Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   إِلا مَنْ ظَلَمَ ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًا بَعْدَ سُوءٍ — For Allah has indeed reassured him with His promise of forgiveness and mercy, and has included him in the ranks of those of the messengers who do not fear before Him; so that some of the grammarians of Baṣra said: "illā" here is inserted, because illā may be used in such an idiom, as when the Arabs say: "I complain of nothing but the good" — one does not then make the word "the good" dependent on the complaining, but it is understood that when someone says "I complain of nothing" he mentions something about himself that is good, as though he says: "I mention nothing but the good."

   And some of the grammarians of Kūfa said: someone may ask: how is the one who has done wrong, but afterwards put the good in place of the evil, made to fear, when forgiveness has after all been promised to him? Then I say to you: in this verse there are two directions. The one is that one says: the messengers (mursalūn) are secured and will be granted forgiveness; they are safe on the Day of Resurrection; but whoever has mingled his good and his bad deeds — he fears and hopes — this is the one direction. The other is that one makes the exception apply to those who have been left out in the sentence, for the meaning is: with Me the messengers do not fear, but the fear is for whoever stands outside them; then an exception is made with the words إِلا مَنْ ظَلَمَ ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًا — that is to say: whoever was a polytheist but repented of shirk (the ascribing of partners to Allah) and performed good deeds — that one will be granted forgiveness, and he does not fear. He said: some grammarians have said that illā in the Arabic language has the rank of the conjunction "and" (wāw), and that the meaning of this verse is: with Me the messengers do not fear, nor does whoever has done wrong and afterwards put the good in place of it — and as a corresponding example they took Allah's word: لِئَلا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَيْكُمْ حُجَّةٌ إِلا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْهُمْ . He said: but I found that the Arabic language does not bear what they say, for I do not permit saying: "the people stood up except ʿAbdullāh, and ʿAbdullāh is also standing" — for the meaning of the exception is that the noun after illā is removed from the meaning of the nouns before illā. I do, however, see it as permissible to say: "I owe you a debt of a thousand on top of yet another thousand"; if one then places illā in that position, it is correct, and illā has the meaning of what they intended; but that does not hold when there is a genuine exception in which the small is taken out of the great — then it is not so. But as a parallel in which illā has the meaning of "and," one ought rather to take the verse: خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا مَا دَامَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالأَرْضُ إِلا مَا شَاءَ رَبُّكَ — that is to say: and what your Lord has willed by way of addition. So do not make illā equivalent to "and" but to "other than" (siwā); for if "siwā" stands in the position of "illā" it agrees with the meaning of "and," because one says: "with me is much wealth besides this" — that is to say: "and this too is with me"; it is in "siwā" more remote than in "illā," because one can say: "with me is besides this" but not: "with me is except this."

   Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view concerning His word إِلا مَنْ ظَلَمَ ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ is, in my opinion, not what these people of Arabic linguistics have said, whose views we have set forth, but rather the view of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and Ibn Jurayj and those who shared their view — namely that His word إِلا مَنْ ظُلِمَ is a genuine exception to His word لا يَخَافُ لَدَيَّ الْمُرْسَلُونَ إِلا مَنْ ظَلَمَ among them and committed a sin, for he fears before Him the punishment. Al-Ḥasan, may Allah have mercy on him, clarified the meaning of Allah's word to Mūsā, and that is his statement: "I made you fear only because of the killing of the person."

   If then someone asks: what is the manner of reading this verse, if His word إِلا مَنْ ظُلِمَ is a genuine exception and stands outside the ranks of those of the messengers who do not fear before Him — how can he fear when forgiveness and mercy have after all been promised to him? Then I say: His word ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًا بَعْدَ سُوءٍ is a new sentence after the previous one, and the report concerning the messengers — which of them has done wrong and which has not — is concluded at His word إِلا مَنْ ظُلِمَ ; then a new report begins concerning which of the messengers has done wrong, and concerning the remaining people outside them; and it is said: whoever then has done wrong but afterwards put the good in place of it, I will grant forgiveness and mercy.

