Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of His statement: الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَى جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ ("Those who remember Allah while standing and sitting and lying on their sides, and who reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth").

   Abū Jaʿfar said: His statement "Those who remember Allah while standing and sitting" belongs to the description of "those possessed of understanding" (ūlū al-albāb). And the word "those who" (alladhīna) is in the genitive (khafḍ), referring back to His statement "for those possessed of understanding" (li-ūlī al-albāb).

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   The meaning of the verse is: Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alternation of night and day there are signs for those possessed of understanding, who remember Allah while standing and sitting and lying on their sides. By this is meant: standing in their prayer (ṣalāh), and sitting during their tashahhud and outside the prayer, and lying on their sides, sleeping. As in:

   8354 - Al-Qāsim related to me, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His statement "Those who remember Allah while standing and sitting" — the verse — he said: That is the remembrance of Allah in the prayer and outside the prayer, and the recitation of the Qurʾān.

   8355 - Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement "Those who remember Allah while standing and sitting and lying on their sides" — these are all your states, O son of Adam, so remember Him even while you are lying on your side: as a lightening and an easing from Allah.

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   Abū Jaʿfar said: If someone were to ask: How is it that it is said "and on their sides" (wa-ʿalā junūbihim), where "ʿalā," which is a preposition, is conjoined with "the standing and the sitting" (al-qiyām wa-l-quʿūd), both of which are nouns?

   The answer is: Because His statement "and on their sides" has the meaning of a noun, and the meaning is: and sleeping, or: "lying on their sides." For this reason it is correct to conjoin this with "the standing" and "the sitting," on account of that meaning, just as it is said: وَإِذَا مَسَّ الإِنْسَانَ الضُّرُّ دَعَانَا لِجَنْبِهِ أَوْ قَاعِدًا أَوْ قَائِمًا (Sūrat Yūnus 10:12) ("And when affliction touches man, he calls upon Us, lying on his side, or sitting, or standing"). There His statement "or sitting, or standing" is conjoined with His statement "on his side," because the meaning of "on his side" is "lying down." Thus "the sitting" and "the standing" are conjoined with that meaning. So too is it in His statement "and on their sides."

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   As for His statement "and who reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth": by this is meant that they take a lesson from the handiwork of its Maker, so that they may know that none can make this except He whom nothing resembles, who is the Sovereign over all things and their Provider, and Creator of all things and their Disposer, and who is over all things All-Powerful, and in whose hand lie enrichment and impoverishment, honor and abasement, life and death, misery and felicity.

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   The explanation of His statement: رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَذَا بَاطِلا سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ (191) ("Our Lord, You did not create this in vain. Exalted are You, so protect us from the punishment of the Fire").

   Abū Jaʿfar said: By this He means, exalted is His mention: وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ ("and who reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth"), saying: "Our Lord, You did not create this in vain." The mention of "saying" (qāʾilīn) has been omitted, because in what became apparent of the speech there already lay an indication of it.

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   And His statement "You did not create this in vain" means: You did not create this creation out of futility or as play, and You created it only for the sake of a weighty matter: reward and punishment, reckoning and requital. He said "You did not create this (hādhā) in vain" and not "You did not create these things (hādhihi, nor hāʾulāʾi)," because by "this" He meant the creation that is in the heavens and the earth. This is indicated by His statement "Exalted are You, so protect us from the punishment of the Fire" and their yearning to their Lord that He protect them from the punishment of Hell (al-jaḥīm). If by His statement "You did not create this in vain" the heavens and the earth were meant, then His subsequent statement "protect us from the punishment of the Fire" would have no comprehensible meaning. For "the heavens and the earth" are indications pointing to their Creator, not to reward and punishment; rather, the indication of reward and punishment is the command and the prohibition.

   Exalted is His praise, He has so described "those possessed of understanding" whom He mentions in this verse, that they, when they see those addressed with command and prohibition, say: "O our Lord, You did not create these in vain and out of futility; exalted are You" — that is to say: a declaration that You are exalted above performing anything out of futility — "but You created them for the sake of a weighty matter: the Garden or the Fire."

   Then they took refuge with their Lord with the request that He protect them from the punishment of the Fire, and that He not make them among those who disobeyed Him and opposed His command, so that they would be among the inhabitants of Hell (jahannam).

