Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   And His statement وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الأحْيَاءُ وَلا الأمْوَاتُ (And the living and the dead are not equal), He says: nor are they equal whose hearts are alive through faith in Allah and His Messenger and the knowledge of Allah's revelation, and those whose hearts are dead because unbelief has overwhelmed them, until they no longer understand Allah's command and prohibition and no longer distinguish guidance from error. All of this consists of parables that Allah has given for the believer and faith, and the unbeliever and unbelief.

   And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.

   * The mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الأعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ ... (And the blind and the seeing are not equal ...) — the verse — he said: it is a parable that Allah has given for the people of obedience and the people of disobedience; He says: nor are the blind and the darknesses and the scorching heat equal, nor the dead — and that is the parable of the people of disobedience — and nor are the seeing and the light and the shade and the living equal — and that is the parable of the people of obedience.

   Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الأعْمَى ... (And the blind ... are not equal) — the verse — a creation of which He has raised one part above another: as for the believer, he is a servant alive in trace, alive in sight, alive in intention, alive in deed; and as for the unbeliever, he is a dead servant, dead in sight, dead in heart, dead in deed.

   Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His statement وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الأعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ وَلا الظُّلُمَاتُ وَلا النُّورُ وَلا الظِّلُّ وَلا الْحَرُورُ وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الأحْيَاءُ وَلا الأمْوَاتُ (And the blind and the seeing are not equal, nor the darknesses and nor the light, nor the shade and nor the scorching heat; and the living and the dead are not equal), he said: this is a parable that Allah has given; the believer is seeing in the religion of Allah, and the unbeliever is blind, just as the shade and the scorching heat are not equal, and the living and the dead are not equal; so likewise this believer who sees his religion is not equal to this blind one. And he recited أَوَمَنْ كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَاهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُ نُورًا يَمْشِي بِهِ فِي النَّاسِ (Is he who was dead and whom We then brought to life and for whom We made a light by which he walks among the people ...), he said: the guidance with which Allah has guided him and the light that He has made for him; this is a parable that Allah has given for this believer who sees his religion, and this blind unbeliever; thus He has made the believer alive and the unbeliever dead, dead in heart. أَوَمَنْ كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَاهُ (Is he who was dead and whom We then brought to life), he said: We guided him to Islam, like one whose likeness is in the darknesses, blind of heart and in the darknesses — are this one and that one equal?

   And the scholars of the Arabic language differed concerning the reason for the entry of "lā" with the connecting particle in His statement وَلا الظُّلُمَاتُ وَلا النُّورُ وَلا الظِّلُّ وَلا الْحَرُورُ (and nor the darknesses and nor the light, and nor the shade and nor the scorching heat). Some grammarians of Basra said: He said "and nor the shade and nor the scorching heat," and it appears that "lā" is redundant, for if you were to say in this meaning: "ʿAmr and not Zayd are not equal," then it would not be permissible unless "lā" is redundant. And another said: when "lā" does not enter with the "wāw," then it does not enter because one is content with its appearance at the beginning of the sentence; and when it does enter, then the sentence intends that each of the two is not equal to its companion. So according to the proponent of this view, the meaning of the sentence, when "lā" is repeated with the "wāw," is: the blind is not equal to the seeing, and the seeing is not equal to the blind, so that each of the two is not equal to its companion.

   And His statement إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَا أَنْتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَنْ فِي الْقُبُورِ (Indeed, Allah makes hear whom He wills, and you cannot make hear those who are in the graves) — the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: just as you are not able to make those who are in the graves hear the Book of Allah, so that you would thereby guide them to the path of rectitude, so likewise you are not able, through the admonitions of Allah and the exposition of His proofs, to bring benefit to whoever is dead of heart among His living servants, with regard to the knowledge of Allah and the understanding of His Book and His revelation and His clear proofs.

   As Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَا أَنْتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَنْ فِي الْقُبُورِ (Indeed, Allah makes hear whom He wills, and you cannot make hear those who are in the graves): likewise the unbeliever does not hear, and he derives no benefit from what he hears.

