Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   His statement: وَلَوْ نَزَّلْنَاهُ عَلَى بَعْضِ الْأَعْجَمِينَ ("And if We had sent it down upon one of the non-Arabs"). The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: and if We had sent down this Qurʾān upon one of the dumb beasts that do not speak. One says "ʿalā baʿḍi l-aʿjamīn" and not "ʿalā baʿḍi l-aʿjamiyyīn," because the Arabs, when they characterize a man by indistinct speech (ʿujma) and by the fact that he does not express himself eloquently in Arabic, say: "This is an indistinctly speaking man (aʿjam)"; for the woman: "This is an indistinctly speaking woman (ʿajmāʾ)"; and for the group: "These are people of indistinct speech (ʿujm and aʿjamūn)." When this meaning is intended, both the Arab and the non-Arab are described by it, because one means by it only that he is not eloquent of tongue; and so it may be, while he is nevertheless from the Arabs. To this meaning belongs the statement of the poet:

   "Of Wāʾil — no tribe equals them, neither among the common folk, Arabs nor those of indistinct speech (ʿujm)." (4)

   But when one means thereby to ascribe the man to his descent from the non-Arabs (ʿajam), and not to describe him as not being eloquent of tongue, then one says: "This is a Persian/non-Arab man (ʿajamiyy)," "These are two non-Arab men (ʿajamiyyān)," and "These are non-Arab people (ʿajam)," just as one says: "Arab (ʿarabiyy)," "two Arabs (ʿarabiyyān)," and "Arab people (ʿarab)." And when one says: "This is a man who is aʿjamiyy," then one has ascribed him only to himself, just as one says of the red-colored one: "This is a great red one (aḥmariyy)," and as al-ʿAjjāj said:

   "And time, with man, is a turner round and round (dawwāriyy)." (5)

   Its meaning is: turning round and round (dawwār); he has thus ascribed it to his own action.

   And in agreement with what we have said about this, the people of taʾwīl (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.

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   The footnotes:

   (4) Al-sūqa: the common folk who are governed by the kings; in it the singular and plural, feminine and masculine, are alike. Al-ʿujm, with ḍamma on the ʿayn, is the plural of aʿjam. Abū ʿUbayda said in Majāz al-Qurʾān (university photocopy, folio 175): one says "rajul aʿjam" when there is indistinct speech (ʿujma) in his tongue, and "rajul ʿajamiyy," that is to say: of the non-Arabs. And the beasts of burden are "ʿujm," because they do not speak. And in (al-Lisān, entry ʿ-j-m) Abū Isḥāq said: the aʿjam is the one who is not eloquent and whose speech is not clear, even if he is Arab of descent, like Ziyād al-Aʿjam. The feminine is ʿajmāʾ, and likewise the aʿjamiyy. As for the ʿajamiyy, that is the one who is of the race of the non-Arabs, whether he is eloquent or not; its plural is ʿajam (with fatḥa-vocalization), like ʿarabiyy and ʿarab. "Rajul aʿjamiyy" and "aʿjam" one says when there is ʿujma in his tongue, even if he speaks eloquently in the non-Arab tongue; and "kalām aʿjam" and "aʿjamiyy" means: with clear indistinct speech. And in the Revelation: لِسَانُ الَّذِي يُلْحِدُونَ إِلَيْهِ أَعْجَمِيٌّ ("The tongue of the one to whom they allude is non-Arabic"). Its plural is formed with the wāw and the nūn; one says: aḥmariyy and aḥmarūn, and aʿjamiyy and aʿjamūn, after the pattern of ashʿathiyy and ashʿathīn, ashʿariyy and ashʿarīn; and to this refers His statement, mighty and exalted: وَلَوْ نَزَّلْنَاهُ عَلَى بَعْضِ الْأَعْجَمِينَ.

   (5) This is a verse from the mashṭūr of the rajaz of al-ʿAjjāj, the renowned rajaz-poet (al-Lisān, entry d-w-r; and Arājīz al-ʿArab of al-sayyid Tawfīq al-Bakrī, p. 174). It is from a mournful rajaz-poem of his, which he began with his statement:

   "I wept, and the weeper takes refuge [in tears], and indeed, only the child longs for youth. Do you feel rapture while you are an old man (qinnasriyy)? Time, with man, is a turner round and round (dawwāriyy), it has caused the generations to perish, and it is tough and strong (qaʿsariyy), and with cunning the deceived one is deceived."

   He says: I wept, and how resolute was your weeping. Al-qinnasriyy: the very aged old man. And dawwāriyy: turning round and round, that is to say that it deals with man and turns him round through phases and circumstances. And al-qaʿsariyy: the strong one; he means time. The point of evidence lies in his statement "dawwāriyy." He said in al-Lisān: that is to say: turning round and round with him, in the manner of adding a thing to itself (that is to say: ascribing it to itself, because dawwāriyy is derived from dawwār, so that the wording of that to which ascription is made is the same as the wording of that which is ascribed). Ibn Sīda said: this is the statement of the lexicographers. Al-Fārisī said: it has the form of the relative ascription (nisba), but it is not an ascription; and it is comparable to bukhtiyy and kursiyy. And in (al-Lisān, entry ʿ-j-m): one ascribes to the aʿjam, the one in whose tongue there is ʿujma, and one says: "lisān aʿjamiyy" and "kitāb aʿjamiyy," but one does not say "rajul aʿjamiyy" so as to ascribe him to himself, unless aʿjam and aʿjamiyy have the same meaning, like dawwār and dawwāriyy, and jamal qaʿsar and qaʿsariyy; this holds if it occurs in a manner that does not lend itself to rejection. End of quotation.

