Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: قَالَ عِلْمُهَا عِنْدَ رَبِّي فِي كِتَابٍ لا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي وَلا يَنْسَى (20:52)

   (He said: the knowledge thereof is with my Lord in a Book; my Lord neither errs nor forgets.)

   Mūsā answered him and said: the knowledge of those peoples who perished before us in what they did rests with my Lord in a Book — that is to say: in the original text of the Book — I have no knowledge of their affair, nor of what was the cause of the straying of whoever strayed among them and who removed himself from the religion of Allah. لا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي — that is to say: my Lord does not err in His governance and His deeds; if He has already punished those peoples in this life and hastened their destruction, then that is precisely what He did; and if He has deferred their punishment to the Day of Judgment, then the right is likewise what He did — He knows best what He does, my Lord does not err. وَلا يَنْسَى (and does not forget) — such that He would neglect to do what is good and right to do.

   In the same sense as we explained this, the exegetes spoke.

   Those who said this are mentioned below:

   ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word فِي كِتَابٍ لا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي وَلا يَنْسَى : he said: "my Lord neither errs nor forgets."

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word فَمَا بَالُ الْقُرُونِ الأُولَى (what then is the condition of the former generations?) — he said: what blinded the former generations? The prophet of Allah referred them in this matter and said عِلْمُهَا عِنْدَ رَبِّي (the knowledge thereof is with my Lord) — to the end of the verse — he said: that is to say: their lifespans and their appointed times.

   Others said: the meaning of His word لا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي وَلا يَنْسَى is one and the same.

   Those who said this are mentioned below:

   Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word لا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي وَلا يَنْسَى : he said: "they are two things of the same meaning."

   Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: the same.

   The Arabs say: ḍalla fulān manzilahu — when he missed it (could not find it) — yaḍilluhu without the alif; and likewise for everything that has a fixed place which does not move, when the one seeking to find it misses it — one says: he caused it to be lost (aḍallahu). But when something that moves of its own accord, such as a camel, a sheep, or the like of the living creatures that remove themselves from him and go away, is lost, then one says: so-and-so caused his camel or his sheep or his she-camel to stray (aḍalla) — with the alif. The meaning of al-nisyān (forgetting) we have already set forth earlier in a manner that makes repeating it here unnecessary.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : قَالَ عِلْمُهَا عِنْدَ رَبِّي فِي كِتَابٍ لا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي وَلا يَنْسَى (52) فأجابه موسى فقال: علم هذه الأمم التي مضت من قبلنا فيما فعلت من ذلك، عند ربي في كتاب: يعني في أمّ الكتاب، لا علم لي بأمرها، وما كان سبب ضلال من ضل منهم فذهب عن دين الله ( لا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي ) يقول: لا يخطئ ربي في تدبيره وأفعاله، فإن كان عذّب تلك القرون في عاجل، وعجل هلاكها، فالصواب &; 18-319 &; ما فعل، وإن كان أخر عقابها إلى القيامة، فالحقّ ما فعل، هو أعلم بما يفعل، لا يخطئ ربي (ولا يَنْسَى) فيترك فعل ما فعْله حكمة وصواب. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك، قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني عليّ، قال: ثنا عبد الله، قال: ثني معاوية، عن عليّ، عن ابن عباس، قوله ( فِي كِتَابٍ لا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي وَلا يَنْسَى ) يقول: لا يخطئ ربي ولا ينسى. حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله ( فَمَا بَالُ الْقُرُونِ الأولَى ) يقول فما أعمى القرون الأولى، فوكلها نبي الله موكلا فقال ( عِلْمُهَا عِنْدَ رَبِّي ).... الآية يقول: أي أعمارها وآجالها. وقال آخرون: معنى قوله ( لا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي وَلا يَنْسَى ) واحد. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد بن عمرو، قال: ثنا أبو عاصم، قال: ثنا عيسى ، وحدثني الحارث، قال: ثنا الحسن، قال: ثنا ورقاء جميعا عن ابن أبي نجيح، عن مجاهد، قوله ( لا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي وَلا يَنْسَى ) قال: هما شيء واحد. حدثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا الحسين، قال: ثني حجاج، عن ابن جُرَيج، عن مجاهد، مثله. والعرب تقول: ضلّ فلان منـزله: إذا أخطأه، يضله بغير ألف، وكذلك ذلك في كلّ ما كان من شيء ثابت لا يبرح، فأخطأه مريده، فإنها تقول: أضله، فأما إذا ضاع منه ما يزول بنفسه من دابة وناقة وما أشبه ذلك من الحيوان الذي ينفلت منه فيذهب، فإنها تقول: أضلّ فلان بعيره أو شاته أو ناقته يُضِله بالألف. وقد بيَّنا معنى النسيان فيما مضى قبل بما أغنى عن إعادته.