Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The statement concerning the interpretation of His word: ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا لَنْ تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ إِلا أَيَّامًا مَعْدُودَاتٍ وَغَرَّهُمْ فِي دِينِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ (That is because they said: "The Fire will only touch us for a counted number of days", and what they used to fabricate has deluded them in their religion — 3:24)

   He, exalted be His praise, means by His word "because they said": because these people, who were summoned to the Book of Allah so that it might judge justly between them concerning that over which they disputed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — they refused to heed the judgment of the Torah and the truth that is in it, on account of their saying: "The Fire will only touch us for a counted number of days" — and these are forty days, namely the days during which they worshipped the calf — "thereafter our Lord will bring us out of it", out of delusion on their part, "through what they used to fabricate", that is to say: through the lies and falsehoods which they fabricated, in their claim that they were the sons of Allah and His beloved ones, and that Allah had promised their father Yaʿqūb that He would not cause anyone of his offspring to enter the Fire, except for the duration of the discharging of an oath. Thus Allah has declared them liars in all these statements of theirs, and He has informed His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ that it is they who are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein eternally, in contrast to those who believe in Allah and His messengers and in what they have brought from Him.

   * * *

   And in accordance with what we have said concerning that, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.

   Mention of who said that:

   6786 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "That is because they said: The Fire will only touch us for a counted number of days", they said: the Fire will only touch us for the duration of the discharging of the oath, namely the time during which we had set up the calf; thereafter the oath and the punishment cease for us. Allah, mighty and exalted, said: "and what they used to fabricate has deluded them in their religion", that is to say: they said: We are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones.

   6787 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His word: "That is because they said: The Fire will only touch us for a counted number of days", the verse, he said: they said: we will only be punished in the Fire for forty days — he said: he means the Jews — he said: and Qatāda said something similar — and he said: they are the days during which they set up the calf. Allah, mighty and exalted, says: "and what they used to fabricate has deluded them in their religion", when they said: We are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones.

   6788 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: Mujāhid said concerning His word: "and what they used to fabricate has deluded them in their religion", he said: there deluded them their saying: "The Fire will only touch us for a counted number of days".

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   The footnotes:

   (12) His word "on account of their saying" is an explanation of the meaning of the bāʾ (the preposition "bi-") in His word: "that is because they said". See the explanation and clarification of that in the preceding 2: 139, in the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: "that is because they used to disbelieve in the signs of Allah".

   (13) See the interpretation of their saying: "The Fire will only touch us for a counted number of days" in the preceding 2: 274-278.

   (14) The taḥilla (with fatḥa on the tāʾ, kasra on the ḥāʾ, and doubling of the vocalized lām): that is that by which you absolve your oath. One says: "he did this matter only for the duration of the discharging of the oath", that is to say: he did it only to the extent necessary to release his oath and discharge himself of it, without persisting in that deed. The meaning is: that the Fire will only touch them a light touch, like the discharging of the oath of one who swears.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا لَنْ تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ إِلا أَيَّامًا مَعْدُودَاتٍ وَغَرَّهُمْ فِي دِينِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ (24) يعني جل ثناؤه بقوله: " بأنهم قالوا "، بأنّ هؤلاء الذين دعوا إلى كتاب الله ليحكم بينهم بالحق فيما نازعوا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، إنما أبوا الإجابة إلى حكم التوراة وما فيها من الحق: من أجل قولهم: (12) " لن تمسنا النارُ إلا أيامًا معدودات " = وهي أربعون يومًا، وهن الأيام التي عبدوا فيها العجل (13) = ثم يخرجنا منها ربنا، اغترارًا منهم =" بما كانوا يفترون "، يعني: بما كانوا يختلقون من الأكاذيب والأباطيل، في ادعائهم أنهم أبناء الله وأحِبّاؤه، وأن الله قد وعد أباهم يعقوبَ أن لا يُدْخل أحَدًا من ولده النار إلا تَحِلَّةَ القسم. (14) فأكذبهم الله على ذلك كله من أقوالهم، وأخبر نبيه محمدًا صلى الله عليه وسلم أنهم هم أهل النار هم فيها خالدون، دون المؤمنين بالله ورُسله وما جاءوا به من عنده. * * * وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. ذكر من قال ذلك: 6786 - حدثنا بشر قال، حدثنا يزيد قال، حدثنا سعيد، عن قتاده: " ذلك بأنهم قالوا لن تمسنا النار إلا أيامًا معدودات "، قالوا: لن تمسنا النار إلا تحلة القسم التي نصبنا فيها العجل، ثم ينقطع القسم والعذاب عنا = قال الله عز وجل: " وغرّهم في دينهم ما كانوا يفترون "، أي قالوا: نَحْنُ أَبْنَاءُ اللَّهِ وَأَحِبَّاؤُهُ . 6787 - حدثني المثنى قال، حدثنا إسحاق قال، حدثنا عبد الله بن أبي جعفر، عن أبيه، عن الربيع في قوله: " ذلك بأنهم قالوا لن تمسنا النار إلا أيامًا معدودات "، الآية، قال: قالوا: لن نعذب في النار إلا أربعين يومًا، قال: يعني اليهود = قال: وقال قتادة مثله = وقال: هي الأيام التي نَصَبوا فيها العجل. يقول الله عز وجل: " وغرَّهم في دينهم ما كانوا يفترون "، حين قالوا: نَحْنُ أَبْنَاءُ اللَّهِ وَأَحِبَّاؤُهُ . 6788 - حدثنا القاسم قال، حدثنا الحسين قال، حدثني حجاج قال: قال ابن جريج، قال مجاهد قوله: " وغرّهم في دينهم ما كانوا يفترون "، قال: غرّهم قولهم: " لن تمسنا النار إلا أيامًا معدودات ". ---------------------- الهوامش : (12) قوله: "من أجل قولهم" تفسير لمعنى الباء في قوله: "ذلك بأنهم قالوا" ، وانظر تفسير ذلك وبيانه فيما سلف 2: 139 في تفسير قوله تعالى: "ذلك بأنهم كانوا يكفرون بآيات الله". (13) انظر تفسير قولهم: "لن تمسنا النار إلا أيامًا معدودة" فيما سلف 2: 274-278. (14) التحلة (بفتح التاء وكسر الحاء ، وتشديد اللام المفتوحة): هو ما تكفر به يمينك. ويقال: "لم يفعل هذا الأمر إلا تحلة القسم": أي لم يفعله إلا بمقدار ما يحلل به قسمه ويخرج منه ، غير مبالغ في ذلك الفعل. والمعنى: أن النار لا تمسهم إلا مسة يسيرة مثل تحلة قسم الحالف.