Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: ضَرَبَ لَكُمْ مَثَلا مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ هَلْ لَكُمْ مِنْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ مِنْ شُرَكَاءَ فِي مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ فَأَنْتُمْ فِيهِ سَوَاءٌ تَخَافُونَهُمْ كَخِيفَتِكُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ كَذَلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ (30:28) (He has set forth for you a parable from your own selves: do you have, among those whom your right hands possess (mulk al-yamīn), partners in what We have provided for you as sustenance, so that you are equal therein, and you fear them as you fear one another? Thus do We expound the signs for a people who use their reason.)

   The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Your Lord has set forth for you, O people, a parable from your own selves. (هَلْ لَكُمْ مِمَّا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُم) — He says: Do you have, among those whom you possess (your slaves), partners in the possessions that We have bestowed upon you, so that they and you are equal therein? He says: And if you do not accept that for yourselves, then how could you have consented that your gods, whom you worship, should become partners to Me in your worship of Me, while you and they are My slaves and what I possess, and I am the Owner of you all?

   And in accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His saying: ( ضَرَبَ لَكُمْ مَثَلا مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ هَلْ لَكُمْ مِنْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ مِنْ شُرَكَاءَ فِي مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ فَأَنْتُمْ فِيهِ سَوَاءٌ ). He said: This is a parable that Allah has set forth for whoever equates anything of His creation with Him. He says: Would any of you allow his slave to share his bed and his wife? So too is Allah: He does not accept that any of His creation be equated with Him.

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: ( ضَرَبَ لَكُمْ مَثَلا مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ هَلْ لَكُمْ مِنْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ مِنْ شُرَكَاءَ فِي مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ فَأَنْتُمْ فِيهِ سَوَاءٌ ): He said: Do you find anyone who equates his slave in this manner in his possession? How then do you proceed, while you bear witness that they are My slaves and My creation, to assign them a share in My worship? How can this be? He said: This is a parable that Allah has set forth for them, and he recited: ( كَذَلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ ).

   The scholars of interpretation differed concerning the interpretation of His saying: ( تَخَافُونَهُمْ كَخِيفَتِكُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ ). Some of them said: Its meaning is: You fear these partners from among those whom your right hands possess (mulk al-yamīn), that they might inherit your possessions after your death, just as you inherit from one another.

   * Mention of who said that:

   It was related to me on the authority of Ḥajjāj, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: This concerns the gods, and about this He says: You fear that they might inherit from you as you inherit from one another.

   And others said: No, its meaning is: You fear these partners from among those whom your right hands possess, that they might share your possessions with you, just as you share them with one another.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, saying: I heard ʿImrān say: Abū Mijlaz said: Your slave — you do not fear that he will share your possession with you, nor is that his right. So too is Allah: He has no partner.

   And the more correct of the two statements in its interpretation is the second statement, for it most closely corresponds to what the outward meaning of the words indicates. That is because Allah — exalted is His praise — rebuked these polytheists (mushrikīn), who make for Him gods from His creation whom they worship, and who made them partners in their worship of Him, while they acknowledge at the same time that it is His creation and that they are His slaves. He reproached them for this deed and said to them: Do you have, among your slaves, partners in the favors that We have entrusted to you, so that they are equal, while you fear at the same time that they will share with you that possession which is between you and them, just as one of you fears that the other will share with him the possession which is between them and which is held in common? The fear that the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, mentioned is therefore rather a fear of what the partner fears regarding his fellow partner's sharing of the possession that is between the two of them, than that it would be a fear that he would inherit from him. For the mention of partnership does not indicate fear of inheritance, but it can indeed indicate fear of separation and division.