   Show original Arabic

   وقوله: ( وَلَوْ نـزلْنَاهُ عَلَى بَعْضِ الأعْجَمِينَ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: ولو نـزلنا هذا القرآن على بعض البهائم التي لا تنطق, وإنما قيل على بعض الأعجمين, ولم يقل على بعض الأعجميين, لأن العرب تقول إذا نعتت الرجل بالعجمة وأنه لا يفصح بالعربية: هذا رجل أعجم, وللمرأة: هذه امرأة عَجْماء, وللجماعة: هؤلاء قوم عُجْم وأعجمون, وإذا أريد هذا المعنى وصف به العربيّ والأعجمي, لأنه إنما يعني أنه غير فصيح اللسان, وقد يكون كذلك, وهو من العرب ومن هذا المعنى قول الشاعر: مِــنْ وَائِــلٍ لا حَــيَّ يَعْــدِلُهُمْ مِــنْ سُــوقَةٍ عَــرَبٌ ولا عُجْـمُ (4) فأما إذا أريد به نسبة الرجل إلى أصله من العجم, لا وصفه بأنه غير فصيح اللسان, فإنه يقال: هذا رجل عجميّ, وهذان رجلان عجميان, وهؤلاء قوم عَجَم, كما يقال: عربيّ, وعربيان, وقوم عرب. وإذا قيل: هذا رجل أعجميّ, فإنما نسب إلى نفسه كما يقال للأحمر: هذا أحمري ضخم, وكما قال العجاج: والدَّهْرُ بالإنسانِ دَوَّارِيُّ (5) ومعناه: دوّار, فنسبه إلى فعل نفسه. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. ---------------------- الهوامش : (4) السوقة: الرعية التي تسوسها الملوك. يستوي فيه الواحد والجمع والمؤنث والمذكر. والعجم بضم العين: جمع أعجم. قال أبو عبيدة في مجاز القرآن (مصورة الجامعة الورقة 175): يقال: رجل أعجم: إذا كان في لسانه عجمة، ورجل عجمي: أي من العجم. والدواب: عجم، لأنها لا تتكلم. وفي (اللسان: عجم) قال أبو إسحاق: الأعجم: الذي لا يفصح ولا يبين كلامه، وإن كان عربي النسب، كزياد الأعجم. والأنثى: عجماء، وكذلك الأعجمي. فأما العجمي فالذي من جنس العجم: أفصح أو لم يفصح، والجمع: عجم (بالتحريك) كعربي وعرب. ورجل أعجمي وأعجم: إذا كانت في لسانه عجمة، وإن أفصح بالعجمية وكلام أعجم وأعجمي: بين العجمة. وفي لتنزيل: (لسان الذي يلحدون إليه أعجمي). وجمعه بالواو والنون، تقول: أحمري وأحمرون، وأعجمي وأعجمون، على حد أشعثي وأشعثين وأشعري وأشعرين وعليه قوله عز وجل: (ولو نزلناه على بعض الأعجمين) (5) هذا بيت من مشطور الرجز للعجاج الراجز المشهور (اللسان: دور. وأراجيز العرب للسيد توفيق البكري 174) وهو من أرجوزة له حزينة، بدأها بقوله: بَكَـــيْتُ وَالْمُحْـــتَرِنُ البَكِـــيُّ وَإنَّمَــا يَــأْتي الصّبــا الصَّبــيُّ أطَرَبَــــا وَأَنْـــتَ قِنَّسْـــرِيُّ وَالدَّهْــــرُ بِالإِنْسَــــانِ دَوَّارِيُّ أَفْنَــى الْقُــرُونَ وَهْــوَ قَعْسَـرِيُّ وَبِالدَّهَـــاءِ يُخْـــتَلُ المَـــدْهِيّ يقول: بكيت ومن حزم كان بكاؤك. والقنسري: المسن القديم. ودواري: دائر، أي أنه يتصرف بالإنسان ويدور به أطوارًا وأحوالا. والقعسري: الشديد، يريد الدهر. ومحل الشاهد في قوله: "دواري" قال في اللسان: أي دائر به، على إضافة الشيء إلى نفسه (أي نسبته إلى نفسه، لأن دواري منسوب إلى دوار، فلفظ المنسوب إليه كلفظ المنسوب). قال ابن سيده: هذا قول اللغويين قال الفارسي هو على لفظ النسب، وليس بنسب، ونظيره بختى وكرسي. وفي (اللسان: عجم) وينسب إلى الأعجم الذي في لسانه عجمة، فيقال: لسان أعجمي، وكتاب أعجمي، ولا يقال رجل أعجمي فتنسب إلى نفسه، إلا أن يكون أعجم وأعجمي بمعنى، مثل دوار ودواري، وجمل قعسر وقعسري؛ هذا إذا ورد وردًا لا يمكن رده. ا ه.