Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of the word of Allah, the Exalted: أَفَلَمْ يَهْدِ لَهُمْ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُمْ مِنَ الْقُرُونِ يَمْشُونَ فِي مَسَاكِنِهِمْ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لأُولِي النُّهَى (Has it then not become clear to them how many generations We destroyed before them, while they walk about in their dwellings? Indeed, in that are signs for people of understanding.) (128)

   Allah, exalted be His praise, says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Has it then not become clear to the polytheists of your people, who ascribe partners to Allah — and the meaning of يَهْدِ is: to make clear — how numerous are the nations that We destroyed before them, the nations that came before that, while they walk about in their dwellings and houses and see the traces of Our punishments that We brought down upon them — which points to the evil outcome of the impiety they cling to and the rejection of Our signs — so that they might take admonition from it and draw a lesson from it and return to obedience and believe in Allah and His messenger, out of fear that because of their disbelief in Allah the same may befall them as befell those nations.

   And in accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of tafsīr also spoke.

   Mention of who said that:

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُمْ مِنَ الْقُرُونِ يَمْشُونَ فِي مَسَاكِنِهِمْ : "Quraysh traveled for trade to the Levant, and in doing so passed by the dwellings of ʿĀd, Thamūd, and similar nations; they saw the traces of the blows of Allah, the Exalted, with which He struck them. Therefore He said to them: Has the sight of what We did to those nations because of their disbelief in Us then not made them fear that the same may befall them, now that they act in like manner as they did?"

   Al-Farrāʾ used to say: كَمْ in this position can, grammatically speaking, only stand in the accusative, as the object of أَهْلَكْنَا . He said: and although it can only stand in the accusative, the overarching clause is in the nominative on the basis of يَهْدِ لَهُمْ . He said: this is comparable to the saying of one who asks: 'It has become clear to me whether ʿAmr stood up or Zayd', and comparable to the word سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْكُمْ أَدَعَوْتُمُوهُمْ أَمْ أَنْتُمْ صَامِتُونَ (it is the same for you whether you call upon them or you keep silent). He claims that there is something in it that puts سَوَاءٌ in the nominative but which is not visible with the interrogative particle. He said: if you were to say 'it is the same for you, your keeping silent and your calling out', that nominative would become visible.

   But what al-Farrāʾ says here is not correct as he states it, because كَمْ — although it belongs to the interrogative particles — is here not employed as an interrogative, but functions as a noun with an adjectival qualification. The meaning of the clause is what we mentioned earlier, namely: has it then not become clear to them how numerous are the generations that We destroyed before them, while they walk about in their dwellings — or: have the destroyed generations not brought them to guidance? It is transmitted that this, in the reading of ʿAbdullāh, reads: أَفَلَمْ يَهْدِ لَهُمْ مَنْ أَهْلَكْنَا — thus كَمْ stands in the position of مَنْ in the reading of ʿAbdullāh and is in the nominative on the basis of يَهْدِ لَهُمْ . This is the most obvious reading and the most correct meaning, although what he said is also a viewpoint and an approach, albeit with some difficulty.

   His word إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لأُولِي النُّهَى — Allah, exalted be His praise, says: Truly, in what these people behold and see of the traces of Our blows against the nations that belied their messengers before them, and of the descent of Our punishments upon them because of their disbelief in Allah, are surely لآيَاتٍ — that is to say: proofs, lessons, and admonitions — لأُولِي النُّهَى — that is to say: for people of understanding and intellect, those who by their intellect, insight, and religion are restrained from committing what harms them.

   And in accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of tafsīr also spoke.

   Mention of who said that:

   ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word لأُولِي النُّهَى : he says: "The God-fearing."

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لأُولِي النُّهَى : "People of piety and restraint."

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : أَفَلَمْ يَهْدِ لَهُمْ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُمْ مِنَ الْقُرُونِ يَمْشُونَ فِي مَسَاكِنِهِمْ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لأُولِي النُّهَى (128) يقول تعالى ذكره لنبيه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم: أفلم يهد لقومك المشركين بالله، ومعنى يهد: يبين. يقول: أفلم يبين لهم كثرة ما أهلكنا قبلهم من الأمم التي سلكت قبلها التي يمشون في مساكنهم ودورهم، ويرون آثار عقوباتنا التي أحللناها بهم سوء مغبة ما هم عليه مقيمون من الكفر بآياتنا، ويتعظوا بهم، ويعتبروا، وينيبوا إلى الإذعان، ويؤمنوا بالله ورسوله، خوفا أن يصيبهم بكفرهم بالله مثل ما أصابهم. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك، قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله ( كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُمْ مِنَ الْقُرُونِ يَمْشُونَ فِي مَسَاكِنِهِمْ ) لأن قريشا كانت تتجر إلى الشأم، فتمر بمساكن عاد وثمود ومن أشبههم، فترى آثار وقائع الله تعالى بهم، فلذلك قال لهم: أفلم يحذّرهم ما يرون من فعلنا بهم بكفرهم بنا نـزول مثله لهم، وهم على مثل فعلهم مقيمون ، وكان الفرّاء يقول: لا يجوز في كم في هذا الموضع أن يكون إلا نصبا بأهلكنا، وكان يقول: وهو وإن لم يكن إلا نصبا، فإن جملة الكلام رفع بقوله ( يَهْدِ لَهُمْ ) ويقول: ذلك مثل قول القائل: قد تبين لي أقام عمرو أم زيد في الاستفهام، وكقوله سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْكُمْ أَدَعَوْتُمُوهُمْ أَمْ أَنْتُمْ صَامِتُونَ ويزعم أن فيه شيئا يرفع سواء لا يظهر مع الاستفهام، قال: ولو قلت: سواء عليكم صمتكم ودعاؤكم تبين ذلك الرفع الذي في الجملة، وليس الذي قال الفرّاء من ذلك، كما قال: لأن كم وإن كانت من حروف الاستفهام فإنها لم تجعل في هذا الموضع للاستفهام، بل هي واقعة موقع الأسماء الموصوفة، ومعنى الكلام ما قد ذكرنا قبل وهو: أفلم يبين لهم كثرة إهلاكنا قبلهم القرون التي يمشون في مساكنهم، أو أفلم تهدهم القرون الهالكة، وقد ذُكر أن ذلك في قراءة عبد الله ( أفَلَمْ يَهْدِ لَهُمْ مَنْ أهْلَكْنا) فكم واقعة موقع من في قراءة عبد الله، هي في موضع رفع بقوله ( يَهْدِ لَهُمْ ) وهو أظهر وجوهه، وأصحّ معانيه، وإن كان الذي قاله وجه ومذهب على بعد. وقوله ( إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لأولِي النُّهَى ) يقول تعالى ذكره: إن فيما يعاين هؤلاء ويرون من آثار وقائعنا بالأمم المكذّبة رسلها قبلهم، وحلول مثلاتنا بهم لكفرهم بالله (لآيات) يقول: لدلالات وعبرا وعظات (لأولي النهى) يعني: لأهل الحجى والعقول، ومن ينهاه عقله وفهمه ودينه عن مواقعة ما يضره. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني عليّ، قال: ثنا أبو صالح، قال: ثني معاوية، عن عليّ، عن ابن عباس، قوله ( لأولِي النُّهَى ) يقول: التقى. حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة ( إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لأولِي النُّهَى ) أهل الورع.