Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   Abū Jaʿfar said: By His word, exalted be His mention: سُورَةٌ أَنزلْنَاهَا ("A chapter which We have sent down") He means: and this is the chapter which We have sent down. We have said that the meaning of this is so, because the Arabs scarcely begin with indefinite words (nakira) before their predicate, when these do not serve as an answer; for an indefinite word is connected just as the relative pronoun "alladhī" is connected, and then a report is given about it with a predicate alongside the relative clause (ṣila). For that reason one considers it ugly to begin with it before the predicate, when it is not connected, because its predicate — when one begins with it — would become a relative clause to it, and the hearer would take its predicate as something anticipated, while the report about it comes afterwards, as a relative clause to it. But when one begins with the report about it before the word itself, then no doubt enters the hearer of the utterance concerning the intent of the speaker. And we have already previously expounded that "sūra" (the chapter) is a description of that which is exalted by its signs, and that makes its repetition in this place superfluous.

   As for His word: وَفَرَضْنَاهَا ("and We have imposed it as an obligation"), the reciters (qurrāʾ) have differed concerning its reading. Some reciters of the Ḥijāz and Basra read it: "wa-faraḍnāhā" (with light rāʾ), and they explain it as: and We have expounded it and sent down in it various obligations (farāʾiḍ). And thus too Mujāhid used to read it and explain it.

   Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf related to me, saying: al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Ibn Mahdī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn Saʿīd, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of Mujāhid, that he used to read it: "wa-farraḍnāhā", that is, with doubling (tashdīd).

   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: "wa-farraḍnāhā", he said: the command to the permitted (ḥalāl) and the prohibition of the forbidden (ḥarām).

   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, something similar. And it is possible that this, when it is read with doubling (tashdīd), has a different bearing than that which we have reported from Mujāhid, namely that its meaning is directed toward: and We have imposed it as an obligation upon you and upon those who come after you among the people, until the rising of the Hour. And the generality of the reciters of Medina, Kūfa and Syria (al-Shaʾm) read it وَفَرَضْنَاهَا with light rāʾ, in the meaning of: We have made the rulings (aḥkām) which are in it obligatory for you, and We have imposed them upon you and expounded that to you.

   And the correct judgment concerning it is that they are two well-known readings (qirāʾāt); scholars (ʿulamāʾ) among the reciters have each recited both of them, so with whichever of the two the reciter reads, he has hit upon the correct. And that is because Allah has already expounded it, and has sent down in it various kinds of rulings (aḥkām), and has placed in it commands and prohibitions, and has imposed upon His servants in it obligations (farāʾiḍ). Thus both meanings are present in it together: the expounding of obligations (al-tafrīḍ) and the imposition as an obligation (al-farḍ). For that reason we said: with whichever of the two readings the reciter reads, he hits upon the correct.

   * Mention of those who explained this in the meaning of the obligation (al-farḍ) and the expounding, among the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl).

   ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وَفَرَضْنَاهَا , he says: We have expounded it.

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word: سُورَةٌ أَنزلْنَاهَا وَفَرَضْنَاهَا ("A chapter which We have sent down and imposed as an obligation"), he said: We have imposed it as an obligation for the benefit of the one who recites it, with respect to that which is imposed as an obligation in it; and he recited along with it: آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ ("clear signs, that you may be admonished").

   And His word: وَأَنزلْنَا فِيهَا آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ ("and We have sent down in it clear signs") — He, exalted be His mention, says: and We have sent down in this chapter marks and pointers to the truth, clear, that is, plain for whoever considers them with reason and reflects upon them, that they are from Allah; for it is the manifest truth, and it leads to the straight path.

   Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: وَأَنزلْنَا فِيهَا آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ ("and We have sent down in it clear signs"), he said: the permitted (ḥalāl), the forbidden (ḥarām), and the prescribed penalties (ḥudūd); لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ ("that you may be admonished"), he says: that you may be admonished by these clear signs which We have sent down.

