Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   Allah, exalted is His mention, means by His word (ذَلِكَ — "that"): this deed which I perform — the entering of the night into the day and the entering of the day into the night — is so because I am the Truth, without equal, without associate, and without peer. And that which these polytheists call upon as a god besides Him is the falsehood (al-bāṭil), which is incapable of anything and which is itself made — something that has been created. Allah, exalted is His mention, says to them: Will you then, O ignorant ones, forsake the worship of Him Who grants benefit and in Whose hand is harm, and Who is Almighty over everything while everything stands apart from Him, and will you worship the falsehood whose worship brings you no benefit? And His word: وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْكَبِيرُ ("And that Allah is the Most High, the Most Great") — by (الْعَلِيُّ — "the Most High") He means: the Possessor of loftiness above all things; He is above everything and everything is beneath Him. (الْكَبِيرُ — "the Most Great") means: the Immeasurably Great; everything is beneath Him and nothing is greater than He.

   Ibn Jurayj used to say concerning His word وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ هُوَ الْبَاطِلُ ("And that what they call upon besides Him is the falsehood") that which al-Qāsim related to us, who said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, who said: Ḥajjāj related to me, who said: Ibn Jurayj said concerning His word وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ هُوَ الْبَاطِلُ : "It is Satan."

   The Qurʾān-reciters (al-qurrāʾ) differed over the reading of His word وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ . Most of the reciters of Iraq and al-Ḥijāz read it as "تَدْعُونَ" — with a tāʾ, in the form of direct address. Most of the reciters of Iraq, with the exception of ʿĀṣim, read it with a yāʾ in the form of reporting about others. The reading with yāʾ is my preference, because the beginning of the passage is in the form of direct address.

   Show original Arabic

   يعني تعالى ذكره بقوله (ذلكَ) هذا الفعل الذي فعلت من إيلاجي الليل في النهار، وإيلاجي النهار في الليل، لأني أنا الحقّ الذي لا مثل لي ولا شريك ولا ندّ, وأن الذي يدعوه هؤلاء المشركون إلها من دونه هو الباطل الذي لا يقدر على صنعة شيء, بل هو المصنوع، يقول لهم تعالى ذكره: أفتتركون أيها الجهال عبادة من منه النفع وبيده الضر وهو القادر على كل شيء وكلّ شيء دونه, وتعبدون الباطل الذي لا تنفعكم عبادته. وقوله: ( وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْكَبِيرُ ) يعني بقوله: (العَلِي) ذو العلو على كل شيء, هو فوق كل شيء وكل شيء دونه.(الكَبِيرُ) يعني العظيم, الذي كل شيء دونه ولا شيء أعظم منه. وكان ابن جُرَيج يقول في قوله: ( وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ هُوَ الْبَاطِلُ ) ما حدثنا القاسم, قال: ثنا الحسين, قال: ثني حجاج, قال: قال ابن جُرَيج, في قوله: ( وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ هُوَ الْبَاطِلُ ) قال: الشيطان. واختلفت القرّاء في قراءة قوله: ( وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ ) فقرأته عامة قرّاء العراق والحجاز: " تَدْعُون " بالتاء على وجه الخطاب; وقرأته عامة قرّاء العراق غير عاصم بالياء على وجه الخبر, والياء أعجب القراءتين إليّ, لأن ابتداء الخبر على وجه الخطاب.