Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of the saying of Him whose remembrance is exalted: قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ لا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ (32)

   (They said: "Glory be to You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Truly, You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.") (2:32)

   Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a notification from Allah, exalted is His remembrance, concerning His angels — concerning their returning to Him, their acknowledgment that the knowledge of what they did not know belongs to Him, and their disavowal of the notion that they, or anyone else, would know anything except what He, exalted is His remembrance, has taught them.

   In these three verses there is instruction for whoever lets himself be taught, admonition for whoever lets himself be reminded, and clarification for whoever has a heart or listens while being attentive — concerning the subtleties of wisdom that Allah, exalted is His praise, has placed in the verses of this Qurʾān, which tongues are unable to describe.

   That is because Allah, exalted is His praise, herein adduced a proof in favor of His Prophet ﷺ against the Jews of the Banū Isrāʾīl who were in his midst, by initiating him into the knowledge of the unseen (al-ghayb) — knowledge into which He, exalted is His praise, had initiated none of His creatures except a chosen few, and which could only be obtained through report and notification — so that the validity of his prophethood would be confirmed for them, and they would know that what he brought them came from Him. And He demonstrated herein that everyone who gives report about what has already been — or about what will be of what is not yet — while no report about it has reached him and no proof of its correctness has been provided to him, is merely a fabricator, who thereby brings upon himself the punishment of his Lord.

   Do you not see that Allah, exalted is His remembrance, rejected His angels' saying: أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَنْ يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ (Will You place therein one who will cause corruption therein and shed blood, while we glorify You with praise and sanctify You?), to which He said: إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لا تَعْلَمُونَ (Truly, I know what you do not know). And He made known to them that the uttering of that saying was not permitted to them, by making them recognize the limitation of their knowledge when He presented to them the bearers of the names. Thus He said: أَنْبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاءِ هَؤُلاءِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ (Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful). Then there remained for them no recourse except the acknowledgment of their incapacity, and the disavowal before Him that they would know anything except what He had taught them, with their words: "Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us." Herein, then, lay the clearest indication and the most evident proof of the mendacity of the claim of everyone who claims something of the knowledge of the unseen — the soothsayers (al-ḥuzāh), the seer-priests (al-kahanah), the bird-augurs (al-ʿāfah), and the astrologers (al-munajjimah).

   And He thereby admonished those of the People of the Book whose affair we have described — by pointing out to them the former blessings He had bestowed upon their fathers and the favors He had granted to their forefathers — to their returning to Him and their turning to His obedience, thereby urging them toward the right path and thereby rousing them toward salvation. And He warned them that, if they were to persist and continue in wrongdoing and error, the punishment would befall them, similar to what He had caused to befall His enemy Iblīs, when the latter persisted in his error and corruption.

   He said: As for the explanation of His saying: "Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us," it is as follows:

   674 — Abū Kurayb related it to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Bishr ibn ʿUmārah related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "They said: Glory be to You" — as an exaltation of Allah above the notion that anyone other than Him would know the unseen — "we turn repentant to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us," as a disavowal of themselves from the knowledge of the unseen — "except what You have taught us, as You taught Ādam."

   And "subḥān" is a verbal noun (maṣdar) that admits no inflection. Its meaning is: "we glorify You," as if they said: "We glorify You with a glorification, and we exalt You with an exaltation, and we declare You free of the notion that we would know anything except what You have taught us."

   The explanation of His saying: إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ

   (Truly, You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.)

   Abū Jaʿfar said: The explanation of it is: that You, O our Lord, are the All-Knowing — without instruction — of everything that has already been and what will be, and the Knower of the unseen, in contrast to all of Your creation. That is because, with their words — لا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا (we have no knowledge except what You have taught us) — they denied of themselves that they would possess any knowledge except what their Lord had taught them, and they ascribed that which they denied of themselves to their Lord with their words: "Truly, You are the All-Knowing." By that they mean: the Knower without instruction, since everyone other than You knows nothing except through the instruction of another to him. And "al-Ḥakīm" (the All-Wise): that is the possessor of wisdom. As follows:

   675 — Al-Muthannā related it to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiyah related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "al-ʿAlīm" (the All-Knowing) is He whose knowledge is perfect, and "al-Ḥakīm" (the All-Wise) is He whose judgment is perfect.

