Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:55
[Mention] when Allah said, "O Jesus, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve and make those who follow you [in submission to Allah alone] superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return, and I will judge between you concerning that in which you used to differ.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement concerning the explanation of His word: إِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ وَمُطَهِّرُكَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا (When Allah said: "O ʿĪsā, indeed I shall take you to Myself and raise you up to Myself and purify you of those who disbelieve" — 3:55)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted be His praise, means thereby: and Allah devised a plan against the people who sought to kill ʿĪsā — alongside their disbelief in Allah and their denial of ʿĪsā regarding that with which he had come to them from his Lord — when Allah, exalted be His praise, said: "indeed I shall take you to Myself." The word "when" (idh) is connected to His word and Allah devised a plan, that is: and Allah devised a plan against them when Allah said to ʿĪsā: "indeed I shall take you to Myself and raise you up to Myself," and so He took him to Himself and raised him up to Himself.
* * *
Then people differed in the explanation of the meaning of the "taking" (al-wafāt) that Allah, mighty and exalted, mentioned in this verse.
Some of them said: "it is a taking by sleep," and the meaning of the statement according to their view is: indeed I cause you to sleep and raise you up in your sleep.
Mention of who said that:
7133 - 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: "indeed I shall take you to Myself," he said: He means the taking of sleep; Allah raised him up in his sleep. Al-Ḥasan said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to the Jews: "Indeed, ʿĪsā has not died, and he will return to you before the Day of Resurrection."
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: indeed I take you from the earth, and raise you up to Myself. They said: and the meaning of "al-wafāt" is the taking (al-qabḍ), according to what one says: "I have taken from so-and-so what was owed to me by him" (tawaffaytu min fulān), in the meaning of: I received it and fully claimed it. They said: the meaning of His word "indeed I shall take you to Myself and raise you up" is therefore: indeed I take you alive from the earth to My nearness, and take you to what is with Me without death, and raise you up from among the polytheists and the people of disbelief in you.
Mention of who said that:
7134 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: Ḍamra ibn Rabīʿa related to us, on the authority of Ibn Shawdhab, on the authority of Maṭar al-Warrāq concerning the word of Allah: "indeed I shall take you to Myself," he said: I take you from this world, and it is not a taking by death.
7135 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning His word: "indeed I shall take you to Myself," he said: I take you from the earth.
7136 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj concerning His word: "indeed I shall take you to Myself and raise you up to Myself and purify you of those who disbelieve," he said: His raising of him to Himself is His taking of him, and His purifying of him from those who disbelieve.
7137 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me: that Kaʿb al-Aḥbār said: Allah, mighty and exalted, did not intend to cause ʿĪsā the son of Maryam to die; Allah only sent him as a caller and a herald of glad tidings, calling to Him alone. When ʿĪsā saw the fewness of those who followed him and the multitude of those who denied him, he complained of that to Allah, mighty and exalted. Then Allah revealed to him: "indeed I shall take you to Myself and raise you up to Myself," and whoever I raise up to Myself is not dead with Me, and indeed I shall raise you up against the one-eyed Dajjāl, and you shall kill him; then you shall live thereafter twenty-four years, and then I shall cause you to die the death of the living.
Kaʿb al-Aḥbār said: and this confirms the report of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ where he said: How would a community perish at whose beginning I stand, and ʿĪsā at its end.
7138 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: "O ʿĪsā, indeed I shall take you to Myself," that is: take you away.
7139 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "indeed I shall take you to Myself and raise you up to Myself," he said: "I shall take you to Myself": take you away = he said: "I shall take you to Myself" and "raise you up" are one and the same = he said: and he has not yet died, until he kills the Dajjāl, and then he will die. And he recited the word of Allah, mighty and exalted: And he will speak to the people in the cradle and as a grown man, he said: Allah raised him up to Himself before he was a grown man = he said: and he will descend as a grown man.
7140 - Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to us, saying: Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbbād, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning the word of Allah, mighty and exalted: "O ʿĪsā, indeed I shall take you to Myself and raise you up to Myself," the entire verse, he said: Allah raised him up to Himself, and he is with Him in the heaven.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: indeed I shall take you to Myself by a taking of death.
Mention of who said that:
7141 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His word: "indeed I shall take you to Myself," he says: indeed I shall cause you to die.
