḥat," from al-samāḥ, when she shows herself easy, yields, and consents to what her companion desires. And that, in my opinion, is the correct; it is not from "al-iqbāl" (turning oneself toward something), but from "al-qubūl." And one reads in place of it: "idhā sāmahā," and the transmission of the dīwān is: "far from sleep and at the drowsiness." Al-ṣarīfiyya: the pleasant wine; he called her ṣarīfī because she had at that moment been taken from the vat, like the ṣarīf-milk, namely the milk that flows warm from the udder when it is milked. In the dīwān it reads "ṣalīfiyya" with a lām, but the correct is with the rāʾ. He says: when she yields to her companion shortly after her sleep, or before her drowsiness, she offers him from her saliva pure wine that bubbles up with the foam between the cup and the vat, without any time having passed over her by which she would spoil. He says: her saliva is the wine, during her waking before the drowsiness — and that is the beginning of the languor of the spirit and the change of disposition — and after her sleep, while people's mouths are changed and their odors have become loathsome; he denies of her the defect in both states. And that occurs rarely among women or among others.
(30) This too is al-Aʿshā.
(31) His dīwān: 5, and al-Lisān (gh-r-b), from an exalted poem in which he comes to the mention of his beloved. He says before it:
And it is as though the old wine from the isfanṭ were mixed with clear, pure water,
in the morning the cups were brought to her… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Al-isfanṭ: the best and most expensive kind of wine. And "bākaratahā" means: at the beginning of the day, hastening eagerly toward it. And al-aghrāb is the plural of gharb (with fatḥa and sukūn), namely the cup. And al-sayāl: a tree with supple branches, with white thorns whose roots are like the front teeth of young girls, to which their teeth are compared. He says: when she sleeps, the pleasantness of her mouth does not change, but it is as though the wine flowed through between her front teeth, fragrant of aroma. And his word "bākaratahā l-aghrāb" is like his word in the earlier poetry that she is "ṣarīfiyya," that is to say: taken from her vat at her fragrance. He says: the cups were filled from it early in the morning, that is to say: the cups hastened eagerly toward it from her vat, and that is more pleasant for her.
Moreover, in the commentary on the dīwān it has come: al-aghrāb is the sharpness of the teeth and their whiteness, and he commented upon that at length, but I do not accept that; and what I have explained is in al-Lisān, and it is more deeply rooted in the poetry and in the understanding of it.
(32) That is to say: sleep is known, and drowsiness is something other than sleep. See the following transmission 5772 and what follows it.
(33) In the manuscript it reads "rīḥ" without diacritical points. And al-rīḥ here means: dominance and strength, as has come in the poetry of al-Aʿshā — or that of Sulayk ibn al-Sulaka:
Will you two wait a while during their heedlessness, or will you two run — for the wind (the upper hand) is for the assailant?
that is to say: the dominance. And perhaps it is also read as "al-ranḥ" (with fatḥa on the rāʾ and sukūn on the nūn), which is dizziness. And from this: "tarannaḥa mina l-sukr" when someone staggers from drunkenness, and "runniḥa bihi" (in the passive form with doubled nūn) when someone is spun around as though he were unconscious, or when a weakness in his bones overtakes him from a blow, fright, or drunkenness.
(34) The transmission 5777 — "ʿAbbās ibn Abī Ṭālib" is "ʿAbbās ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zibriqān," whose biography came earlier under number 880. And "al-Minjāb ibn al-Ḥārith," whose biography came earlier under number 322–328. And "ʿAlī ibn Mushir al-Qurashī" the Kufan ḥāfiẓ, transmitted on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī, Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, and Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid. Trustworthy (thiqa), died in the year 189. Described in al-Tahdhīb. And "Ismāʿīl" is "Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid al-Aḥmasī," transmitted on the authority of his father, Abū Juḥayfa, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Awfā, ʿAmr ibn Ḥurayth, and Abū Kāhil — and these are companions. And on the authority of Zayd ibn Wahb, al-Shaʿbī, and others of the great tābiʿūn. He was trustworthy and firm (thiqa thabt). Died in the year 146. Described in al-Tahdhīb. And "Yaḥyā ibn Rāfiʿ" Abū ʿĪsā al-Thaqafī, transmitted on the authority of ʿUthmān and Abū Hurayra, and from him Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid transmitted. Described in al-Kabīr 4/2/273, and Ibn Abī Ḥātim 4/2/143.
(35) In the printed edition it reads "yumāniʿ" with a yāʾ at the beginning, which is an error without any merit. He merely misread the fatḥa on the mīm in the manuscript, which was connected at its beginning.
