Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى قَوْمِهِ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ مِنْ جُنْدٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَمَا كُنَّا مُنْزِلِينَ ("And We did not send down upon his people after him any host from heaven, nor were We about to do so") (36:28)

   He, exalted is His mention, says: and We did not send down upon the people of this believer—who had been killed by his people on account of his calling them to Allah and his sincere counsel to them— مِنْ بَعْدِهِ ("after him")—that is, after his demise— مِنْ جُنْدٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ ("any host from heaven").

   The scholars of exegesis differed concerning the meaning of the host of which Allah reports that He did not send it down upon the people of this believer after they had killed him. Some of them said: by it is meant that Allah did not send down to them after that any message, nor did He send to them any prophet.

   * Mention of those who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, 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 مِنْ جُنْدٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ ("any host from heaven"), he said: a message.

   Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى قَوْمِهِ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ مِنْ جُنْدٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَمَا كُنَّا مُنْزِلِينَ ("And We did not send down upon his people after him any host from heaven, nor were We about to do so"), he said: no, by Allah, Allah did not rebuke his people after his death— إِنْ كَانَتْ إِلا صَيْحَةً وَاحِدَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ خَامِدُونَ ("It was but a single cry, and behold, they were extinguished").

   And others said: no, rather by it is meant that Allah, exalted is His mention, did not send to them hosts to fight them therewith, but rather He destroyed them with a single cry.

   * Mention of those who said that:

   Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of some of his companions, that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd said: Allah became angry for his sake—that is, for the sake of this believer—on account of their disdain for him, with an anger that left nothing of the people, and He hastened for them the punishment because of what they had deemed lawful against him, and He said: وَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى قَوْمِهِ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ مِنْ جُنْدٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَمَا كُنَّا مُنْزِلِينَ ("And We did not send down upon his people after him any host from heaven, nor were We about to do so"). He says: We did not overwhelm them with multitudes; no, the matter was easier for Us than that: إِنْ كَانَتْ إِلا صَيْحَةً وَاحِدَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ خَامِدُونَ ("It was but a single cry, and behold, they were extinguished"). Thus did Allah destroy that king and the inhabitants of Antioch (Anṭākiya), and they vanished from the face of the earth, and nothing of them remained.

   And this second statement is, of the two statements, the most fitting for the explanation of the verse, because a message is not called a "host" (jund)—unless Mujāhid meant by it the messengers (rusul), in which case it would be a possible interpretation, though even that is far removed from what is understood from the outward meaning of the verse. For the messengers from among the children of Adam do not descend from heaven, whereas the report in the outward meaning of this verse is about His not sending down upon his people, after the demise of this believer, any host from heaven, and that befits the angels better than it befits the children of Adam.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى قَوْمِهِ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ مِنْ جُنْدٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَمَا كُنَّا مُنْزِلِينَ (28) يقول تعالى ذكره: وما أنـزلنا على قوم هذا المؤمن الذي قتله قومه لدعائه إياهم إلى الله ونصيحته لهم ( مِنْ بَعْدِهِ) يعني: من بعد مهلكه ( مِنْ جُنْدٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ ). واختلف أهل التأويل في معنى الجند الذي أخبر الله أنه لم ينـزل إلى قوم هذا المؤمن بعد قتلهموه فقال بعضهم: عُنِي بذلك أنه لم ينـزل الله بعد ذلك إليهم رسالة، ولا بعث إليهم نبيًّا. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد بن عمرو، قال: ثنا أبو عاصم، قال: ثنا عيسى؛ وحدثني الحارث، قال: ثنا الحسن قال: ثنا ورقاء، جميعًا عن ابن أبي نجيح، عن مجاهد، قوله ( مِنْ جُنْدٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ ) قال: رسالة . حدثنا ابن حميد، قال: ثنا حَكَّام، عن عنبسة، عن محمد بن عبد الرحمن، عن القاسم بن أبي بَزَّة عن مجاهد، مثله. حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة ( وَمَا أَنـزلْنَا عَلَى قَوْمِهِ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ مِنْ جُنْدٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَمَا كُنَّا مُنـزلِينَ ) قال: فلا والله ما عاتب الله قومه بعد قتله ( إِنْ كَانَتْ إِلا صَيْحَةً وَاحِدَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ خَامِدُونَ ). وقال آخرون: بل عني بذلك أن الله تعالى ذكره لم يبعث لهم جنودًا يقاتلهم بها، ولكنه أهلكهم بصيحة واحدة. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا ابن حميد، قال: ثنا سلمة، قال: ثني ابن إسحاق، عن بعض أصحابه، أن عبد الله بن مسعود، قال: غضب الله له، يعني لهذا المؤمن، &; 20-511 &; لاستضعافهم إياه غضبةً لم تبق من القوم شيئًا، فعجَّل لهم النقمة بما استحلوا منه، وقال: ( وَمَا أَنـزلْنَا عَلَى قَوْمِهِ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ مِنْ جُنْدٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَمَا كُنَّا مُنـزلِينَ ) يقول: ما كاثرناهم بالجموع أي الأمر أيسر علينا من ذلك ( إِنْ كَانَتْ إِلا صَيْحَةً وَاحِدَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ خَامِدُونَ ) فأهلك الله ذلك الملك وأهل أنطاكية، فبادوا عن وجه الأرض، فلم تبق منهم باقية . وهذا القول الثاني أولى القولين بتأويل الآية، وذلك أن الرسالة لا يقال لها جند إلا أن يكون أراد مجاهد بذلك الرُّسُل، فيكون وجهًا، وإن كان أيضًا من المفهوم بظاهر الآية بعيدًا، وذلك أن الرسل من بني آدم لا ينـزلون من السماء والخبر في ظاهر هذه الآية عن أنه لم ينـزل من السماء بعد مَهْلِك هذا المؤمن على قومه جندًا وذلك بالملائكة أشبه منه ببني آدم.