Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:41
And believe in what I have sent down confirming that which is [already] with you, and be not the first to disbelieve in it. And do not exchange My signs for a small price, and fear [only] Me.
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.
Explanation of the meaning of His statement, the Exalted: وَآمِنُوا بِمَا أَنْـزَلْتُ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا مَعَكُمْ (And believe in what I have sent down confirming that which you already possess)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His statement, exalted be His praise, "believe", He means: affirm as truth (ṣaddiqū), as we have already provided the explanation of that earlier.⁽³⁷⁾ And by His statement "in what I have sent down" He means what was sent down to Muḥammad ﷺ of the Qurʾān. And by His statement "confirming that which you already possess" He means that the Qurʾān is a confirmation of what the Jews of the Children of Israel possess of the Torah. So He commanded them to acknowledge the Qurʾān as true, and He informed them, exalted be His praise, that in their acknowledgment of the Qurʾān there is likewise contained an acknowledgment by them of the Torah, because what is in the Qurʾān of the command to acknowledge the prophethood of Muḥammad ﷺ, to declare him truthful, and to follow him, is of the same kind as what is in the Torah and the Gospel concerning that. So in their acknowledgment of what was sent down to Muḥammad there is an acknowledgment by them of what they possess of the Torah, and in their denial of it there is a denial by them of what they possess of the Torah.
His statement "confirming" (muṣaddiqan) is a ḥāl (circumstantial qualifier) derived from the omitted pronominal reference in "I sent it down" (anzaltuhu), namely the indicator "what" (mā).⁽³⁸⁾ The meaning of the statement is: And believe in that which I have sent down confirming what you already possess, O Jews. And what they possess is the Torah and the Gospel. As:—
814 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr al-Bāhilī related this to us, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā ibn Maymūn related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah: "And believe in what I have sent down confirming that which you already possess", he said: I have sent down the Qurʾān only as a confirmation of what you possess, the Torah and the Gospel.⁽³⁹⁾
815 — 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, something similar.
816 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Ādam related to us, he said: Abū Jaʿfar informed us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya: "And believe in what I have sent down confirming that which you already possess", he said: O community of the People of the Book, believe in what I have sent down to Muḥammad confirming that which you already possess. He said: Because they find Muḥammad ﷺ written down with them in the Torah and the Gospel.⁽⁴⁰⁾
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Explanation of the meaning of His statement, the Exalted: وَلا تَكُونُوا أَوَّلَ كَافِرٍ بِهِ (And be not the first disbeliever in it)
Abū Jaʿfar said: If someone were to say to us: How is it said "And be not the first disbeliever (kāfir) in it", when the address therein is directed to a multitude, while His word "disbeliever" is singular? And do we permit — if that is permissible — that someone say: "And be not the first man who stood up"?
Then he is told: The singular is only permissible for that to which the word "afʿal" (the superlative, "first") has been joined, while the report is addressed to a multitude, if it concerns a noun derived from "faʿala wa-yafʿalu" (the verb), because it stands in place of the intended term omitted from the statement, namely "man" (the one who), and takes its position in expressing the meaning that "man" customarily expressed of plurality and femininity, while it stands in a single singular form. Do you not see that you say: "And be not the first of those who disbelieve in it"? For "man" (who) has the meaning of a multitude, and it is not inflectable as the nouns are inflectable for dual, plural, and feminine. So when the noun derived from "faʿala wa-yafʿalu" takes its place, it behaves — while being singular — in expression in the same manner as "man" customarily expressed of the meaning of plurality and femininity, as you say: "the army is defeated" (al-jaysh munhazim) and "the troops are advancing" (al-jund muqbil),⁽⁴⁴⁾ where you put the verb in the singular on account of the singular form of the word "army" and "troops". It is, however, not permissible to say: "the army is a man, and the troops are a boy", until you say: "the troops are boys and the army are men". For the singular of the countable nouns that are not derived from "faʿala wa-yafʿalu" does not express the meaning of the collectivity thereof. And to that belongs the statement of the poet:
"And when they eat, then the lowest of eaters, and when they hunger, then the worst of the hungry."⁽⁴⁵⁾
Thus he put it the one time in the singular, in accordance with what I have described concerning the intent of "man" and placing the explicit noun derived from "faʿala wa-yafʿalu" in its place, and the other time he put it in the plural, in accordance with the number of the nouns of those about whom the report is given. And had he used the singular where he used the plural, or the plural where he used the singular, that too would have been correct and permissible.⁽⁴⁶⁾
As for the explanation of it: He means thereby: O community of the scholars (aḥbār) of the People of the Book, acknowledge as true what I have sent down to My messenger Muḥammad ﷺ of the Qurʾān, which confirms your Book and what you possess of the Torah and the Gospel, wherein it has been entrusted to you that he is My messenger and My prophet, sent with the truth; and be not the first of your community to deny him⁽⁴⁸⁾ and to deny that he comes from Me, while you possess concerning him knowledge that another does not possess.