(36) In the printed edition and in the manuscript it reads "wa-akhbaranī l-Ḥakam," and it seems that the correct is to omit the wāw: "akhbaranā Maʿmar qāla, akhbaranī l-Ḥakam ibn Abān," as I have established, for Maʿmar transmits on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn Abān. See his biography in al-Tahdhīb, and as it has come correctly in Ibn Kathīr 2: 11. And he said afterward: "And it belongs to the transmissions of the Banū Isrāʾīl, and it is something of which it is known that to Mūsā, peace be upon him, such a thing of the matter of Allah, mighty and exalted is He, would not remain hidden, and he is free of it." And Ibn Kathīr hit upon the correct, for the People of the Book ascribe to the prophets of Allah things which, had they left them, would have been better for them.
(37) The transmission 5780 — "Isḥāq ibn Abī Isrāʾīl — whose name is Ibrāhīm — ibn Kāmijrā, Abū Yaʿqūb al-Marwazī," resident at Baghdad. From him al-Bukhārī transmitted in al-Adab al-Mufrad, as well as Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, and others. Ibn Maʿīn said: "He belongs to the trustworthy among the Muslims; he never wrote down a transmission from anyone except what he wrote with his own hand on his writing-boards or in his book." Aḥmad disliked him on account of his hesitation concerning the question of whether the Qurʾān is the uncreated Word of Allah, whereupon the people shunned him, until the people would walk past his mosque while he sat in it alone without anyone approaching him. And Abū Zurʿa said: "In my opinion he does not lie, but he transmitted a rejected (munkar) transmission." Died in the year 240. Described in al-Tahdhīb. And "Hishām ibn Yūsuf al-Ṣanʿānī," the judge of Ṣanʿāʾ, trustworthy (thiqa). From him all the imams transmitted. He transmitted on the authority of Maʿmar, Ibn Jurayj, al-Qāsim ibn Fayyāḍ, al-Thawrī, and others. ʿAbd al-Razzāq said: "If the judge — namely Hishām ibn Yūsuf — relates something to you, you need not write from anyone else." Described in al-Tahdhīb. And "Umayya ibn Shibl al-Ṣanʿānī," heard from al-Ḥakam ibn Abān from Ṭāwūs. From him Hishām ibn Yūsuf and ʿAbd al-Razzāq transmitted. Ibn Maʿīn declared him trustworthy. Described in al-Kabīr 1/2/12, without any criticism being mentioned therein, and Ibn Abī Ḥātim 1/1/302, and Lisān al-Mīzān 1: 467. And the ḥāfiẓ said in Lisān al-Mīzān: "He has a rejected transmission, which he transmitted on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn Abān, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, ascending (marfūʿ): 'There arose in the heart of Mūsā, peace be upon him, the thought: does Allah sleep,' the transmission. Hishām ibn Yūsuf transmitted it from him, and Maʿmar diverged from him, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of ʿIkrima, and he made it interrupted (mawqūf), and that is closer to the truth. And it is not permissible that this should have arisen in the heart of Mūsā, peace be upon him; rather it has been transmitted that the Banū Isrāʾīl asked Mūsā about that." And Ibn Kathīr cited in his tafsīr 1: 11 these transmissions, and then said: "And the strangest of all this is the transmission that Ibn Jarīr transmitted: Isḥāq ibn Abī Isrāʾīl related to us…," and he cited the report, and then said: "And this is a strange (gharīb) transmission, and the most likely is that it is Isrāʾīlite and not ascending, and Allah knows best." And what Ibn Ḥajar said is sufficient concerning the matter of this report.
(38) See what came earlier in the explanation of "to Him belongs what is in the heavens…," 2: 537.
(39) See the meaning of "shafaʿa" (intercession) in what preceded 2: 31–33, and shortly before that: 382–384. And the meaning of "al-idhn" (the permission) in what preceded 2: 449, 450; then 4: 286, 370; then here 352, 355.
(40) This is the explanation of the verse of Sūrat al-Zumar: 3.
(41) The addition between the two brackets is indispensable.
(42) See the explanation of "al-iḥāṭa" (the encompassing) in what preceded 2: 284.
(43) In the printed edition it reads "akhliṣū," and I have established what is in the manuscript, and that is the correct.
(44) From the numbering, 5785 has dropped out, erroneously.
(45) The transmission 5789 — "ʿAlī ibn Muslim ibn Saʿīd al-Ṭūsī," resident at Baghdad. From him al-Bukhārī, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Nasāʾī transmitted, trustworthy (thiqa), died in the year 253. Described in al-Tahdhīb. And "ʿUmāra ibn ʿUmayr al-Taymī," he saw ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, and transmitted on the authority of al-Aswad ibn Yazīd al-Nakhaʿī, al-Ḥārith ibn Suwayd al-Taymī, and Ibrāhīm ibn Abī Mūsā al-Ashʿarī. He did not meet Abū Mūsā; the transmission is therefore interrupted (munqaṭiʿ). Al-Suyūṭī brought it out in al-Durr al-Manthūr 1: 327, and attributed it to Ibn al-Mundhir, Abū l-Shaykh, and al-Bayhaqī in al-Asmāʾ wa-l-Ṣifāt.