   Show original Arabic

   قال أبو جعفر: يعني بقوله تعالى ذكره: ( سُورَةٌ أَنـزلْنَاهَا ) وهذه السورة أنـزلناها. وإنما قلنا معنى ذلك كذلك؛ لأن العرب لا تكاد تبتدئ بالنكرات قبل أخبارها إذا لم تكن جوابا، لأنها توصل كما يوصل الذي، ثم يخبر عنها بخبر سوى الصلة، فيستقبح الابتداء بها قبل الخبر إذا لم تكن موصولة، إذ كان يصير خبرها إذا ابتدئ بها كالصلة لها، ويصير السامع خبرها كالمتوقع خبرها، بعد إذ كان الخبر عنها بعدها، كالصلة لها، وإذا ابتدئ بالخبر عنها قبلها، لم يدخل الشك على سامع الكلام في مراد المتكلم. وقد بيَّنا فيما مضى قبل، أن السورة وصف لما ارتفع بشواهده، فأغنى ذلك عن إعادته في هذا الموضع. وأما قوله: ( وَفَرَضْنَاهَا ) فإن القرّاء اختلفت في قراءته، فقرأه بعض قرّاء الحجاز والبصرة: " وفَرَضْناهَا " ويتأولونه: وفصَّلناها ونـزلنا فيها فرائض مختلفة. وكذلك كان مجاهد يقرؤه ويتأوّله. حدثني أحمد بن يوسف، قال: ثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا ابن مهدي، عن عبد الوارث بن سعيد، عن حميد، عن مجاهد، أنه كان يقرؤها: " وَفَرَّضْناهَا " يعني بالتشديد. حدثني محمد بن عمرو، قال: ثنا أبو عاصم، قال: ثنا عيسى، وحدثني الحارث، قال: ثنا الحسن، قال: ثنا ورقاء جميعًا، عن ابن أبي نجيح، عن مجاهد، في قوله: " وَفَرَّضْنَاها " قال: الأمر بالحلال، والنهي عن الحرام. حدثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا الحسين، قال: ثني حجاج، عن ابن جُرَيج، عن مجاهد، مثله. وقد يحتمل ذلك إذا قرئ بالتشديد وجها غير الذي ذكرنا عن مجاهد، وهو أن يوجه إلى أن معناه: وفرضناها عليكم وعلى من بعدكم من الناس إلى قيام الساعة. وقرأ ذلك عامة قرّاء المدينة والكوفة والشأم ( وَفَرَضْنَاهَا ) بتخفيف الراء، بمعنى: أوجبنا ما فيها من الأحكام عليكم، وألزمناكموه وبيَّنا ذلك لكم. والصواب من القول في ذلك، أنهما قراءتان مشهورتان، قد قرأ بكل واحدة منهما علماء من القرّاء، فبأيتهما قرأ القارئ فمصيب. وذلك أن الله قد فصلها، وأنـزل فيها ضروبًا من الأحكام، وأمر فيها ونهى، وفرض على عباده فيها فرائض، ففيها المعنيان كلاهما: التفريض، والفرض، فلذلك قلنا بأية القراءتين قرأ القارئ فمصيب الصواب. *ذكر من تأوّل ذلك بمعنى الفرض، والبيان من أهل التأويل. حدثني عليّ، قال: ثنا أبو صالح، قال: ثني معاوية، عن عليّ، عن ابن عباس، في قوله: ( وَفَرَضْنَاهَا ) يقول: بيَّناها. حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد، في قوله: ( سُورَةٌ أَنـزلْنَاهَا وَفَرَضْنَاهَا ) قال: فرضناها لهذا الذي يتلوها مما فرض فيها، وقرأ فيها: ( آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ ). وقوله: ( وَأَنـزلْنَا فِيهَا آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: وأنـزلنا في هذه السورة علامات ودلالات على الحقّ بينات، يعني واضحات لمن تأمَّلَها وفكَّر فيها بعقل أنها من عند الله، فإنها الحقّ المبين، وإنها تهدي إلى الصراط المستقيم. حدثنا القاسم، قال: ثنا الحسين، قال: ثني حجاج، عن ابن جُرَيج: ( وَأَنـزلْنَا فِيهَا آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ ) قال: الحلال والحرام والحدود ( لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ ) يقول: لتتذكروا بهذه الآيات البينات التي أنـزلناها.