   If one then asks: to what does "then" (thumma) refer back if the matter is as you say, when there is no connection to His word ظَلَمَ ? Then I say: to an omitted part, to which His word ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًا بَعْدَ سُوءٍ points, so that this omitted part need not be uttered, since its like has already passed earlier in the sentence, namely: "whoever of the creatures has done wrong." As for the people of Arabic linguistics whose views we have mentioned — they spoke by way of Arabic linguistic analysis, but they neglected the meaning of the word and construed it as something other than its correct sense. It behooves one, however, to construe the words according to their correct sense, and then for the grammatical parsing, on the basis of that correct sense, to seek a valid way out — not by turning the word away from its meaning and from its correct sense.

   And His word: ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًا بَعْدَ سُوءٍ — Allah, exalted be His mention, says: whoever of Allah's creatures has then done wrong and committed a sin, but afterwards put the good in place — that is to say: then repented of that wrong and that sin — فَإِنِّي غَفُورٌ — He says: then I will conceal his sin and his wrong by My forgiving him and by My refraining from punishing him for it — رَحِيمٌ — toward him, so that I do not punish him after he has put the good in place of its opposite.

   And in the same sense as we have said about this, the people of interpretation spoke.

   * Mention of those who said that:

   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-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: إِلا مَنْ ظَلَمَ ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًا بَعْدَ سُوءٍ — then repented after his evil deeds — فَإِنِّي غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ .