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَى جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ قال أبو جعفر: وقوله: " الذين يذكرون الله قيامًا وقعودًا " من نعت " أولي الألباب "، و " الذين " في موضع خفض ردًّا على قوله: لأُولِي الأَلْبَابِ . * * * ومعنى الآية: إنّ في خلق السموات والأرض واختلاف الليل والنهار لآيات لأولي الألباب، الذاكرين الله قيامًا وقعودًا وعلى جنوبهم= يعني بذلك: قيامًا في صلاتهم، وقعودًا في تشهدهم وفي غير صلاتهم، وعلى جنوبهم نيامًا. كما:- 8354 - حدثنا القاسم قال، حدثنا الحسين قال، حدثني حجاج، عن &; 7-475 &; ابن جريج، قوله: " الذين يذكرون الله قيامًا وقعودًا " الآية، قال: هو ذكر الله في الصلاة وفي غير الصلاة، وقراءة القرآن. 8355 - حدثنا بشر قال، حدثنا يزيد قال، حدثنا سعيد، عن قتادة قوله: " الذين يذكرون الله قيامًا وقعودًا وعلى جنوبهم "، وهذه حالاتك كلها يا ابن آدم، فاذكره وأنت على جنبك، يُسرًا من الله وتخفيفًا. * * * قال أبو جعفر: فإن قال قائل: وكيف قيل: " وعلى جنوبهم ": فعطف بـ" على "، وهي صفة، (30) على " القيام والقعود " وهما اسمان؟ قيل: لأن قوله: " وعلى جنوبهم " في معنى الاسم، ومعناه: ونيامًا، أو: " مضطجعين على جنوبهم "، فحسن عطف ذلك على " القيام " و " القعود " لذلك المعنى، كما قيل: وَإِذَا مَسَّ الإِنْسَانَ الضُّرُّ دَعَانَا لِجَنْبِهِ أَوْ قَاعِدًا أَوْ قَائِمًا [سورة يونس: 12] فعطف بقوله: أَوْ قَاعِدًا أَوْ قَائِمًا على قوله: لِجَنْبِهِ ، لأن معنى قوله: لِجَنْبِهِ ، مضطجعا، (31) فعطف بـ" القاعد " و " القائم " على معناه، فكذلك ذلك في قوله: " وعلى جنوبهم ". (32) * * * وأما قوله: " ويتفكرون في خلق السموات والأرض "، فإنه يعني بذلك أنهم يعتبرون بصنعة صانع ذلك، فيعلمون أنه لا يصنع ذلك إلا مَن ليس كمثله شيء، ومن هو مالك كل شيء ورازقه، وخالق كل شيء ومدبره، ومن هو على كل شيء قدير، وبيده الإغناء والإفقار، والإعزاز والإذلال، والإحياء والإماتة، والشقاء والسعادة. * * * القول في تأويل قوله : رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَذَا بَاطِلا سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ (191) قال أبو جعفر: يعني بذلك تعالى ذكره: وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ قائلين: " ربنا ما خلقت هذا باطلا "، فترك ذكر " قائلين "، إذ كان فيما ظهر من الكلام دلالة عليه. * * * وقوله: " ما خلقت هذا باطلا " يقول: لم تخلق هذا الخلق عبثًا ولا لعبًا، ولم تخلقه إلا لأمر عظيم من ثواب وعقاب ومحاسبة ومجازاة، وإنما قال: " ما خلقت هذا باطلا " ولم يقل: " ما خلقت هذه، ولا هؤلاء "، لأنه أراد بـ" هذا "، الخلقَ الذي في السموات والأرض. يدل على ذلك قوله: " سبحانك فقنا عذاب النار "، ورغبتهم إلى ربهم في أن يقيهم عذاب الجحيم. ولو كان المعنيّ بقوله: " ما خلقت هذا باطلا "، السموات والأرض، لما كان لقوله عقيب ذلك: " فقنا عذاب النار "، معنى مفهوم. لأن " السموات والأرض " أدلة على بارئها، لا على الثواب والعقاب، وإنما الدليل على الثواب والعقاب، الأمر والنهي. وإنما وصف جل ثناؤه: " أولي الألباب " الذين ذكرهم في هذه الآية: أنهم إذا رأوا المأمورين المنهيّين قالوا: " يا ربنا لم تخلُق هؤلاء باطلا عبثًا سبحانك "، يعني: تنـزيهًا لك من أن تفعل شيئًا عبثًا، ولكنك خلقتهم لعظيم من الأمر، لجنة أو نار. ثم فَزِعوا إلى ربهم بالمسألة أن يجيرهم من عذاب النار، وأن لا يجعلهم ممن عصاه وخالف أمره، فيكونوا من أهل جهنم. ------------------- الهوامش : (30) "الصفة": حرف الجر ، كما سلف في مواضع كثيرة ، وانظر 1: 299 ، تعليق: 1 ، وفهرس المصطلحات في الأجزاء السالفة. (31) انظر ما سلف 3: 475. (32) انظر معاني القرآن للفراء 1: 250.