7142 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, from someone who is not suspected, on the authority of Wahb ibn Munabbih al-Yamānī, that he said: Allah took ʿĪsā the son of Maryam for three hours of the day, until He raised him up to Himself.
7143 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, he said: and the Christians claim that He took him for seven hours of the day, and that Allah then brought him back to life.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: when Allah said: O ʿĪsā, indeed I shall raise you up to Myself and purify you of those who disbelieve, and take you to Myself after My sending you down to the world. And he said: this belongs to the fronted whose meaning is at the end, and the postponed whose meaning is at the front.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: and the most correct of these statements as to correctness is, according to us, the statement of him who said: "the meaning of it is: indeed I take you from the earth and raise you up to Myself," because of the recurrent (mutawātir) reports from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he said: ʿĪsā the son of Maryam will descend and kill the Dajjāl, then he will remain on earth for a period that he mentioned — the report differs concerning its duration — and then he will die, and the Muslims will perform the prayer over him and bury him.
7144 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Muslim al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Ḥanẓala ibn ʿAlī al-Aslamī, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying: Indeed, Allah will cause ʿĪsā the son of Maryam to descend as a just judge and an equitable leader; he will break the cross, kill the swine, abolish the jizyah (the poll-tax for non-Muslims), and make wealth flow so abundantly that no one will accept it any longer; and he will halt in al-Rawḥāʾ as a pilgrim for the ḥajj or the ʿumra, or he will perform both together.
7145 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Dīnār, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ādam, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: The prophets are brothers of one father with different mothers; their mothers are different and their religion is one. And I am the nearest of people to ʿĪsā the son of Maryam, because between me and him there was no prophet, and he is my successor over my community. And indeed, he will descend; and when you see him, recognize him: he is a man of middling stature, inclining to red and white, with lank hair, as though his hair were dripping, even though it touches no moisture, clad between two lightly yellow-dyed garments. He will break the cross, kill the swine, make wealth flow abundantly, and fight the people for Islam until Allah in his time causes all the creeds to perish, and Allah in his time causes the Messiah of error, the liar the Dajjāl, to perish. And security will descend upon the earth, so much so that the lions will graze together with the camels, the panther with the cattle, and the wolves with the sheep, and the boys will play with the snakes, without one harming the other. And he will remain forty years on earth, then he will be taken, and the Muslims will perform the prayer over him and bury him.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: and it is known that, had Allah, mighty and exalted, already caused him to die, He would not cause him to die a second death, so that two deaths would be combined for him; for Allah, mighty and exalted, has only informed His servants that He creates them, then causes them to die, then brings them back to life, as He, exalted be His praise, said: Allah is the one who created you, then provided for you, then causes you to die, then brings you back to life. Is there among your associate-gods anyone who does any of that? [Surah al-Rūm: 40].
* * *
The explanation of the verse is therefore: Allah said to ʿĪsā: O ʿĪsā, indeed I take you from the earth, and raise you up to Myself, and purify you of those who disbelieve and denied your prophethood.
* * *
And this report, even though it has the form of a report, contains in it from Allah, mighty and exalted, an argument against those who disputed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ concerning ʿĪsā, from the delegation of Najrān, namely that ʿĪsā was not killed and not crucified as they claimed, and that they — and the Jews who acknowledged that and claimed it concerning ʿĪsā — are liars in their claim and their drivel, as:
7146 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: then He informed them — namely the delegation of Najrān — and refuted them regarding that with which they acknowledged his crucifixion together with the Jews, how He raised him up and purified him from them, and He said: "when Allah said: O ʿĪsā, indeed I shall take you to Myself and raise you up to Myself."
* * *
As for "and purify you of those who disbelieve," He means thereby: cleanse you, free you from whoever disbelieves in you and denied what you brought them of truth, from the Jews and the remaining creeds besides them, as:
7147 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: "and purify you of those who disbelieve," he said: when they devised against you what they devised.
7148 - Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to me, saying: Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbbād, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning His word: "and purify you of those who disbelieve," he said: He purified him from the Jews, the Christians, the Magians (al-Majūs), and from the disbelievers of his people.