   Show original Arabic

   (إِلا مَنْ ظَلَمَ ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًا بَعْدَ سُوءٍ ), فقد أمنه الله بوعده الغفران والرحمة, وأدخله في عداد من لا يخاف لديه من المرسلين، فقال بعض نحويي البصرة: أدخلت إلا في هذا الموضع؛ لأن إلا تدخل في مثل هذا الكلام, كمثل قول العرب: ما أشتكي إلا خيرا، فلم يجعل قوله: إلا خيرا على الشكوى, ولكنه علم أنه إذا قال: ما أشتكي شيئا أن يذكر عن نفسه خيرا, كأنه قال: ما أذكر إلا خيرا. وقال بعض نحويي الكوفة يقول القائل: كيف صير خائفا من ظلم, ثم بدّل حسنا بعد سوء, وهو مغفور له؟ فأقول لك: في هذه الآية وجهان: أحدهما أن يقول: إن الرسل معصومة مغفور لها آمنة يوم القيامة, ومن خلط عملا صالحا وآخر سيئا فهو يخاف ويرجو, فهذا وجه. والآخر: أن يجعل الاستثناء من الذين تركوا في الكلمة, لأن المعنى: لا يخاف لديّ المرسلون, إنما الخوف على من سواهم, ثم استثنى فقال: (إِلا مَنْ ظَلَمَ ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًا ) يقول: كان مشركا, فتاب من الشرك, وعمل حسنا, فذلك مغفور له, وليس يخاف. قال: وقد قال بعض النحويين: إن إلا في اللغة بمنـزلة الواو, وإنما معنى هذه الآية: لا يخاف لديّ المرسلون, ولا من ظلم ثم بدّل حسنا, قال: وجعلوا مثله كقول الله: لِئَلا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَيْكُمْ حُجَّةٌ إِلا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْهُمْ قال: ولم أجد العربية تحتمل ما قالوا, لأني لا أجيز: قام الناس إلا عبد الله, وعبد الله قائم، إنما معنى الاستثناء أن يخرج الاسم الذي بعد إلا من معنى الأسماء التي قبل إلا. وقد أراه جائزا أن يقول: لي عليك ألف سوى ألف آخر; فإن وضعت إلا في هذا الموضع صلحت, وكانت إلا في تأويل ما قالوا, فأما مجردة قد استثنى قليلها من كثيرها فلا ولكن مثله مما يكون معنى إلا كمعنى الواو, وليست بها قوله خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا مَا دَامَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالأَرْضُ إِلا مَا شَاءَ رَبُّكَ هو في المعنى. والذي شاء ربك من الزيادة, فلا تجعل إلا بمنـزلة الواو, ولكن بمنـزلة سوى; فإذا كانت " سوى " في موضع " إلا " صلحت بمعنى الواو, لأنك تقول: عندي مال كثير سوى هذا: أي وهذا عندي, كأنك قلت: عندي مال كثير وهذا أيضا عندي, وهو في سوى أبعد منه في إلا لأنك تقول: عندي سوى هذا, ولا تقول: عندي إلا هذا. قال أبو جعفر: والصواب من القول في قوله (إِلا مَنْ ظَلَمَ ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ ) عندي غير ما قاله هؤلاء الذين حكينا قولهم من أهل العربية, بل هو القول الذي قاله الحسن البصري وابن جُرَيج ومن قال قولهما, وهو أن قوله: (إِلا مَنْ ظُلِمَ ) استثناء صحيح من قوله ( لا يَخَافُ لَدَيَّ الْمُرْسَلُونَ إِلا مَنْ ظَلَمَ ) منهم فأتى ذنبا, فإنه خائف لديه من عقوبته، وقد بين الحسن رحمه الله معنى قيل الله لموسى ذلك, وهو قوله قال: إني إنما أخفتك لقتلك النفس. فإن قال قائل فما وجه قيله إن كان قوله (إِلا مَنْ ظُلِمَ ) استثناء صحيحا, وخارجا من عداد من لا يخاف لديه من المرسلين, وكيف يكون خائفا من كان قد وُعد الغفران والرحمة؟ قيل: إن قوله: (ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًا بَعْدَ سُوءٍ ) كلام آخر بعد الأوّل, وقد تناهى الخبر عن الرسل من ظلم منهم, ومن لم يظلم عند قوله (إِلا مَنْ ظُلِمَ ) ثم ابتدأ الخبر عمن ظلم من الرسل, وسائر الناس غيرهم، وقيل: فمن ظلم ثم بدّل حسنا بعد سوء فإني له غفور رحيم. فإن قال قائل: فعلام تعطف إن كان الأمر كما قلت ب (ثُمَّ) إن لم يكن عطفا على قوله: ( ظَلَمَ ) ؟ قيل: على متروك استغني بدلالة قوله (ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًا بَعْدَ سُوءٍ ) عليه عن إظهاره, إذ كان قد جرى قبل ذلك من الكلام نظيره, وهو فمن ظلم من الخلق. وأما الذين ذكرنا قولهم من أهل العربية, فقد قالوا على مذهب العربية, غير أنهم أغفلوا معنى الكلمة وحملوها على غير وجهها من التأويل. وإنما ينبغي أن يحمل الكلام على وجهه من التأويل, ويلتمس له على ذلك الوجه للإعراب في الصحة مخرج لا على إحالة الكلمة عن معناها ووجهها الصحيح من التأويل. وقوله: (ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًا بَعْدَ سُوءٍ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: فمن أتى ظلما من خلق الله, وركب مأثما, ثم بدل حسنا, يقول: ثم تاب من ظلمه ذلك وركوبه المأثم,(فَإِنِّي غَفُورٌ ) يقول: فإني ساتر على ذنبه وظلمه ذلك بعفوي عنه, وترك عقوبته عليه ( رَحِيمٌ ) به أن أعاقبه بعد تبديله الحسن بضده. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. *ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد بن عمرو, قال: ثنا أبو عاصم, قال: ثنا عيسى; وحدثني الحارث, قال: ثنا الحسين, قال: ثنا ورقاء جميعا, عن ابن أبي نجيح, عن مجاهد, قوله: (إِلا مَنْ ظَلَمَ ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًا بَعْدَ سُوءٍ ) ثم تاب من بعد إساءته (فَإِنِّي غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ )