Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   وَأَلْقِ مَا فِي يَمِينِكَ تَلْقَفْ مَا صَنَعُوا — He says: and cast your staff, then it will swallow up their ropes and staves which they had bewitched, so that it appeared to you that they were moving.

   His saying إِنَّمَا صَنَعُوا كَيْدُ سَاحِرٍ — the reciters have differed among themselves over the reading of this word. The majority of the reciters of Medina, Baṣra, and some of the Kufan reciters read إِنَّمَا صَنَعُوا كَيْدُ سَاحِرٍ with "kaydu" in the nominative and "sāḥirin" with an alif — with the meaning: indeed, what these magicians have done is the trickery of a magician. The majority of the Kufan reciters read إِنَّمَا صَنَعُوا كَيْدُ سَاحِرٍ with "kaydu" in the nominative and "siḥrin" without an alif — with the meaning: indeed, what they have done is the trickery of magic.

   In my judgment, this is a matter in which both readings are well-known variants with related meanings; that is because "the trickery" (kayd) is deception and fraud, and the trickery of the magician proceeds from his magic by deceiving and defrauding, and the trickery of magic is its deception with respect to whoever is bewitched — by showing him something other than what it is in reality. The magician therefore deceives by means of magic, and magic deceives by means of imagination. To whichever of the two one ascribes the trickery is correct. It was related from some that they read: كَيْدَ سِحْرٍ with the accusative on "kayda" — and whoever reads it thus treats "innamā" as a single particle and makes "ṣanaʿū" govern "kayda."

   Imam al-Ṭabarī says: This reading I consider inadmissible because of the consensus of the authoritative reciters against it.

   His saying وَلا يُفْلِحُ السَّاحِرُ حَيْثُ أَتَى — He says: the magician does not attain by his magic what he seeks, wherever he may be. It was related from some that he said: the meaning is that the magician is killed wherever he is found. And some of the Baṣran grammarians mentioned that in the text of Ibn Masʿūd it is: وَلا يُفْلِحُ السَّاحِرُ أَيْنَ أَتَى (the magician does not attain his goal, from wherever he comes). He said: the Arabs say: "I come to you from where you do not know" and "from whence you do not know." Another grammarian said: the first is a jussive meaning: "the magician is killed wherever he has come and from wherever he has come." He said: and the saying of the Arabs "I come to you from where you do not know" and "from whence you do not know" is only an answer that one gave to someone who did not understand it and then wished to know it, as one says: "where is the water and the pasture?"

   Show original Arabic

   ( وَأَلْقِ مَا فِي يَمِينِكَ تَلْقَفْ مَا صَنَعُوا ) يقول: وألق عصاك تبتلع حبالهم وعصيهم التي سحروها حتى خيل إليك أنها تسعى. وقوله ( إِنَّمَا صَنَعُوا كَيْدُ سَاحِرٍ ) اختلفت القرّاء في قراءة قوله، فقرأته عامة قرّاء المدينة والبصرة وبعض قرّاء الكوفة ( إِنَّمَا صَنَعُوا كَيْدُ سَاحِرٍ ) برفع كيد وبالألف في ساحر بمعنى: إن الذي صنعه هؤلاء السحرة كيد من ساحر. وقرأ ذلك عامة قرّاء الكوفة ( إِنَّمَا صَنَعُوا كَيْدُ سَاحِرٍ ) برفع الكيد وبغير الألف في السحر بمعنى إن الذي صنعوه كيد سحر. والقول في ذلك عندي أنهما قراءتان مشهورتان متقاربتا المعنى، وذلك أن الكيد هو المكر والخدعة، فالساحر مكره وخدعته من سحر يسحر، ومكر السحر وخدعته: تخيله إلى المسحور، على خلاف ما هو به في حقيقته، فالساحر كائد بالسحر، والسحر كائد بالتخييل، فإلى أيهما أضفت الكيد فهو صواب، وقد ذُكر عن بعضهم أنه قرأ ( كَيْدَ سِحْرٍ) بنصب كيد ، ومن قرأ ذلك كذلك، جعل إنما حرفا واحدا وأعمل صنعوا في كيد. قال أبو جعفر: وهذه قراءة لا أستجيز القراءة بها لإجماع الحجة من القرّاء على خلافها. وقوله ( وَلا يُفْلِحُ السَّاحِرُ حَيْثُ أَتَى ) يقول: ولا يظفر الساحر بسحره بما طلب أين كان. وقد ذكر عن بعضهم أنه كان يقول: معنى ذلك: أن الساحر يُقتل حيث وُجد. وذكر بعض نحويي البصرة، أن ذلك في حرف ابن مسعود ( ولا يُفْلِحُ السَّاحِرُ أيْنَ أتَى) وقال: العرب تقول: جئتك من حيث لا تعلم، ومن أين لا تعلم، وقال غيره من أهل العربية الأول: جزاء يقتل الساحر حيث أتى وأين أتى وقال: وأما قول العرب: جئتك من حيث لا تعلم، ومن أين لا تعلم، فإنما هو جواب لم يفهم، فاستفهم كما قالوا: أين الماء والعشب.