Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   His word: لَهُمْ فِيهَا مَا يَشَاءُونَ (for them therein is whatever they wish) — He says: For these God-fearing ones there is, in the eternal garden of delight which Allah has promised them, whatever they wish of what the souls desire and what delights the eyes. خَالِدِينَ (abiding eternally) therein — He says: dwelling therein, remaining therein forever; they never depart from it, and its delight never leaves them. His word: كَانَ عَلَى رَبِّكَ وَعْدًا مَسْئُولا (it was upon your Lord a promise that is asked for): that is because the believers asked their Lord for this in the world when they said: وَآتِنَا مَا وَعَدْتَنَا عَلَى رُسُلِكَ (and give us what You promised us through Your messengers). Allah — blessed and exalted — says: Allah's granting of the eternal garden of delight to the believers — whose qualities He described in the Hereafter — was a promise that Allah promised them for their obedience to Him in the world and for their request to Him for it.

   In line with what we have said about this, the exegetes also spoke.

   Mention of who said that:

   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 ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning كَانَ عَلَى رَبِّكَ وَعْدًا مَسْئُولا (it was upon your Lord a promise that is asked for) — he said: They asked for what had been promised to them and demanded it.

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word: كَانَ عَلَى رَبِّكَ وَعْدًا مَسْئُولا — he said: They asked Him for it in the world; they asked that He give them that, and He gave it to them — for that was a promise that is asked for. Just as He determined the provisions of the servants on earth before He created them and made them sustenance for those who ask — He determined that on the basis of their request. He recited: وَقَدَّرَ فِيهَا أَقْوَاتَهَا فِي أَرْبَعَةِ أَيَّامٍ سَوَاءً لِلسَّائِلِينَ (and He apportioned therein its provisions in four days, equally for those who ask).

   One of the experts of the Arabic language used to interpret the meaning of His word: وَعْدًا مَسْئُولا (a promise that is asked for) as: a promise that is obligatory (wājib). His reasoning was that the thing asked for is obligatory, even if it has not been asked for — like a debt; he said: this is equivalent to the expression of the Arabs: "I shall surely give you a thousand — a promise that is asked for" in the sense of: it is obligatory upon you, so that you may demand it.

   Show original Arabic

   وقوله: ( لَهُمْ فِيهَا مَا يَشَاءُونَ ) يقول: لهؤلاء المتقين في جنة الخلد التي وعدهموها الله ما يشاءون مما تشتهيه الأنفس وتلذ الأعين، ( خَالِدِينَ ) فيها, يقول: لابثين فيها ماكثين أبدا, لا يزولون عنها ولا يزول عنهم نعيمها. وقوله: ( كَانَ عَلَى رَبِّكَ وَعْدًا مَسْئُولا ) وذلك أن المؤمنين سألوا ربهم ذلك في الدنيا حين قالوا: وَآتِنَا مَا وَعَدْتَنَا عَلَى رُسُلِكَ يقول الله تبارك وتعالى: وكان إعطاء الله المؤمنين جنة الخلد التي وصف صفتها في الآخرة وعدا وعدهم الله على طاعتهم إياه في الدنيا، ومسألتهم إياه ذلك. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك، قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا القاسم, قال: ثنا الحسين, قال: ثني حجاج, عن ابن جُرَيج, عن عطاء الخراساني, عن ابن عباس ( كَانَ عَلَى رَبِّكَ وَعْدًا مَسْئُولا ) قال: فسألوا الذي وعدهم وتنجزوه. حدثني يونس. قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب, قال: قال ابن زيد, في قوله: ( كَانَ عَلَى رَبِّكَ وَعْدًا مَسْئُولا ) قال: سألوه إياها في الدنيا, طلبوا ذلك فأعطاهم وعدهم إذ سألوه أن يعطيهم، فأعطاهم, فكان ذلك وعدا مسئولا كما وقَّت أرزاق العباد في الأرض قبل أن يخلقهم فجعلها أقواتا للسائلين, وقَّت ذلك على مسألتهم، وقرأ وَقَدَّرَ فِيهَا أَقْوَاتَهَا فِي أَرْبَعَةِ أَيَّامٍ سَوَاءً لِلسَّائِلِينَ . وقد كان بعض أهل العربية يوجه معنى قوله: ( وَعْدًا مَسْئُولا ) إلى أنه معنيّ به وعدا واجبا, وذلك أن المسئول واجب, وإن لم يُسأل كالدين, ويقول ذلك نظير قول العرب: لأعطينك ألفا وعدا مسئولا بمعنى واجب لك، فتسأله.