Their disbelief in it is: their denial that it comes from Allah.⁽⁴⁹⁾ And the "hā" in "in it" (bihi) refers back to "what" (mā) that occurs in His statement وَآمِنُوا بِمَا أَنْـزَلْتُ (And believe in what I have sent down). As:—
817 — Al-Qāsim related to me, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to us, he said: Ibn Jurayj said concerning His statement "And be not the first disbeliever in it": in the Qurʾān.⁽⁵⁰⁾
Abū Jaʿfar said: And there has been transmitted from Abū al-ʿĀliya concerning that, namely what:—
818 — Al-Muthannā related this to me, he said: Ādam related to us, he said: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya: "And be not the first disbeliever in it", he said: Be not the first to disbelieve in Muḥammad ﷺ.⁽⁵¹⁾
And some of them said: "And be not the first disbeliever in it" means: in your Book. And they explain it in such a way that in their denial of Muḥammad ﷺ there lies a denial by them of their Book, because in their Book stands the command to follow Muḥammad ﷺ.
These two views, however, lie far removed from the apparent meaning to which the recitation points. That is because Allah, exalted be His praise, at the beginning of this verse commanded those who are addressed to believe in what was sent down to Muḥammad ﷺ, for He said, exalted be His mention: وَآمِنُوا بِمَا أَنْـزَلْتُ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا مَعَكُمْ (And believe in what I have sent down confirming that which you already possess). And it is comprehensible that what Allah sent down in the time of Muḥammad ﷺ is the Qurʾān, not Muḥammad, for Muḥammad — Allah's blessings be upon him — is a sent messenger, not a sent-down revelation; and the sent-down thing is the Book. Then He forbade them to be the first to disbelieve in that which He commanded them at the beginning of the verse to believe in,⁽⁵²⁾ while in this verse no explicit mention of Muḥammad ﷺ has occurred to which a reference could be made by means of a concealed pronoun in His statement "And be not the first disbeliever in it" — although in the language it is not impossible that the concealed pronoun of a name be mentioned of which no explicit mention has occurred in the statement.⁽⁵³⁾
Likewise the statement has no meaning for the one who claims that the referring indicator in "in it" (bihi) refers back to "what" (mā) that occurs in His statement لِمَا مَعَكُمْ (to what you already possess). For that, even if it is possible according to the apparent meaning of the statement,⁽⁵⁴⁾ nevertheless lies far removed from what the apparent meaning of the recitation and the revelation points to, on account of what we have described earlier, namely that that which is commanded at the beginning of the verse to be believed in is the Qurʾān. So likewise it is necessary that that whose disbelief is forbidden at the end of it is the Qurʾān.⁽⁵⁵⁾ And that that which is commanded to be believed in should be something other than that whose disbelief is forbidden, within one statement and one verse — that does not belong to the most current and clearest usage in the language. This besides the remoteness of that meaning in the explanation.⁽⁵⁶⁾
819 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, the freedman of Zayd ibn Thābit, on the authority of ʿIkrima, or on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And believe in what I have sent down confirming that which you already possess, and be not the first disbeliever in it", while you possess concerning that knowledge that another does not possess.⁽⁵⁷⁾
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Explanation of the meaning of His statement, exalted be His mention: وَلا تَشْتَرُوا بِآيَاتِي ثَمَنًا قَلِيلا (And do not sell My signs for a paltry price)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of explanation have differed concerning the explanation of it:
820 — Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, he said: Ādam related to us, he said: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya: "And do not sell My signs for a paltry price", he said: Take no wage for it. He said: It stands written with them in the First Book: O son of Adam, teach freely (majjānan) just as you were taught freely.⁽⁵⁸⁾
And others said, namely what:—
821 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related this to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And do not sell My signs for a paltry price", he said: Take no paltry craving and do not conceal the name of Allah; and that price is the craving.⁽⁵⁹⁾
The explanation of the verse is then: Do not sell what I have given you of knowledge by means of My Book and My signs, for a contemptible price and a paltry worldly commodity. Their selling of it is: their refraining from making clear to the people what stands in their Book concerning Muḥammad ﷺ, and that therein it is written that he is the unlettered prophet whom they find written down with them in the Torah and the Gospel — for a paltry price, and that is their contentment with leadership over their followers among the people of their community and their religion, and their accepting wages from those to whom they made it clear, for that which they made clear to them of it.
We only said that the meaning of it is: "Do not sell",⁽⁶⁰⁾ because whoever buys a paltry price with the signs of Allah, sells the signs for that price; thus each of the price and the sold thing is a thing sold to its counterpart, and its counterpart is the buyer of it. And the meaning of it is, in accordance with how Abū al-ʿĀliya explained it:⁽⁶¹⁾ Make clear to the people the matter of Muḥammad ﷺ, and seek no wage for it from them. In that case, then, His prohibition against taking a wage for making it clear is the same as the prohibition against buying a paltry price with His signs.
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Explanation of the meaning of His statement, exalted be His mention: وَإِيَّايَ فَاتَّقُونِ (And fear Me alone)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He says: Fear Me — in your selling of My signs for a contemptible price, and your buying thereby of the paltry of worldly commodity, and your disbelief in what I have sent down to My messenger, and your denial of the prophethood of My prophet — lest I bring upon you what I brought upon your predecessors, who walked your path, of exemplary punishments and acts of vengeance.
