Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   Allah, exalted is His praise, says: And indeed We gave Mūsā ibn ʿImrān and his brother Hārūn the Furqān — by this He means the Book that distinguishes between truth and falsehood — and that is the Torah according to the opinion of some.

   * Mention of who said that:

   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: (al-Furqān): he said: the Book.

   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.

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَىٰ وَهَارُونَ الْفُرْقَانَ : the Furqān is the Torah with its permitted and forbidden matters, and that by which Allah distinguished between truth and falsehood.

   And Ibn Zayd said concerning it what Yūnus related to me: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَىٰ وَهَارُونَ الْفُرْقَانَ : he said: the Furqān is the Truth which Allah gave to Mūsā and Hārūn — by it He distinguished between them and Pharaoh, and judged in truth between them. He recited: وَمَا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا يَوْمَ الْفُرْقَانِ and said: the day of Badr.

   Abū Jaʿfar said: The opinion which Ibn Zayd expressed concerning this is the most consistent with the apparent meaning of the revelation, and that is because of the insertion of the wāw at "ḍiyāʾ" (light). Had the Furqān been the same thing as the Torah, as the one who said that has claimed, then the revelation would have read: "And indeed We gave Mūsā and Hārūn the Furqān as a light" — for the light that Allah gave to Mūsā and Hārūn was indeed the Torah, which illuminated for them and for those who followed them the affair of their religion and distinguished for them the permitted and the forbidden, and the light of physical sight was not what was meant in this place. In the presence of the wāw lies the proof that the Furqān is something other than the Torah, which is the light.

   If someone says: what prevents "ḍiyāʾ" from being an attribute of the Furqān even though there is a wāw, so that the meaning is: "and as a light We gave it" — like the word of Allah بِزِينَةٍ الْكَوَاكِبِ * وَحِفْظًا? Then he is answered: even though the text can bear this, nevertheless what we have said is the predominant meaning, and it is obligatory to direct the meanings of the word of Allah toward the predominant and most well-known options as known by the Arabs, unless there is a reason to reject that in the form of a binding transmitted or rational argument.

   His word وَذِكْرًا لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ means: and a reminder for whoever fears Allah by obeying Him, fulfilling His obligations, and avoiding His prohibitions — He admonished them with that which He gave Mūsā and Hārūn of the Torah.

   Show original Arabic

   يقول تعالى ذكره: ولقد آتينا موسى بن عمران وأخاه هارون الفرقان، يعني به الكتاب الذي يفرق بين الحق والباطل، وذلك هو التوراة في قول بعضهم. * 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: (الفُرْقان) قال: الكتاب. حدثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا الحسين، قال: ثني حجاج، عن ابن جُرَيج، عن مجاهد، مثله. حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله ( وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى وَهَارُونَ الْفُرْقَانَ ) الفرقان: التوراة حلالها وحرامها، وما فرق الله به بين الحق والباطل. وكان ابن زيد يقول في ذلك ما حدثني به يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد في قوله ( وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى وَهَارُونَ الْفُرْقَانَ ) قال: الفرقان: الحق آتاه الله موسى وهارون، فرق بينهما وبين فرعون، قضى بينهم بالحق، وقرأ وَمَا أَنْـزَلْنَا عَلَى عَبْدِنَا يَوْمَ الْفُرْقَانِ قال : يوم بدر. قال أبو جعفر: وهذا القول الذي قاله ابن زيد في ذلك أشبه بظاهر التنـزيل، وذلك لدخول الواو في الضياء، ولو كان الفرقان هو التوراة كما قال من قال ذلك، لكان التنـزيل: ولقد آتينا موسى وهارون الفرقان ضياء، لأن الضياء الذي آتى الله موسى وهارون هو التوراة التي أضاءت لهما ولمن اتبعهما أمر دينهم فبصرّهم الحلال والحرام، ولم يقصد بذلك في هذا الموضع ضياء الإبصار، وفي دخول الواو في ذلك دليل على أن الفرقان غير التوراة التي هي ضياء. فإن قال قائل: وما ينكر أن يكون الضياء من نعت الفرقان، وإن كانت فيه واو فيكون معناه: وضياء آتيناه ذلك، كما قال بِزِينَةٍ الْكَوَاكِبِ * وَحِفْظًا ؟ قيل له: إن ذلك وإن كان الكلام يحتمله، فإن الأغلب من معانيه ما قلنا، والواجب أن يوجه معاني كلام الله إلى الأغلب الأشهر من وجوهها المعروفة عند العرب ما لم يكن بخلاف ذلك ما يجب التسليم له من حجة خبر أو عقل. وقوله ( وَذِكْرًا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ ) يقول: وتذكيرا لمن اتقى الله بطاعته وأداء فرائضه واجتناب معاصيه، ذكرّهم بما آتى موسى وهارون من التوراة.