* * *
The statement concerning the explanation of His word, mighty and exalted: وَجَاعِلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوكَ فَوْقَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ (And I shall place those who followed you above those who disbelieved until the Day of Resurrection)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted be His praise, means thereby: and I shall place those who followed you upon your way and your creed of Islam and its original natural disposition (fiṭra), above those who denied your prophethood and abandoned their way — [from] all the people of the creeds — and who declared what you brought to be a lie and turned away from acknowledging it; thus I shall place them above them, dominating over them, as:
7149 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His word: "and I shall place those who followed you above those who disbelieved until the Day of Resurrection," they are the people of Islam who followed him upon his original natural disposition, his creed and his practice (sunna); they will not cease to have the upper hand over whoever opposes them, until the Day of Resurrection.
7150 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ concerning His word: "and I shall place those who followed you above those who disbelieved until the Day of Resurrection," then he mentioned something similar.
7151 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "and I shall place those who followed you above those who disbelieved until the Day of Resurrection," then he mentioned something similar.
7152 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "and I shall place those who followed you above those who disbelieved until the Day of Resurrection," he said: helper of whoever followed you upon Islam, above those who disbelieved, until the Day of Resurrection.
7153 - 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: "and I shall place those who followed you above those who disbelieved until the Day of Resurrection," as for "those who followed you," it is said: they are the believers, = and it is said: no, they are the Romans (al-Rūm).
7154 - Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to me, saying: Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbbād, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: "and I shall place those who followed you above those who disbelieved until the Day of Resurrection," he said: He placed those who followed him above those who disbelieved until the Day of Resurrection. He said: the Muslims are above them, and He made them higher than whoever abandoned Islam, until the Day of Resurrection.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: and I shall place those who followed you from among the Christians above the Jews.
Mention of who said that:
7155 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the word of Allah: and purify you of those who disbelieve, he said: those who disbelieved from among the Children of Israel = "and I shall place those who followed you," he said: those who believed in him from among the Children of Israel and others = "above those who disbelieved," the Christians above the Jews until the Day of Resurrection. He said: there is no land in which any of the Christians are found, but that they are above the Jews, neither in east nor west; they (the Jews) are humbled in all the lands.
* * *
The statement concerning the explanation of His word: ثُمَّ إِلَيَّ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَأَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ فِيمَا كُنْتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ (Then to Me is your return, and I shall judge between you concerning that wherein you differed — 3:55)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted be His praise, means thereby: "then to Me," then to Allah, O you who differ concerning ʿĪsā, = "is your return," that is: your destination on the Day of Resurrection, = "and I shall judge between you," he says: then at that moment I shall judge between you all in the matter of ʿĪsā with truth, = "concerning that wherein you differed" regarding his matter.
And this belongs to the speech that is turned away from reporting about the absent (the third person) to direct address (the second person); and that is because by His word "then to Me is your return" only the report about the followers of ʿĪsā and those who disbelieved in him was intended.
And the explanation of the speech is: and I shall place those who followed you above those who disbelieved until the Day of Resurrection, then to Me is the return of the two groups: those who followed you and those who disbelieved in you, and I shall judge between them concerning that wherein they differed. But the speech is brought back to direct address because of the precedence of the statement, in the manner of what we have mentioned of the speech that occurs in the manner of a quotation (ḥikāya), as He said: until, when you are in the ships, and they sail with them with a favorable wind [Surah Yūnus: 22].
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The footnotes:
(3) The report 7133 - is a mursal report (with a broken chain); al-Suyūṭī included it in al-Durr al-Manthūr 2: 36, and attributed it to Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Abī Ḥātim, and Ibn Kathīr cited it in his tafsīr 2: 150 with the isnād of Ibn Abī Ḥātim.
(4) The report 7134 - "ʿAlī ibn Sahl al-Ramlī," reliable (thiqa). His biography has passed under number 1384. "Ḍamra ibn Rabīʿa al-Filasṭīnī al-Ramlī," Ibn Saʿd said: "he was reliable, trustworthy, virtuous; there was no one there more excellent than he." And Ādam ibn Abī Iyās said: "I have seen no one more sensible regarding what comes out of his head than he." And he is the transmitter of Ibn Shawdhab. His biography is in al-Tahdhīb. "Ibn Shawdhab" is: ʿAbdallāh ibn Shawdhab al-Khurāsānī. Reliable. His biography is in al-Tahdhīb. And "Maṭar al-Warrāq" is: Maṭar ibn Ṭahmān al-Warrāq. He has passed under number 1913.
