Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَلَهُ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ (30:26) (And to Him belongs whoever is in the heavens and on the earth; all are obedient to Him.)

   The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: to Him belongs whoever is in the heavens and on the earth — angel, jinn, and human, slaves and possession. كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ (all are obedient to Him): He says: all obey Him. Now someone might say: how can it be said كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ (all are obedient to Him), when it is known that most people and jinn are disobedient to Him? We answer: the exegetes have differed about this; we shall mention their disagreement and then expound the correct position according to our view therein.

   Some of them said: this is a statement formulated in the form of the general, but by which the particular is intended. The meaning is: كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ (all are obedient to Him) in life, subsistence, death, perishing, raising up, and resurrection — none of that can withdraw itself from Him, even though some of them are disobedient to Him in other than that.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His statement: وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ تَقُومَ السَّمَاءُ وَالأَرْضُ بِأَمْرِهِ (And among His signs is that the heaven and the earth stand fast by His command) ... up to كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ (all are obedient to Him). He says: obedient, namely as regards life, resurrection, and death, while they are disobedient to Him in what falls outside that of worship.

   Others said: no, rather the meaning of that is: كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ (all are obedient to Him) through their acknowledgment that He is their Lord and their Creator.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ (all are obedient to Him): that is to say obedient, acknowledging that Allah is his Lord and his Creator.

   Others said: it is in the particular sense, and the sentence is: وَلَهُ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ (and to Him belongs whoever is in the heavens and on the earth) of angel and believer, devoted to Allah, obedient servant — not others than they.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ (all are obedient to Him). He said: all obey Him; the obedient one is the qānit (the submissive one). He said: there is nothing but that it is obedient, except the son of Adam (the human) — though he was the most obligated of them all to be the most obedient to Him. And concerning His statement: وَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَ (and stand before Allah in devout obedience):

   he said: this is about the ritual prayer (ṣalāh). Do not speak during the prayer, as the People of the Book speak during their prayer. He said: the People of the Book walk toward one another during the prayer. He said: and they turn toward one another during the prayer; and when something is said to them about that, they reply: so that enmity may depart from our hearts and the hearts of one may yield to the other. Thereupon Allah said: and stand before Allah in devout obedience (qānitīn), do not move as they move; qānitīn: do not speak as they speak. He said: and all that occurs elsewhere in the Qurʾān of qunūt, that is obedience, except this one place.

   The most correct of the statements about this is the statement that we have transmitted on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, namely that everyone who is in the heavens and on the earth of Allah's creatures is obedient in His disposing of them with respect to what He wills — the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted — of life, death, and what resembles that, even though he is disobedient to Him in what he earns by his own utterance and in that for which the way lies open for him to choose it and prefer it over its opposite.

   I have said that this is the most correct in the explanation thereof, because the disobedient among His creatures — in that which they have the way to earn — are numerous in number; and the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, has reported about them all that they are obedient to Him. It is not permissible that He should report about someone who is disobedient that he is obedient to Him precisely in that in which he is disobedient to Him. And since that is so, that in which he is disobedient is what I have described, and that in which he is obedient is what I have expounded.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَلَهُ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ (26) يقول تعالى ذكره: من في السموات والأرض من ملك وجنّ وإنس عبيد وملك (كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ) يقول: كلّ له مطيعون، فيقول قائل: وكيف قيل (كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ) وقد علم أن أكثر الإنس والجنّ له عاصون؟ فنقول: اختلف أهل التأويل في تأويل ذلك، فنذكر اختلافهم، ثم نبين الصواب عندنا في ذلك من القول، فقال بعضهم: ذلك كلام مخرجه مخرج العموم، والمراد به الخصوص، ومعناه: (كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ) في الحياة والبقاء والموت، والفناء والبعث والنشور، لا يمتنع عليه شيء من ذلك، وإن عصاه بعضهم في غير ذلك. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد بن سعد، قال: ثني أبي، قال: ثني عمي، قال: ثني أبي، عن أبيه، عن ابن عباس قوله: وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ تَقُومَ السَّمَاءُ وَالأَرْضُ بِأَمْرِهِ ... إلى (كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ) يقول: مطيعون، يعني الحياة والنشور والموت، وهم عاصون له فيما سوى ذلك من العبادة. وقال آخرون: بل معنى ذلك: (كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ) بإقرارهم بأنه ربهم وخالقهم. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قَتادة (كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ) : أي مطيع مقرٌّ بأن الله ربه وخالقه. وقال آخرون: هو على الخصوص، والمعنى: (وَلَهُ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ) من ملك وعبد مؤمن لله مطيع دون غيرهم. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني يونس. قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب. قال: قال ابن زيد في قوله: (كُلٌّ لَهُ قَانِتُونَ) قال: كلّ له مطيعون، المطيع: القانت. قال: وليس شيء إلا وهو مطيع، إلا ابن آدم، وكان أحقهم أن يكون أطوعهم لله. وفي قوله: وَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَ . قال: هذا في الصلاة. لا تتكلموا في الصلاة، كما يتكلم أهل الكتاب في الصلاة. قال: وأهل الكتاب يمشي بعضهم إلى بعض في الصلاة. قال: ويتقابلون في الصلاة، فإذا قيل لهم في ذلك، قالوا: لكي تذهب الشحناء من قلوبنا، تسلم قلوب بعضنا لبعض، فقال الله: وقوموا لله قانتين لا تزولوا كما يزولون. قانتين: لا تتكلموا كما يتكلمون. قال: فأما ما سوى هذا كله في القرآن من القنوت فهو الطاعة، إلا هذه الواحدة. وأولى الأقوال في ذلك بالصواب، القول الذي ذكرناه عن ابن عباس، وهو أن كلّ من في السماوات والأرض من خلق لله مطيع في تصرّفه فيما أراد تعالى ذكره، من حياة وموت، وما أشبه ذلك، وإن عصاه فيما يكسبه بقوله، وفيما له السبيل إلى اختياره وإيثاره على خلافه. وإنما قلت: ذلك أولى بالصواب في تأويل ذلك؛ لأن العصاة من خلقه فيما لهم السبيل إلى اكتسابه كثير عددهم، وقد أخبر تعالى ذكره عن جميعهم أنهم له قانتون، فغير جائز أن يخبر عمن هو عاص أنه له قانت فيما هو له عاص. وإذا كان ذلك كذلك، فالذي فيه عاص هو ما وصفت، والذي هو له قانت ما بينت.