Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   Allah, exalted be His praise, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: We have not granted continued life in the world to anyone among the children of Adam before you, O Muḥammad, such that We would grant you continued life therein; and it is inevitable that you will die just as Our messengers died before you.

   أَفَإِنْ مِتَّ فَهُمُ الْخَالِدُونَ — "If you then die, are they the ones who abide forever?" He says: are these polytheists, in relation to their Lord, those who abide forever in the world after you? That is not so. No, they will die in any case, whether you live or die.

   The fāʾ was inserted into "in" although it is a conditional expression, and into its apodosis, because the conditional clause is connected to the clause before it. The fāʾ also occurred in the words "fa-hum" because this is the answer to the conditional clause. And if there were no fāʾ in "fa-hum," that would be possible in two ways: either it is omitted but intended, or it is intended that it has been placed forward together with the conditional clause — as though one said: "Are they then the ones who abide forever if you die?"

   Show original Arabic

   يقول تعالى ذكره لنبيه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم: وما خلدنا أحدا من بني آدم يا محمد قبلك في الدنيا فنخلدك فيها، ولا بد لك من أن تموت كما مات من قبلك رسلنا( أفإن مِتَّ فَهُمُ الخَالِدُونَ ) يقول: فهؤلاء المشركون بربهم هم الخالدون في الدنيا بعدك، لا ما ذلك كذلك، بل هم ميتون بكلّ حال عشت أو متّ، فأدخلت الفاء في إن وهي جزاء، وفي جوابه، لأن الجزاء متصل بكلام قبله، ودخلت أيضا في قوله فهم لأنه جواب للجزاء، ولو لم يكن في قوله فهم الفاء جاز على وجهين: أحدهما: أن تكون محذوفة، وهي مرادة، والآخر أن يكون مرادا تقديمها إلى الجزاء فكأنه قال: أفهم الخالدون إن متّ.