Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement: وَمَكَرُوا وَمَكَرَ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ ("And they schemed, and Allah schemed, and Allah is the best of schemers") (54)

   Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means thereby: And those of the Children of Israel who disbelieved schemed, and they are the ones of whom Allah reported that ʿĪsā perceived disbelief in them.

   * * *

   And their scheme, with which Allah described them, was the mutual agreement among them to ambush ʿĪsā and kill him. That was because ʿĪsā, the blessings of Allah be upon him, after his people had expelled him and his mother from their midst, returned to them, as in the following:

   7131 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: Then ʿĪsā traveled with them — that is: with the disciples who &; 6-454 &; were catching fish, and who believed in him and followed him when he called them — until he came at night to the Children of Israel and called among them. And that is His statement: فَآمَنَتْ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَكَفَرَتْ طَائِفَةٌ ("Then a group of the Children of Israel believed and another group disbelieved"), the verse [Sūrat al-Ṣaff: 14].

   * * *

   And as for Allah's scheme against them: it was — according to what al-Suddī mentioned — that He cast the likeness of ʿĪsā upon one of his followers, until the schemers against ʿĪsā killed him while they thought that he was ʿĪsā, whereas Allah, mighty and exalted is He, had already raised up ʿĪsā before that. As in the following:

   7132 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: Then the Children of Israel surrounded ʿĪsā and nineteen men of the disciples in a house. Then ʿĪsā said to his companions: Who will take on my form and be killed, and for him is the Garden (janna)? Then a man of them took it on, and ʿĪsā was raised up to heaven. And that is His statement: "And they schemed, and Allah schemed, and Allah is the best of schemers". When the disciples came out, they saw them as nineteen, and they informed them that ʿĪsā had been raised up to heaven. Then they began to count the people and they found them one man short in number, and they saw the form of ʿĪsā among them, so they were in doubt about him. And despite that, they killed the man while they thought that he was ʿĪsā, and they crucified him. And that is the statement of Allah, mighty and exalted is He: وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَكِنْ شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ ("And they did not kill him and they did not crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them") [Sūrat al-Nisāʾ: 157].

   * * *

   And it is possible that the meaning of "Allah's scheme against them" is His gradual luring of them, so that the Book might reach its appointed term, as we have already expounded regarding the statement of Allah: اللَّهُ يَسْتَهْزِئُ بِهِمْ ("Allah mocks them") [Sūrat al-Baqara: 15]. (2)

   -----------------------

   The footnotes:

   (2) See what passed earlier 1: 301-306.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : وَمَكَرُوا وَمَكَرَ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ (54) قال أبو جعفر: يعني بذلك جل ثناؤه: ومكر الذين كفروا من بني إسرائيل، وهم الذين ذكر الله أنّ عيسى أحسّ منهم الكفر. * * * وكان مكرهم الذي وصفهم الله به، مُواطأة بعضهم بعضًا على الفتك بعيسى وقَتْله، وذلك أن عيسى صلوات الله عليه، بعد إخراج قومه إياه وأمّه من بين أظهُرِهم، عاد إليهم، فيما:- 7131 - حدثنا محمد بن الحسين قال، حدثنا أحمد بن المفضل قال، حدثنا أسباط، عن السدي: ثم إن عيسى سار بهم = يعني: بالحواريين الذين كانوا &; 6-454 &; يصطادون السمك، فآمنوا به واتبعوه إذ دعاهم = حتى أتى بني إسرائيل ليلا فصَاح فيهم، فذلك قوله: فَآمَنَتْ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَكَفَرَتْ طَائِفَةٌ الآية [سورة الصف: 14]. * * * وأما مكر الله بهم: فإنه - فيما ذكر السدي - إلقاؤه شبَه عيسى على بعض أتباعه حتى قتله الماكرون بعيسى، وهم يحسبونه عيسى، وقد رفع الله عز وجل عيسى قبل ذلك، كما:- 7132 - حدثني محمد بن الحسين قال، حدثنا أحمد بن المفضل قال: حدثنا أسباط، عن السدي: ثم إن بني إسرائيل حَصروا عيسى وتسعةَ عشر رجلا من الحواريِّين في بيت، فقال عيسى لأصحابه: من يأخذ صورتي فيقتل وله الجنة؟ فأخذها رجل منهم، وصُعِد بعيسى إلى السماء، فذلك قوله: " ومكرُوا ومكر الله والله خير الماكرين ". فلما خرج الحواريون أبصرُوهم تسعةَ عشر، فأخبروهم أن عيسى قد صُعد به إلى السماء، فجعلوا يعدّون القوم فيجدُونهم ينقصون رجلا من العِدّة، ويرون صورةَ عيسى فيهم، فشكُّوا فيه. وعلى ذلك قتلوا الرجل وهم يُرَوْن أنه عيسى وصَلبوه، فذلك قول الله عز وجل: وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَكِنْ شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ [سورة النساء: 157]. * * * وقد يحتمل أن يكون معنى " مكر الله بهم "، استدراجُه إياهم ليبلغ الكتاب أجله، كما قد بينا ذلك في قول الله: اللَّهُ يَسْتَهْزِئُ بِهِمْ [سورة البقرة: 15]. (2) ----------------------- الهوامش : (2) انظر ما سلف 1: 301-306.