Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of His word: وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَنْ تَمُوتَ إِلا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ كِتَابًا مُؤَجَّلا ("And it is not possible for any soul to die except by the permission of Allah, as a fixed decree").

   Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, means by this: neither Muḥammad ﷺ nor any other of Allah's creatures dies except after he has reached the end of his life-term, which Allah has set as a limit to his life and continued existence. So when he reaches that term which Allah has written down for him, and He permits him to die, then he dies at that moment. But before that he does not die through the scheme of any schemer, nor through the trick of any deceiver, as in:

   7954 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: وما كان لنفس أن تموت إلا بإذن الله كتابًا مؤجلا ("And it is not possible for any soul to die except by the permission of Allah, as a fixed decree"), that is to say: that Muḥammad has a term which he will reach; when Allah permits him that, it will come to pass.

   * * *

   It has also been said that the meaning of this is: and no soul would die except by the permission of Allah.

   * * *

   The grammarians have differed concerning the cause of the accusative (the naṣb) in His word: كتابًا مؤجلا ("as a fixed decree").

   Some of the grammarians of Basra said: it is a corroboration (tawkīd), and its accusative stands in the sense of: "Allah has written down a fixed decree (kataba Allāhu kitāban muʾajjalan)." He said: and so it is with everything in the Qurʾān of the type حَقًّا ("truly"); it means only: "I affirm that as a truth (uḥiqqu dhālika ḥaqqan)." Likewise وَعَدَ اللَّهُ ("Allah has promised"), and رَحْمَةً مِنْ رَبِّكَ ("as a mercy from your Lord"), and صُنْعَ اللَّهِ الَّذِي أَتْقَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ ("the making of Allah, who has perfected everything"), and كِتَابَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ ("the prescription of Allah upon you") — it means only: Allah has made it so, as a making. Such is the explanation of everything in the Qurʾān of this kind, for it is abundant.

   * * *

   Some of the grammarians of Kūfa said concerning His word: وما كان لنفس أن تموت إلا بإذن الله ("And it is not possible for any soul to die except by the permission of Allah"), that the meaning is: Allah has written down the terms of the souls; then it was said: كتابًا مؤجلا ("as a fixed decree"). Thus His word كتابًا مؤجلا ("as a fixed decree") was placed in the accusative because of the meaning contained in the utterance, since His word وما كان لنفس أن تموت إلا بإذن الله ("And it is not possible for any soul to die except by the permission of Allah") already conveyed the meaning of "He has written down (kataba)." He said: and so it is with all the rest in the Qurʾān that corresponds to this; it follows this manner.

   * * *

   Others of them said: the statement of a person: "Zayd is truly standing (zaydun qāʾimun ḥaqqan)" has the meaning of: "I say that Zayd is truly standing (aqūlu zaydun qāʾimun ḥaqqan)," for every utterance is a "saying (qawl)," so that the thing said takes the place of "the saying," and then comes what follows it, as you say: "I speak a true utterance (aqūlu qawlan ḥaqqan)." Likewise with "ẓannan (presumably)" and "yaqīnan (with certainty)," and likewise وَعَدَ اللَّهُ ("Allah has promised") and what resembles it.

   * * *

   Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct judgment concerning this, in my opinion, is that all of this stands in the accusative as a verbal noun (maṣdar) because of the meaning of the utterance that precedes it. For in everything that precedes the verbal nouns whose wordings differ from the wordings of what precedes them in the utterance, the meanings of the wordings of those verbal nouns are contained, even though they differ in wording; their accusative thus proceeds from the meanings of what precedes them, not from the wordings thereof.

   The explanation of His word, mighty is His praise: وَمَنْ يُرِدْ ثَوَابَ الدُّنْيَا نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا وَمَنْ يُرِدْ ثَوَابَ الآخِرَةِ نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا وَسَنَجْزِي الشَّاكِرِينَ (145) ("And whoever desires the reward of this world, We give him thereof; and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We give him thereof; and We will reward the grateful").

   Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, mighty is His praise, means by this: whoever of you, O believers, desires by his deed, as a reward for it, a portion of the perishable goods of this world, instead of what is with Allah of honor for the one who desires by his deed what is with Him — نؤته منها ("We give him thereof"), He says: We grant him thereof, that is to say of this world; that is to say that He gives him from it what is apportioned to him of livelihood for the days of his life, and after that he has no share in the honor of Allah which He has prepared for the one who obeys Him and seeks what is with Him in the Hereafter — ومن يرد ثوابَ الآخرة ("and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter"), He says: and whoever of you desires by his deed, as a reward for it, the reward of the Hereafter, that is to say: what is with Allah of His honor which He has prepared for those who work for Him in the Hereafter — نؤته منها ("We give him thereof"), He says: We grant him thereof, that is to say of the Hereafter. The meaning is: of the honor of Allah which He has apportioned in particular to the people of His obedience in the Hereafter. Thus the statement was made concerning this world and the Hereafter, while the meaning is: what is found in both of them. As in:

   7955 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: ومن يرد ثواب الدنيا نؤته منها ومن يرد ثواب الآخرة نؤته منها ("And whoever desires the reward of this world, We give him thereof; and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We give him thereof"), that is to say: whoever of you desires this world and has no longing for the Hereafter, We give him what is apportioned to him thereof of livelihood, and he has no share in the Hereafter — ومن يرد ثواب الآخرة نؤته منها ("and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We give him thereof") what He has promised him, besides what accrues to him of his livelihood in this world.

   * * *

   As for His word: وسنجزي الشاكرين ("and We will reward the grateful"), He says: and I will reward, in the Hereafter, the one who thanks Me for what I have bestowed upon him of My favor toward him — through his obedience to Me, and his following of My command, and his avoidance of what I have forbidden — with the like of what I have promised My protected ones of honor for their gratitude toward Me.

   And Ibn Isḥāq said concerning this something:

   7956 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: وسنجزي الشاكرين ("and We will reward the grateful"), that is to say: that is the reward of the grateful; He means by it: that Allah gives him what He has promised him in the Hereafter, besides what accrues to him of livelihood in this world.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَنْ تَمُوتَ إِلا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ كِتَابًا مُؤَجَّلا قال أبو جعفر: يعني تعالى ذكره بذلك: وما يموت محمد ولا غيره من خلق الله إلا بعد بلوغ أجله الذي جعله الله غاية لحياته وبقائه، فإذا بلغ ذلك من الأجل الذي كتبه الله له، وأذن له بالموت، فحينئذ يموت. فأما قبل ذلك، فلن يموت بكيد كائد ولا بحيلة محتال، كما:- 7954- حدثنا ابن حميد قال، حدثنا سلمة، عن ابن إسحاق: " وما كان لنفس أن تموت إلا بإذن الله كتابًا مؤجلا "، أي: أن لمحمد أجلا هو بالغه، إذا أذن الله له في ذلك كان. (52) * * * وقد قيل إنّ معنى ذلك: وما كانت نفسٌ لتموت إلا بإذن الله. (53) * * * وقد اختلف أهل العربية في معنى الناصب قوله: " كتابًا مؤجلا ". فقال بعض نحويي البصرة: هو توكيد، ونصبه على: " كتب الله كتابًا مؤجلا ". قال: وكذلك كل شيء في القرآن من قوله: حَقًّا إنما هو: " أحِقُّ ذلك حقًّا ". وكذلك: وَعَدَ اللَّهُ و رَحْمَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكَ و صُنْعَ اللَّهِ الَّذِي أَتْقَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ و كِتَابَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ (54) إنما هو: صَنَعَ الله هكذا صنعًا. فهكذا تفسير كل شيء في القرآن من نحو هذا، فإنه كثيرٌ. * * * وقال بعض نحويي الكوفة في قوله: " وما كان لنفس أن تموت إلا بإذن الله "، معناه: كتب الله آجالَ النفوس، ثم قيل: " كتابًا مؤجلا "، فأخرج قوله: " كتابًا مؤجلا "، نصبًا من المعنى الذي في الكلام، إذ كان قوله: " وما كان لنفس أن تموت إلا بإذن الله "، قد أدَّى عن معنى: " كتب "، (55) قال: وكذلك سائر ما في القرآن من نظائر ذلك، فهو على هذا النحو. * * * وقال آخرون منهم: قول القائل: " زيد قائم حقًّا "، بمعنى: " أقول زيد قائم حقًّا "، لأن كل كلام " قول "، فأدى المقول عن " القول "، ثم خرج ما بعده منه، كما تقول: " أقول قولا حقًّا "، وكذلك " ظنًّا " و " يقينًا " وكذلك: وَعَدَ اللَّهُ ، وما أشبهه. * * * قال أبو جعفر: والصواب من القول في ذلك عندي، أن كل ذلك منصوب على المصدر من معنى الكلام الذي قبله، لأن في كل ما قبل المصادر التي هي مخالفة ألفاظُها ألفاظَ ما قبلها من الكلام، معانِيَ ألفاظ المصادر وإن خالفها في اللفظ، فنصبها من معاني ما قبلها دون ألفاظه. القول في تأويل قوله جل ثناؤه : وَمَنْ يُرِدْ ثَوَابَ الدُّنْيَا نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا وَمَنْ يُرِدْ ثَوَابَ الآخِرَةِ نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا وَسَنَجْزِي الشَّاكِرِينَ (145) قال أبو جعفر: يعني بذلك جل ثناؤه: من يرد منكم، أيها المؤمنون، بعمله جزاءً منه بعضَ أعراض الدنيا، دون ما عند الله من الكرامة لمن ابتغى بعمله ما عنده =" نؤته منها "، يقول: نعطه منها، يعني من الدنيا، يعني أنه يعطيه منها ما قُسم له فيها من رزق أيام حياته، ثم لا نصيب له في كرامة الله التي أعدها لمن أطاعه وطلب ما عنده في الآخرة =" ومن يرد ثوابَ الآخرة "، يقول: ومن يرد منكم بعمله جزاءً منه ثواب الآخرة، يعني: ما عند الله من كرامته التي أعدها للعاملين له في الآخرة =" نؤته منها "، يقول: نعطه منها، يعني من الآخرة. والمعنى: من كرامة ألله التي خصَّ بها أهلَ طاعته في الآخرة. فخرج الكلامُ على الدنيا والآخرة، والمعنىُّ ما فيهما. كما:- 7955- حدثنا ابن حميد قال، حدثنا سلمة، عن ابن إسحاق: " ومن يرد ثواب الدنيا نؤته منها ومن يرد ثواب الآخرة نؤته منها "، أي: فمن كان منكم يريد الدنيا، ليست له رغبة في الآخرة، نؤته ما قسم له منها من رزق، ولا حظ له في الآخرة = " ومن يرد ثواب الآخرة نوته منها " ما وعده، مع ما يُجرى عليه من رزقه في دنياه. (56) * * * وأما قوله: " وسنجزي الشاكرين "، يقول: وسأثيب من شكر لي ما أوليته من إحساني إليه = بطاعته إياي، وانتهائه إلى أمري، وتجنُّبه محارمي = في الآخرة مثل الذي وعدت أوليائي من الكرامة على شكرهم إياي. وقال ابن إسحاق في ذلك بما:- 7956- حدثنا ابن حميد قال، حدثنا سلمة، عن ابن إسحاق: " وسنجزي الشاكرين "، أي: ذلك جزاء الشاكرين، يعني بذلك، إعطاء الله إياه ما وعده في الآخرة، مع ما يجري عليه من الرزق في الدنيا. (57) ---------------------- الهوامش : (52) الأثر: 7954- سيرة ابن هشام 3: 118 ، وهو تتمة الآثار التي آخرها: 7940. (53) هو أبو عبيدة في مجاز القرآن 1: 104. (54) هذه مواضع الآيات من كتاب الله على الترتيب: [سورة النساء: 122 / سورة يونس: 4 / سورة لقمان: 9] / [سورة الكهف: 82 / سورة القصص: 46 / سورة الدخان: 6] / [سورة النمل: 88] / [سورة النساء: 24]. (55) في المطبوعة: "عن معناه كتب" ، وهو كلام مختل ، والصواب من المخطوطة. (56) الأثر: 7955- سيرة ابن هشام 3: 118 ، وهو تتمة الآثار التي آخرها: 7954. والاختلاف عظيم في لفظ الأثر. (57) الأثر: 7956- ليس في سيرة ابن هشام بنصه.