   And His saying: (كَذَلكَ نُفَصّلُ الآياتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ) — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Just as We have expounded for you, O people, Our proofs in these signs of this sūrah concerning Our power over what We will, namely the bringing into existence of what We will, the annihilation of what We choose, and the restoration of what We will to restore after its perishing, and just as We have demonstrated that worship belongs solely to the One, the Overpowering, in whose hand lies the dominion over all things — so do We expound Our proofs for every truth for a people who use their reason, so that they may reflect upon them when they hear them, and draw a lesson from them and be admonished by them.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : ضَرَبَ لَكُمْ مَثَلا مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ هَلْ لَكُمْ مِنْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ مِنْ شُرَكَاءَ فِي مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ فَأَنْتُمْ فِيهِ سَوَاءٌ تَخَافُونَهُمْ كَخِيفَتِكُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ كَذَلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ (28) يقول تعالى ذكره: مثل لكم أيها القوم ربكم مثلا من أنفسكم، (هَلْ لَكُمْ مِمَّا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُم) يقول: من مماليككم من شركاء، فيما رزقناكم من مال، فأنتم فيه سواء وهم. يقول: فإذا لم ترضوا بذلك لأنفسكم فكيف رضيتم أن تكون آلهتكم التي تعبدونها لي شركاء في عبادتكم إياي، وأنتم وهم عبيدي ومماليكي، وأنا مالك جميعكم. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قَتادة قوله: ( ضَرَبَ لَكُمْ مَثَلا مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ هَلْ لَكُمْ مِنْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ مِنْ شُرَكَاءَ فِي مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ فَأَنْتُمْ فِيهِ سَوَاءٌ ) قال: مثل ضربه الله لمن عدل به شيئا من خلقه، يقول: أكان أحدكم مشاركا مملوكه في فراشه وزوجته؟! فكذلكم الله لا يرضى أن يعدل به أحد من خلقه. حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد في قوله: ( ضَرَبَ لَكُمْ مَثَلا مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ هَلْ لَكُمْ مِنْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ مِنْ شُرَكَاءَ فِي مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ فَأَنْتُمْ فِيهِ سَوَاءٌ ) قال: هل تجد أحدا يجعل عبده هكذا في ماله، فكيف تعمد أنت وأنت تشهد أنهم عبيدي وخلقي، وتجعل لهم نصيبا في عبادتي، كيف يكون هذا؟ قال: وهذا مثل ضربه الله لهم، وقرأ: ( كَذَلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ ). واختلف أهل التأويل في تأويل قوله: ( تَخَافُونَهُمْ كَخِيفَتِكُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ ) فقال بعضهم: معنى ذلك: تخافون هؤلاء الشركاء، مما ملكت أيمانكم، أن يرثوكم أموالكم من بعد وفاتكم، كما يرث بعضكم بعضا. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حُدثت عن حجاج، عن ابن جُرَيج، عن عطاء الخراساني، عن ابن عباس قال: في الآلهة، وفيه يقول: تخافونهم أن يرثوكم كما يرث بعضكم بعضا. وقال آخرون: بل معنى ذلك: تخافون هؤلاء الشركاء مما ملكت أيمانكم أن يقاسموكم أموالكم، كما يقاسم بعضكم بعضا. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا ابن عبد الأعلى، قال: ثنا المعتمر، قال: سمعت عمران، قال: قال أبو مجلز: إن مملوكك لا تخاف أن يقاسمك مالك، وليس له ذلك، كذلك الله لا شريك له. وأولى القولين بالصواب في تأويل ذلك، القول الثاني؛ لأنه أشبههما بما دلّ عليه ظاهر الكلام، وذلك أن الله جلّ ثناؤه وبخ هؤلاء المشركين، الذين يجعلون له من خلقه آلهة يعبدونها، وأشركوهم في عبادتهم إياه، وهم مع ذلك يقرّون بأنها خلقه وهم عبيده، وعيرهم بفعلهم ذلك، فقال لهم: هل لكم من عبيدكم شركاء فيما خوّلناكم من نعمنا، فهم سواء، وأنتم في ذلك تخافون أن يقاسموكم ذلك المال الذي هو بينكم وبينهم، كخيفة بعضكم بعضا أن يقاسمه ما بينه وبينه من المال شركة، فالخيفة التي ذكرها تعالى ذكره بأن تكون خيفة مما يخاف الشريك من مقاسمة شريكه المال الذي بينهما إياه، أشبه من أن تكون خيفة منه بأن يرثه؛ لأن ذكر الشركة لا يدلّ على خيفة الوراثة، وقد يدلّ على خيفة الفراق والمقاسمة. وقوله: (كَذَلكَ نُفَصّلُ الآياتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ) يقول تعالى ذكره: كما بيَّنا لكم أيها القوم حججنا في هذه الآيات من هذه السورة على قدرتنا على ما نشاء من إنشاء ما نشاء، وإفناء ما نحبّ، وإعادة ما نريد إعادته بعد فنائه، ودللنا على أنه لا تصلح العبادة إلا للواحد القهار، الذي بيده ملكوت كلّ شيء كذلك نبين حججنا في كل حقّ لقوم يعقلون، فيتدبرونها إذا سمعوها، ويعتبرون فيتعظون بها.