Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The word concerning the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلا أَوْلادُكُمْ بِالَّتِي تُقَرِّبُكُمْ عِنْدَنَا زُلْفَى إِلا مَنْ آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَأُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ جَزَاءُ الضِّعْفِ بِمَا عَمِلُوا وَهُمْ فِي الْغُرُفَاتِ آمِنُونَ (37) (And it is not your wealth, nor your children, that bring you into nearness to Us, except whoever has believed and acted righteously; for them there is a double reward for what they have done, and they will be secure in the high chambers.) (34:37)

   He, glorified be His praise, says: And your wealth in which you take pride before people, O people, nor your children in which you exalt yourselves, are not that which brings you into nearness to Us.

   And as we have said concerning this, so said the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl).

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement عِنْدَنَا زُلْفَى ("into nearness to Us"), he said: nearness.

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement وَمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلا أَوْلادُكُمْ بِالَّتِي تُقَرِّبُكُمْ عِنْدَنَا زُلْفَى ("And it is not your wealth, nor your children, that bring you into nearness to Us"): People are not judged by the quantity of wealth and children, for the disbeliever (kāfir) is sometimes given wealth, while it is sometimes withheld from the believer. And He, glorified be His praise, said: وَمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلا أَوْلادُكُمْ بِالَّتِي تُقَرِّبُكُمْ عِنْدَنَا زُلْفَى ("And it is not your wealth, nor your children, that bring you into nearness to Us") and He did not say bi-llatayn ("with those two"), although He had mentioned the wealth and the children, and those are two different kinds — that is because of each kind of them a plural is mentioned for which allatī ("which") is fitting. And if someone were to say: He meant thereby one of the two kinds, then his statement would not be far from the truth, and that would be like the saying of the poet:

   We are content with what we have, and you with what you have, while opinion is divided. (2)

   And he did not say rāḍiyāni ("both content").

   And His statement إِلا مَنْ آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا ("except whoever has believed and acted righteously"): The people of interpretation differed concerning the meaning of that. Some of them said: The meaning of it is: And it is not your wealth, nor your children, that bring you into nearness to Us, except whoever has believed and acted righteously, for his wealth and his children do indeed bring him into nearness, through his obedience to Allah therein and through the fulfilment therein of Allah's right — these do bring them into nearness, contrary to the people of disbelief in Allah.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the statement of Allah إِلا مَنْ آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا ("except whoever has believed and acted righteously"), he said: Their wealth and their children did not harm them, the believers, in the worldly life. And he recited: لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا الْحُسْنَى وَزِيَادَةٌ ("For those who have done good is the best, and yet more"). The best (al-ḥusnā) is the Garden (al-janna), and the increase (al-ziyāda) is what Allah has given them in the worldly life without calling them to account for it, as He calls the others to account. Whoever adopts this interpretation reads [man] in the accusative (naṣb) because tuqarrib ("brings into nearness") governs it. But it is possible that "man" stands in the position of the nominative (rafʿ), so that it is as if it were said: And it is nothing but whoever has believed and acted righteously.

   And His statement فَأُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ جَزَاءُ الضِّعْف ("for them there is a double reward"): He says: these receive from Allah for their good deeds a manifold reward, for every deed tenfold.

   And as we have said concerning this, so said the people of interpretation.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement فَأُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ جَزَاءُ الضِّعْفِ بِمَا عَمِلُوا ("for them there is a double reward for what they have done"), he said: for their deeds, for one tenfold, and on the way of Allah, for one seven-hundredfold.

   And His statement فِي الْغُرُفَاتِ آمِنُونَ ("secure in the high chambers"): He says: and they will be secure in the high chambers of the gardens [of Paradise] from the punishment (ʿadhāb) of Allah.

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   Footnotes:

   (2) The verse is by Qays ibn al-Khaṭīm, from a poem in the munsariḥ metre, as in Maʿāhid al-Tanṣīṣ Sharḥ Shawāhid al-Talkhīṣ by ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-ʿAbbāsī. It has already been discussed at length at (10:122). Consult it there.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلا أَوْلادُكُمْ بِالَّتِي تُقَرِّبُكُمْ عِنْدَنَا زُلْفَى إِلا مَنْ آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَأُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ جَزَاءُ الضِّعْفِ بِمَا عَمِلُوا وَهُمْ فِي الْغُرُفَاتِ آمِنُونَ (37) يقول جل ثناؤه: وما أموالكم التي تفتخرون بها أيها القوم على الناس ولا أولادكم الذين تتكبرون بهم، بالتي تقربكم منَّا قربة. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا محمد بن عمرو، قال: ثنا أَبو عاصم، قال: ثنا عيسى، وحدثني الحارث، قال: ثنا الحسن، قال: ثنا ورقاء جميعا، عن ابن أَبي نجيح، عن مجاهد قوله (عِنْدَنَا زُلْفَى) قال: قربى. حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة قوله ( وَمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلا أَوْلادُكُمْ بِالَّتِي تُقَرِّبُكُمْ عِنْدَنَا زُلْفَى ) لا يعتبر الناس بكثرة المال والولد، وإن الكافر قد يعطى المال، وربما حبس عن المؤمن. وقال جل ثناؤه: ( وَمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلا أَوْلادُكُمْ بِالَّتِي تُقَرِّبُكُمْ عِنْدَنَا زُلْفَى ) ولم يقل باللَّتين، وقد ذكر الأموال والأولاد، وهما نوعان مختلفان، لأنه ذُكر من كل نوع منهما جمع يصلح فيه التي، ولو قال قائل: أراد بذلك أحد النوعين لم يبعد قوله، وكان ذلك كقول الشاعر: نحــنُ بِمَــا عِندَنــا وأنـتَ بمـا عِنــدكَ رَاضٍ والــرأيُ مخــتَلِفُ (2) ولم يقل راضيان. وقوله (إِلا مَنْ آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا) اختلف أهل التأويل في معنى ذلك؛ فقال بعضهم: معنى ذلك وما أموالكم ولا أولادكم بالتي تقربكم عندنا زلفى إلا من آمن وعمل صالحًا فإنه تقربهم أموالهم وأولادهم بطاعتهم الله في ذلك وأدائهم فيه حقه إلى الله زلفى دون أهل الكفر بالله. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد، في قول الله (إِلا مَنْ آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا) قال: لم تضرهم أموالهم ولا أولادهم في الدنيا للمؤمنين، وقرأ لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا الْحُسْنَى وَزِيَادَةٌ فالحسنى: الجنة، والزيادة: ما أعطاهم الله في الدنيا لم يحاسبهم به، كما حاسب الآخرين، فمن حمل على هذا التأويل نصب بوقوع تقرب عليه، وقد يحتمل أن يكون " من " في موضع رفع، فيكون كأنه قيل: وما هو إلا من آمن وعمل صالحًا. وقوله (فَأُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ جَزَاءُ الضِّعْف) يقول: فهؤلاء لهم من الله على أعمالهم الصالحة الضعف من الثواب، بالواحدة عشر. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد، في قوله (فَأُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ جَزَاءُ الضِّعْفِ بِمَا عَمِلُوا) قال: بأعمالهم الواحد عشر، وفي سبيل الله بالواحد سبعمائة. وقوله (فِي الْغُرُفَاتِ آمِنُونَ) يقول: وهم في غرفات الجنات آمنون من عذاب الله. ------------------------ الهوامش: (2) البيت لقيس بن الخطيم من قصيدة من المنسرح، كما في معاهد التنصيص شرح شواهد التلخيص. لعبد الرحيم العباسي وقد تقدم الكلام عليه في (10 : 122) مبسوطا. فراجعه ثمة.