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Footnotes:
(37) See what has preceded earlier: 234, 235.
(38) His word "qaṭʿ" means: a ḥāl (circumstantial qualifier). See what has preceded earlier, p. 230, note 4, and p. 330, note 1.
(39) The narration 814 — appears in Ibn Kathīr 1:150 (implicitly), al-Durr al-Manthūr 1:264 and al-Shawkānī 1:61.
(40) The narration 815 — appears in Ibn Kathīr 1:150, al-Durr al-Manthūr 1:64 and al-Shawkānī 1:61.
(41) In the printed edition there stands in the three places: "li-jamʿ … li-jamʿ … jamʿ".
(42) In the printed edition there stands in the three places: "li-jamʿ … li-jamʿ … jamʿ".
(43) In the printed edition there stands in the three places: "li-jamʿ … li-jamʿ … jamʿ".
(44) In the printed edition: "al-jaysh yanhazim, wa-al-jund yuqbil", and that is a pure error.
(45) Nawādir Abī Zayd: 152, from a man of the time of pre-Islamic ignorance (jāhilī), and Maʿānī al-Qurʾān of al-Farrāʾ 1:33. They are three nawādir-verses, and preceding them:
"And a worthless one, the scum of the dogs, lampoons me; let, then, the listening to the rumps of the dogs be a listening.
Is there anything other than your assaults upon your neighbor-women, for your bellies, at the falling of the darkness, as invitations?"
And his word "ṭaʿimū" means: they became sated, and they are then more base than one sated. And in the ḥadīth it stands: "The food of one suffices for two, and the food of two suffices for four", that is to say: the satiety of one is the food for two, and the satiety of two is the food for four.
(46) See something comparable to what al-Ṭabarī said in Maʿānī al-Qurʾān of al-Farrāʾ 1:32-33.
(47) In the printed edition: "fa-ammā …" with the fāʾ.
(48) In the printed edition: "the first who denied him", but what we have established is the correct rendering of al-Ṭabarī's exposition.
(49) In the manuscript: "and their disbelief in it and their denial …", and that is an error.
(50) The narration 817 — appears in al-Durr al-Manthūr 1:64 and al-Shawkānī 1:61.
(51) The narration 818 — appears in Ibn Kathīr 1:150, al-Durr al-Manthūr 1:64 and al-Shawkānī 1:61.
(52) In the printed edition there is an addition between these two sentences, which is interpolated, corrupts the statement, and is out of place in the context. Its text reads: "… at the beginning of the verse, among the People of the Book, and that is the clear and comprehensible. And no mention of Muḥammad has occurred …".
(53) Al-Ṭabarī's exposition is excellent and firm, even though some who adopted his statement thought that both views are correct, because they are inseparably bound to one another — for whoever disbelieves in the Qurʾān thereby disbelieves in Muḥammad ﷺ, and whoever disbelieves in Muḥammad ﷺ thereby disbelieves in the Qurʾān (Ibn Kathīr 1:150). And indeed, both views are in themselves correct in meaning, but al-Ṭabarī determines the import of the words and the pronouns in the verse, and points out what the apparent meaning of the recitation and the revelation permits, and distinguishes the one meaning from the other, even though both are correct according to the intellect, correct according to judgment, and correct according to the religion. And how often do people proceed rashly when the meanings approach one another, while none distinguishes the one meaning from the other except one who has keen insight into Arabic such as Abū Jaʿfar, may Allah be pleased with him.
(54) In the printed edition: "muḥtamal ẓāhir al-kalām".
(55) In the manuscript: "… that the command to believe in it at the beginning of the verse … that the prohibition against disbelief in it at the end of it …", and what stands in the printed edition is better and clearer.
(56) And this too belongs to the excellent insight, according to the logic of Arabic, even though some deemed it close at hand.
(57) The report 819 — forms the complement of the earlier reports with the numbers 805 and 811, in al-Durr al-Manthūr 1:63.
(58) The narration 820 — forms the complement of the earlier narration no. 818, and the references for it stand there. And in Ibn Kathīr 1:151. And "al-majjān" means: the giving of something without obligation and without price. Abū al-ʿAbbās said: I heard Ibn al-Aʿrābī say: "al-majjān" means among the Arabs "the worthless", and they said: "majjān-water". Al-Azharī said: The Arabs say: "majjān"-dates and "majjān"-water, by which they mean that it is abundant and sufficient. He said: A bedouin asked me for dates and I gave him a lump and excused myself to him for the smallness of it, whereupon he said: This is, by Allah, "majjān", that is to say: abundant and sufficient. And their statement "he took it majjānan" means: without recompense, and it is of the form "faʿʿāl" because it is inflectable (al-Lisān: m-j-n).
(59) The narration 821 — appears in Ibn Kathīr 1:151. And in the printed edition and in Ibn Kathīr: "so that craving is the price", and I have established what stands in the manuscript, for that is better.
(60) In the printed edition: "We only said: the meaning of it …".
(61) In the printed edition: "And the meaning of it is, in accordance with how he explained it …".
