Tabari

Tafseer of The Believers · Al-Muminoon · 23:115

أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَٰكُمْ عَبَثًۭا وَأَنَّكُمْ إِلَيْنَا لَا تُرْجَعُونَ

Then did you think that We created you uselessly and that to Us you would not be returned?"

Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.

Tabari (1 passage)

  1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

    Concerning His word: أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ عَبَثًا (Did you then think that We had created you in vain?) — He, exalted be His remembrance, says: Did you think, O wretched ones, that when We created you We created you merely for sport and in vain, and that after your death you would not be brought back to life unto your Lord to be requited for what you did in the worldly life?

    The Qurʾān reciters differed over the reading of this. Some reciters of Medina, Basra, and Kūfa read: لا تُرْجَعُونَ (you will not be brought back) with ḍamma over the tāʾ — "you will not be returned" — and they said: it concerns the return to the Hereafter, not a returning to the worldly life. The majority of the Kūfan reciters read "lā tarjiʿūn" (لا تَرْجِعُونَ), and they said: the return to the Hereafter and the return to the worldly life are equivalent in this respect.

    The most correct judgment in this matter is to say that these are two readings with an equivalent meaning; for whoever is brought back by Allah to the Hereafter from the worldly life after his perishing has returned, and whoever returns does so because Allah brings him back. Moreover, these are two well-known readings, each of which has been read by scholars among the Qurʾān reciters; whichever of the two one recites, he is correct.

    In accordance with what we have said concerning the meaning of His word أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ عَبَثًا the exegetes spoke.

    *Mention of those who said this:*

    Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ عَبَثًا — he said: in vain.

    Show original Arabic
    وقوله: ( أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ عَبَثًا ) يقول تعالى ذكره: أفحسبتم أيها الأشقياء أنا إنما خلقناكم إذ خلقناكم، لعبا وباطلا وأنكم إلى ربكم بعد مماتكم لا تصيرون أحياء، فتجزون بما كنتم في الدنيا تعملون؟ . وقد اختلفت القرّاء في قراءة ذلك، فقرأه بعض قرّاء المدينة والبصرة والكوفة: ( لا تُرْجَعُونَ ) بضَمّ التاء: لا تُردّون، وقالوا: إنما هو من مَرْجِع الآخرة، لا من الرجوع إلى الدنيا، وقرأ ذلك عامة قرّاء الكوفة " لا تَرْجِعُونَ" وقالوا: سواء في ذلك مرجع الآخرة، والرجوع إلى الدنيا. وأولى الأقوال في ذلك بالصواب أن يقال: إنهما قراءتان متقاربتا المعنى; لأن من ردّه الله إلى الآخرة من الدنيا بعد فنائه، فقد رَجَع إليها، وأن من رجع إليها، فبردّ الله إياه إليها رجع. وهما مع ذلك قراءتان مشهورتان، قد قرأ بكل واحدة منهما علماء من القرّاء، فبأيتهما قرأ القارئ فمصيب. وبنحو الذي قلنا في معنى قوله: ( أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ عَبَثًا ) قال أهل التأويل. *ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا الحسين، قال: ثني حجاج، عن ابن جريج: ( أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ عَبَثًا ) قال: باطلا.