Al-aṭīṭ: the sound of the new saddle and the new leather strap, and the sound of the door; it is a continuous, harsh sound, not like the creaking (al-ṣarīr), but harsher.
(46) The transmission 5792 — Ibn Kathīr brought it out in his tafsīr 2: 13 by the way of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAmmār al-Duhnī, on the authority of Muslim al-Baṭīn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and attributed it to Wakīʿ in his tafsīr. And al-Ḥākim transmitted it in al-Mustadrak 2: 282, the like of that, interrupted (mawqūf) at Ibn ʿAbbās, and said: "Authentic according to the condition of the two shaykhs, but they did not bring it out." And al-Dhahabī agreed with him. Ibn Kathīr said: "And Ibn Mardawayh transmitted it by the way of al-Ḥakam ibn Ẓuhayr al-Fazārī al-Kūfī — and he is rejected (matrūk) — on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, ascending (marfūʿ), and it is likewise not authentic." And see Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid 6: 323, and al-Fatḥ 8: 149.
(47) The transmission 5793 — It has not occurred in the explanation of the verse from Sūrat al-Zumar.
(48) The transmission 5794 — The transmission of Abū Dharr, al-Suyūṭī brought it out in al-Durr al-Manthūr 1: 328, and attributed it to Abū l-Shaykh in al-ʿAẓama, and Ibn Mardawayh, and al-Bayhaqī in al-Asmāʾ wa-l-Ṣifāt. And Ibn Kathīr brought it out in his tafsīr 2: 13 and cited the wording of Ibn Mardawayh and its isnād, by the way of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd [Allāh] al-Tamīmī, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad al-Thaqafī, on the authority of Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī, on the authority of Abū Dharr.
(49) The transmission 5796 — "ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ziyād al-Qaṭawānī" is "ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Abī Ziyāda," whose biography came earlier under number 2247. And "ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā ibn Abī l-Mukhtār — whose name is Bādhām — al-ʿAbsī, their freedman," from him al-Bukhārī transmitted, and he and the rest transmitted from him through the intermediacy of Aḥmad ibn Abī Surayj al-Rāzī, Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Bukhārī, Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shayba, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥakam al-Qaṭawānī, and others. Trustworthy, truthful, of good transmission (thiqa ṣadūq ḥasan al-ḥadīth), he was learned in the Qurʾān and a leader in it, and the most firm of the companions of Isrāʾīl. Described in al-Tahdhīb. And "ʿAbd Allāh ibn Khalīfa al-Hamdānī al-Kūfī," transmitted on the authority of ʿUmar and Jābir, and from him Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī transmitted; Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned him among the trustworthy (al-thiqāt). Described in al-Tahdhīb. And thus Ṭabarī transmitted this transmission interrupted (mawqūf), and Ibn Kathīr brought it out in his tafsīr 2: 13 by the way of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Khalīfa, on the authority of ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him.
Ibn Kathīr said: "And the ḥāfiẓ al-Bazzār transmitted it in his well-known Musnad, as well as ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn Jarīr in their two tafsīrs, and al-Ṭabarānī, and Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim in his two books al-Sunna, and the ḥāfiẓ al-Ḍiyāʾ in his book al-Mukhtār, from the transmission of Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Khalīfa, and he is not particularly well-known. And in his hearing from ʿUmar there is doubt. Some of them transmit it from him, on the authority of ʿUmar, interrupted (mawqūf) — I say: as Ṭabarī transmitted it here — and some of them transmit it from ʿUmar as mursal, and some of them add to its matn a strange addition — I say: and that is the addition of Ṭabarī in this transmission — and some of them omit it. And stranger than this is the transmission of Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim concerning the description of the Throne, as Abū Dāwūd transmitted it in the book al-Sunna of his Sunan (number: 4726), and Allah knows best."
His word "qāla bi-yadihi" means: he pointed with it. And see what came earlier of the tafsīr of Ṭabarī concerning that in 2: 546–548.
(50) The two transmissions 5797, 5798 — "Yaḥyā ibn Abī Bukayr — whose name is Nasr — al-Asadī," Abū Zakariyyā, of Kirmānī origin. He settled at Baghdad, transmitted on the authority of [Shaybān] ibn ʿUthmān, Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭahmān, Isrāʾīl, and Zāʾida. From him the six transmitted, as well as Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Khalaf, and others [transmission breaks off].