   Show original Arabic

   وقوله ( وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الأحْيَاءُ وَلا الأمْوَاتُ ) يقول: وما يستوي الأحياء القلوب بالإيمان بالله ورسوله، ومعرفة تنـزيل الله، والأموات القلوب لغلبة الكفر عليها، حتى صارت لا تعقل عن الله أمره ونهيه، ولا تعرف الهدى من الضلال، وكل هذه أمثال ضربها الله للمؤمن والإيمان والكافر والكفر. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد بن سعد، قال: ثني أبي، قال: ثني عمي، قال: ثني &; 20-458 &; أَبي، عن أبيه، عن ابن عباس قوله ( وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الأعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ ...) الآية، قال: هو مثل ضربه الله لأهل الطاعة وأهل المعصية؛ يقول: وما يستوي الأعمى والظلمات والحرور ولا الأموات، فهو مثل أهل المعصية، ولا يستوي البصير ولا النور ولا الظل والأحياء، فهو مثل أهل الطاعة. حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة قوله ( وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الأعْمَى ...) الآية، خلقًا فضل بعضه على بعض؛ فأما المؤمن فعبد حي الأثر، حي البصر، حي النية، حي العمل، وأما الكافر فعبد ميت؛ ميت البصر، ميت القلب، ميت العمل. حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد، في قوله ( وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الأعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ وَلا الظُّلُمَاتُ وَلا النُّورُ وَلا الظِّلُّ وَلا الْحَرُورُ وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الأحْيَاءُ وَلا الأمْوَاتُ ) قال: هذا مثل ضربه الله؛ فالمؤمن بصير في دين الله، والكافر أعمى، كما لا يستوي الظل ولا الحرور ولا الأحياء ولا الأموات، فكذلك لا يستوي هذا المؤمن الذي يبصر دينه ولا هذا الأعمى، وقرأ أَوَمَنْ كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَاهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُ نُورًا يَمْشِي بِهِ فِي النَّاسِ قال: الهدى الذي هداه الله به ونور له، هذا مثل ضربه الله لهذا المؤمن الذي يبصر دينه، وهذا الكافر الأعمى فجعل المؤمن حيًّا وجعل الكافر ميتًا ميت القلب أَوَمَنْ كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَاهُ قال: هديناه إلى الإسلام كمن مثله في الظلمات أعمى القلب وهو في الظلمات، أهذا وهذا سواء؟. واختلف أهل العربية في وجه دخول " لا " مع حرف العطف في قوله ( وَلا الظُّلُمَاتُ وَلا النُّورُ وَلا الظِّلُّ وَلا الْحَرُورُ ) فقال بعض نحويي البصرة: قال: ولا الظل ولا الحرور، فيشبه أن تكون " لا " زائدة، لأنك لو قلت: لا يستوي عمرو ولا زيد في هذا المعنى لم يجز إلا أن تكون " لا " زائدة، وكان غيره يقول: إذا لم تدخل " لا " مع الواو، فإنما لم تدخل اكتفاء بدخولها في أول الكلام، فإذا أدخلت فإنه يراد بالكلام أن كل واحد منهما لا يساوي صاحبه، &; 20-459 &; فكان معنى الكلام إذا أعيدت " لا " مع الواو عند صاحب هذا القول لا يساوي الأعمى البصير ولا يساوي البصير الأعمى، فكل واحد منهما لا يساوي صاحبه. وقوله ( إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَا أَنْتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَنْ فِي الْقُبُورِ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: كما لا يقدر أن يسمع من في القبور كتاب الله فيهديهم به إلى سبيل الرشاد، فكذلك لا يقدر أن ينفع بمواعظ الله وبيان حججه من كان ميت القلب من أحياء عباده، عن معرفة الله، وفهم كتابه وتنـزيله، وواضح حججه. كما حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة ( إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَا أَنْتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَنْ فِي الْقُبُورِ ) كذلك الكافر لا يسمع، ولا ينتفع بما يسمع.