   Some have said that the meaning of "al-Ḥakīm" is "al-Ḥākim" (the Judge/Ruler), just as "al-ʿAlīm" has the meaning of "al-ʿĀlim" (the Knower), and "al-Khabīr" has the meaning of "al-Khābir" (the Informed/Knowledgeable).

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   Footnotes:

   (131) Al-ḥuzāh is the plural of ḥāz: that is one such as the seer-priest, who estimates and approximates things on the basis of his conjecture. One calls the one who gazes into the stars and practices soothsaying ḥāz and ḥazzāʾ. In the report about Heraclius it is stated that he "was a ḥazzāʾ," and in the report: "Pharaoh had a ḥāz," that is, a seer-priest. And al-kahanah is the plural of kāhin: that is the one who occupies himself with reporting about future events and claims to know the secrets. In the printed edition it reads "al-qāfah" instead of "al-ʿāfah," which is a clear error, for physiognomy-divination (al-qiyāfah) has nothing to do here with what al-Ṭabarī intended; that is something true, not something false like the falsity of soothsaying, seer-priesthood, and astrology. And al-ʿāfah is the plural of ʿāʾif: that is the one who augurs from birds, drives them off, and derives good or bad omens from their names, their sounds, and their flight. The name of his occupation is al-ʿiyāfah, and in the report: "Bird-augury (al-ʿiyāfah) and scratching in the sand (al-ṭarq) belong to idolatry (al-jibt)." It is a form of seer-priesthood. And al-munajjim and al-mutanajjim: that is the one who gazes into the stars, calculates their times and their courses, and then establishes a connection between that and the states of the world and of people, in order then to make pronouncements, on the basis of conjecture, about the unseen of their affairs.

   (132) In the printed edition it reads: "in wrongdoing and corruption," but the correct reading is what is in the manuscript.

   (133) Report 674 is an abridgment of report number 606. In the printed edition it reads here "as a disavowal of themselves" (a different word form).

   (134) See the foregoing: p. 474, note number 3.