(5) The report 7137 - al-Suyūṭī included it in al-Durr al-Manthūr 2: 36, and attributed it exclusively to al-Ṭabarī, and he said: "and Ibn Jarīr transmitted it with a correct chain (isnād ṣaḥīḥ)," and he mentioned the report. And his report about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is a mursal report, and however correct its chain may be, its transmission by Kaʿb al-Aḥbār is worth nothing, and one cannot rely upon it. And Muʿāwiya spoke the truth in his statement about Kaʿb al-Aḥbār: "he was among the most truthful of these transmitters who transmit from the People of the Book, and yet we caught him in lying thereby," transmitted by al-Bukhārī.
(6) The report 7144 - Salama: he is Ibn al-Faḍl al-Abrash. We have deemed his reliability probable under number 246. Ḥanẓala ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Asqaʿ al-Aslamī — also called "al-Sulamī" —: a reliable, well-known tābiʿī. And the report is transmitted by Aḥmad in al-Musnad: 7890 (volume 2 pp. 290-291, Ḥalabī edition), in a similar manner, more fully, on the authority of Yazīd — namely Ibn Hārūn — on the authority of Sufyān — namely Ibn Ḥusayn — on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Ḥanẓala. And Aḥmad transmitted it before that in abridged form: 7271, on the authority of Sufyān — namely Ibn ʿUyayna — and: 7667, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Razzāq, on the authority of Maʿmar — both on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Ḥanẓala. And he also transmitted it in abridged form: 10671 (volume 2 p. 513), by way of Ibn Abī Ḥafṣa. And: 10987 (volume 2 p. 540), by way of al-Awzāʿī — both on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Ḥanẓala. And this abridged report by Aḥmad — Muslim transmitted it 1: 356-357. And Aḥmad transmitted the meaning of this report spread over several reports, by various ways on the authority of Abū Hurayra. See al-Musnad: 7267, 7665, 7666, 9110 (volume 2 p. 394), 9312 (p. 411), 10266 (pp. 482-483), 10409 (pp. 493-494), 10957 (p. 538). And Ibn Kathīr mentioned many of its ways and reports in the tafsīr 3: 15-16. See also his history work 2: 96-101. His word "or he will perform both together" — this is the correct, established reading in the manuscript, and the correct meaning. And in the printed edition it reads "or he will be guilty of both"!! and that is a confusion without meaning.
(7) The report 7145 - Its chain is very weak. And the basic text of the report is correct, as will follow hereafter. Al-Ḥasan ibn Dīnār al-Baṣrī, a liar who is not trusted. His biography has passed under number 682. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ādam al-Baṣrī, keeper of the watering-place, freedman of Umm Barthun: a reliable tābiʿī. Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned him among the reliable ones, and Muslim transmitted from him in his Ṣaḥīḥ, and we have given him a biography in the commentary on al-Musnad: 7213. And the report will follow hereafter with another, correct chain: by way of the report of Saʿīd — namely Ibn Abī ʿArūba — on the authority of Qatāda with this chain, in a similar manner (volume 6 p. 16, Būlāq edition). And Aḥmad transmitted it in al-Musnad: 9259 (volume 2 p. 406, Ḥalabī edition), on the authority of ʿAffān, on the authority of Hammām, on the authority of Qatāda, in a similar manner. And so al-Ḥākim transmitted it in al-Mustadrak 2: 595, by way of ʿAffān. And he said: "this is a report with a correct chain, and the two of them (al-Bukhārī and Muslim) did not transmit it." And al-Dhahabī agreed with him. And Ibn Kathīr mentioned it in the tafsīr 3: 16, by way of the report of Aḥmad from ʿAffān. Then he pointed out that Abū Dāwūd transmitted it by way of Hammām, and then he pointed to the following report of al-Ṭabarī, by way of Ibn Abī ʿArūba. And Aḥmad also transmitted it: 9630 (volume 2 p. 437), by way of Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Qatāda, in a similar manner. Then he transmitted it: 9631, by way of Hishām, and: 9632, by way of Shaybān — both on the authority of Qatāda. And he did not mention its wording. And Ibn Kathīr took it over in the history work 2: 98-99, according to the report of Ibn Abī ʿArūba in al-Musnad, and pointed to the two reports of Aḥmad and Abū Dāwūd by way of Hammām. And in these reports, nor in the following report of al-Ṭabarī, does the phrase occur that appears here in the report of al-Ḥasan ibn Dīnār: "and he is my successor over my community." And that is, according to us, an anomalous (shādhdh) phrase, in the transmission of which a man who is not trusted was alone in singling himself out. And the beginning of this report has been transmitted by Aḥmad, al-Bukhārī and Ibn Ḥibbān, by various ways, on the authority of Abū Hurayra. See the tafsīr of Ibn Kathīr 3: 16, and his history work 2: 98-99. His word "brothers of one father with different mothers" (ikhwa li-ʿallāt) — with fatḥa on the undotted ʿayn and doubling of the lām — Ibn al-Athīr said: "the children of ʿallāt: those whose mothers are different and whose father is one. He meant that their religion is one and their laws are different." His word "and indeed, he will descend" — the descent of ʿĪsā, peace be upon him, at the end of time: that belongs to that concerning which the Muslims do not differ, because of the continuous (mutawātir), correct reports from the Prophet ﷺ about it. And Ibn Kathīr mentioned a good collection of them in his tafsīr, volume 3 pp. 15-24. And this is known by necessity from the religion; whoever denies it is not a believer. His word "of middling stature" (marbūʿ al-khalq) — with fatḥa on the khāʾ and sukūn on the lām — al-marbūʿ: that is between the tall and the short. One says: a man rabʿa and marbūʿ. "The lank hair" (al-shaʿr al-sabṭ): the outstretched, hanging down. His word "between two mumaṣṣaratān" — al-mumaṣṣara among the garments, with doubling of the vocalized undotted ṣād: that is the garment in which there is a light yellowness.
(8) In the printed edition it reads: "regarding that which they — they and the Jews — reported about his crucifixion," and what I have established is the text of the manuscript; but the copyist did it badly as usual and wrote "aḥarū lil-yahūd" as though it were a ḥāʾ, after which the editor changed what he wished as he wished. Nevertheless, what is in the manuscript is also the text of Ibn Hishām, in the correct manner.
(9) The report 7146 - Sīrat Ibn Hishām 2: 231, and it is a continuation of the reports the last of which is number 7130.
(10) The report 7147 - Sīrat Ibn Hishām 2: 231, a continuation of the preceding report number 7146.
(11) In the printed edition it reads: "and they abandoned with their way all the people of the creeds," and in the manuscript: "and they abandoned their way, all the people of the creeds," and the correct reading is the addition of [min], that is: and they abandoned the way of those who followed you, from all the people of the creeds. It is correct in meaning, if Allah wills.
(12) In the printed edition it reads: "it is said: they are the believers, they are not the Romans," instead of what is in the manuscript; and the Romans were at that time the Christians, and he means by the believers, as before, the people of Islam who did not change and did not say about ʿĪsā what the Christians later said.
(13) In the printed edition it reads: "because of the carrying-on of the statement" (li-sawq al-qawl), and that is an error without meaning. And in the manuscript it reads "li-swq" without diacritical points, so that one could not read it well. And al-Ṭabarī frequently uses "subūq," the verbal noun of "sabaqa" (to precede), as I have pointed out in 4: 287, note 4 / then p. 427, note 1 / then p. 446, note 4 / and other places. And he means by his word "because of the precedence of the statement" the same as what passed before of his word in 1: 153, namely that it belongs to the custom of the Arabs "when they quote a report, or command the quoting of a report that follows upon a statement, that they first address directly and then report about an absent one, and report about an absent one and then return to direct address, because of what lies in the quotation through the statement of the meaning of both the absent and the addressed." And the statement here is His word, the Exalted: "when Allah said: O ʿĪsā..." And the meaning of what al-Ṭabarī said is, that His word, the Exalted: "then to Me is your return..." only concerns the matter of those who differed concerning the matter of ʿĪsā, and who said about him what they said, of the Jews, the Christians and others, and the matter of those who said the truth about him and did not doubt that he is the servant of Allah and His messenger. And that after the direct address to ʿĪsā himself, while the mention of those who followed him and those who disbelieved in him was absent within the direct address to ʿĪsā; therefore the direct address at the end of the verse was brought back to them.
(14) See what passed before 1: 153, 154 / 3: 304, 305.
