Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّقُوا مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَمَا خَلْفَكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ ("And when it is said to them: Beware of what is before you and what is behind you, that you may receive mercy") (36:45).

   The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: And when it is said to these polytheists (mushrikīn) who ascribe partners to Allah and reject His messenger Muḥammad ﷺ: Beware of what has passed before you of Allah's punishments and exemplary chastisements which have befallen other communities before you — lest the like of it should befall you on account of your shirk and your rejection of His messenger. وَمَا خَلْفَكُمْ ("and what is behind you"), He says: and what comes after your destruction of that which you will encounter, if you perish in the unbelief (kufr) in which you are. لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ ("that you may receive mercy"), He says: so that your Lord may be merciful to you, if you are on your guard against it and avoid it by showing repentance for your shirk, believing in Him, and holding fast to obedience to Him in that which He has imposed upon you of obligations.

   And the like of what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have said.

   * 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 statement وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّقُوا مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيكُمْ ("And when it is said to them: Beware of what is before you"): the punishments of Allah among the communities that have passed away before them, and "what is behind them" [concerns] the matter of the Hour.

   And Mujāhid used to say concerning that what 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 مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيكُمْ ("what is before you"), he said: their sins that have passed. And this statement is close in meaning to the statement we have made, for its meaning is: beware of the punishment of what is before you of your [already committed] sins, and what is behind you of sins that you will commit but have not yet committed. That is then a further deterrent for them with the punishment for their unbelief (kufr).

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّقُوا مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَمَا خَلْفَكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ (45) يقول تعالى ذكره: وإذا قيل لهؤلاء المشركين بالله، المكذّبين رسوله محمدًا صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم : احذروا ما مضى بين أيديكم من نقم الله وَمثُلاته بمن حلّ ذلك به من الأمم قبلكم أن يحلّ مثله بكم بشرككم وتكذيبكم رسوله.( وَمَا خَلْفَكُمْ ) &; 20-526 &; يقول: وما بعد هلاككم مما أنتم لاقوه إن هلكتم على كفركم الذي أنتم عليه ( لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ ) يقول: ليرحمكم ربكم إن أنتم حذرتم ذلك، واتقيتموه بالتوبة من شرككم والإيمان به، ولزوم طاعته فيما أوجب عليكم من فرائضه. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله ( وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّقُوا مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيكُمْ ) : وقائع الله فيمن خلا قبلهم من الأمم وما خلفهم من أمر الساعة. وكان مجاهد يقول في ذلك ما 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 ( مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيكُمْ ) قال: ما مضى من ذنوبهم ، وهذا القول قريب المعنى من القول الذي قلنا، لأن معناه: اتقوا عقوبة ما بين أيديكم من ذنوبكم، وما خلفكم مما تعملون من الذنوب ولم تعملوه بعد، فذلك بعد تخويف لهم العقاب على كفرهم.