   (135) Report 675 is found in al-Durr al-Manthūr 1:49, and in al-Shawkānī 1:52.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى ذكره: قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ لا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ (32) قال أبو جعفر: وهذا خبر من الله جل ذكره عن ملائكته، بالأوبة إليه، وتسليم علم ما لم يعلموه له، وتبرِّيهم من أن يعلموا أو يعلم أحد شيئًا إلا ما علّمه تعالى ذكره. وفي هذه الآيات الثلاث العبرة لمن اعتبرَ، والذكرى لمن ادّكر، والبيان لمن كان له قلبٌ أو ألقَى السمعَ وهو شهيد، عمّا أودع الله جل ثناؤه آيَ هذا القرآن من لطائف الحكم التي تعجز عن أوصافها الألسن. وذلك أن الله جل ثناؤه احتجّ فيها لنبيه صلى الله عليه وسلم على من كان بين ظَهْرَانَيْه من يَهود بني إسرائيل، بإطلاعه إياه من علوم الغيب التي لم يكن جل ثناؤه أطلعَ عليها من خلقه إلا خاصًّا، ولم يكن مُدرَكًا علمه إلا بالإنباء والإخبار ، لتتقرر عندهم صحة نبوته، ويعلموا أن ما أتاهم به فمن عنده، ودلّ فيها على أنّ كل مخبر خبرًا عما قد كان - أو عما هو كائن مما لم يكنْ، ولم يأته به خبر، ولم يُوضَع له على صحّته برهان، - فمتقوّلٌ ما يستوجبُ به من ربه العقوبة. ألا ترى أنّ الله جل ذكره ردّ على ملائكته قِيلَهم: أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَنْ يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ قال: إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لا تَعْلَمُونَ ، وعرفهم أن قِيلَ ذلك لم يكن جائزًا لهم، بما عرّفهم من قصور علمهم عند عرضه ما عرض عليهم من أهل الأسماء، فقال: أَنْبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاءِ هَؤُلاءِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ . فلم يكن لهم مَفزَعٌ إلا الإقرارُ بالعجز، والتبرِّي إليه أن يعلموا إلا ما علّمهم، بقولهم: " سبحانك لا عِلْمَ لنا إلا ما علّمتنا ". فكان في ذلك أوضحُ الدلالة وأبينُ الحجة، على كذب مقالة كلّ من ادعى شيئًا من علوم الغيب من الحُزاة والكهنة والعافَةِ والمنجِّمة (131) . وذكَّر بها الذين &; 1-495 &; وَصَفنا أمرَهم من أهل الكتاب - سوالفَ نعمه على آبائهم، وأياديَه عند أسلافهم ، عند إنابتهم إليه، وإقبالهم إلى طاعته، مُستعطفَهم بذلك إلى الرشاد، ومُستعتِبَهم به إلى النجاة. وحذَّرهم - بالإصرار والتمادي في البغي والضلال - حلولَ العقاب بهم، نظيرَ ما أحلّ بعدوِّه إبليس، إذ تمادَى في الغيّ والخَسَار (132) قال: وأما تأويل قوله: " سبحانك لا علم لنا إلا ما علمتنا "، فهو كما:- 674 - حدثنا به أبو كريب، قال: حدثنا عثمان بن سعيد، قال: حدثنا بشر بن عمارة، عن أبي روق، عن الضحاك، عن ابن عباس: " قالوا سبحانك " تنـزيهًا لله من أن يكون أحدٌ يعلم الغيبَ غيرُه، تُبنا إليك " لا علم لنا إلا ما عَلَّمتنا "، تبرِّيًا منهم من علم الغيب،" إلا ما علَّمتنا " كما علمت آدم (133) . وسُبحان مصدر لا تصرُّف له (134) . ومعناه: نسبِّحك، كأنهم قالوا: نسبحك تسبيحًا، وننـزهك تنـزيهًا، ونبرّئك من أن نعلم شيئًا غير ما علمتنا. القول في تأويل قوله: إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ قال أبو جعفر: وتأويل ذلك: أنك أنت يَا ربنا العليمُ من غير تعليم بجميع ما قد كان وما وهو كائن، والعالم للغيوب دون جميع خلقك. وذلك أنّهم نَفَوْا عن أنفسهم بقولهم: لا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا ، أن يكون لهم علم إلا ما علمهم ربهم، وأثبتوا ما نَفَوْا عن أنفسهم من ذلك لربهم بقولهم: " إنك أنتَ العليم "، &; 1-496 &; يعنون بذلك العالم من غير تعليم ، إذ كان مَنْ سوَاك لا يعلم شيئًا إلا بتعليم غيره إياه. والحكيم: هو ذو الحكمة. كما:- 675 - حدثني به المثنى، قال: حدثنا عبد الله بن صالح، قال: حدثني معاوية، عن علي، عن ابن عباس: " العليم " الذي قد كمل في علمه، و " الحكيم " الذي قد كمل في حُكمه (135) . وقد قيل، إن معنى الحكيم: الحاكم، كما أنّ العليم بمعنى العالم، والخبير بمعنى الخابر. ------------- الهوامش : (131) الحزاة جمع حاز : وهو كالكاهن ، يحرز الأشياء ويقدرها بظنه . ويقال للذي ينظر في النجوم ويتكهن حاز وحزاء ، وفي حديث هرقل أنه"كان حزاء" ، وفي الحديث : "كان لفرعون حاز" ، أي كاهن . والكهنة جمع كاهن : وهو الذي يتعاطى الخبر عن الكائنات في مستقبل الزمان ويدعى معرفة الأسرار . وفي المطبوعة"والقافة" مكان"والعافة" ، وهو خطأ بين ، فالقيافة ليست مما أراد الطبري في شيء ، وهي حق ، لا باطل كباطل التحزي والكهانة والتنجيم . والعافة جمع عائف : وهو الذي يعيف الطير فيزجرها ويتفاءل أو يتشاءم بأسمائها وأصواتها وممرها . واسم حرفته : العيافة ، وفي الحديث : "العيافة والطرق من الجبت" . وهو ضرب من الكهانة . والمنجم والمتنجم : الذي ينظر في النجوم يحسب مواقيتها وسيرها ، ثم يربط بين ذلك وبين أحوال الدنيا والناس ، فيقول بالظن في غيب أمورهم . (132) في المطبوعة : "في البغي والخسار" ، والصواب ما في المخطوطة . (133) الخبر : 674- مختصر من الخبر رقم : 606 . وفي المطبوعة هنا"تبرؤًا منهم" . (134) انظر ما مضى : ص 474 التعليق رقم : 3 . (135) الخبر : 675 في الدر المنثور 1 : 49 ، والشوكاني 1 : 52 .