Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   His statement وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا (And We have placed before them a barrier). The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: and We have placed before these polytheists (mushrikīn) a barrier — that is, the partition between two things. When the letter sīn is read with a fatḥa (sadd), it indicates something that comes about through the doing of the children of men, and when it concerns the work of Allah, it is read with a ḍamma (sudd). It is with the ḍamma that the reciters of Medina and Basra and some of the Kufans have read this. Some of the Meccans and most of the reciters of Kufa have read it in both words with a fatḥa of the sīn (sadd). The reading with the ḍamma is, to me, the more pleasing of the two in this matter, even though the other is permissible and correct.

   By His statement وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا (And We have placed before them a barrier and behind them a barrier) He means that He has made their evil deeds fair-seeming to them, so that they wander about in bewilderment, seeing no right guidance and perceiving not the truth.

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

   * Mention of who said that:

   Ibn Ḥumayd related to me, he said: 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, concerning His statement مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا (before them a barrier and behind them a barrier), he said: away from the truth.

   Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا (And We have placed before them a barrier and behind them a barrier): away from the truth, so that they wander to and fro.

   Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا (And We have placed before them a barrier and behind them a barrier), he said: errors.

   Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said, concerning Allah's statement وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا فَأَغْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لا يُبْصِرُونَ (And We have placed before them a barrier and behind them a barrier, and We have covered them so that they do not see), he said: He has made this a barrier between them and Islam and faith, so that they do not penetrate to it. And he recited وَسَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَأَنْذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنْذِرْهُمْ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ (And it is the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them, they do not believe), and he recited إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ (Indeed, those against whom the word of your Lord has been confirmed, they do not believe) ... the whole verse, and he said: whomever Allah hinders cannot do it.

   And His statement فَأَغْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لا يُبْصِرُونَ (And We have covered them so that they do not see), He says: and We have covered the sight of these people, that is to say: We have laid a veil over it; so that they see no right guidance and derive no benefit from it.

   As Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda فَأَغْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لا يُبْصِرُونَ (And We have covered them so that they do not see): no right guidance, and they derive no benefit from it.

   And it has been mentioned that this verse was revealed concerning Abū Jahl ibn Hishām, when he swore to kill him (the Prophet ﷺ) or to crush his head with a rock.

   * Mention of the narration about that:

   ʿImrān ibn Mūsā related to me, he said: ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn Saʿīd related to us, he said: ʿUmāra ibn Abī Ḥafṣa related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: Abū Jahl said: if I see Muḥammad (ﷺ), then I will do such and such to him. Then was revealed إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا فِي أَعْنَاقِهِمْ أَغْلالا (Indeed, We have placed around their necks shackles) ... up to His statement فَهُمْ لا يُبْصِرُونَ (so that they do not see). He said: and they would say: this is Muḥammad (ﷺ), and he (Abū Jahl) would say: where is he, where is he? — while he did not see him. And it has been related from Ibn ʿAbbās that he read this as فَأَعْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لا يُبْصِرُونَ with the ʿayn, in the meaning of: We have blinded them from it — and that is because al-ʿashā means that a person walks at night and does not see.

   Show original Arabic

   وقوله ( وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا ) يقول تعالى ذكره: وجعلنا من بين أيدي هؤلاء المشركين سدًّا، وهو الحاجز بين الشيئين؛ إذا فتح كان من فعل بني آدم، وإذا كان من فعل الله كان بالضم. وبالضم قرأ ذلك قراء المدينة والبصرة وبعض الكوفيين. وقرأه بعض المكيين وعامة قراء الكوفيين بفتح السين ( سَدًّا) في الحرفين كلاهما؛ والضم أعجب القراءتين إليّ في ذلك، وإن كانت الأخرى جائزة صحيحة. وعنى بقوله ( وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا ) أنه زين لهم سوء أعمالهم فهم يَعْمَهُونَ، ولا يبصرون رشدًا، ولا يتنبهون حقًّا. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني ابن حميد، قال: ثنا حكام، عن عنبسة، عن محمد بن عبد الرحمن، عن القاسم بن أبي بزة، عن مجاهد، في قوله ( مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا ) قال: عن الحق . حدثني محمد بن عمرو، قال: ثنا أبو عاصم، قال: ثنا عيسى؛ وحدثني الحارث، قال: ثنا الحسن، قال: ثنا ورقاء، جميعا عن ابن أبي نجيح، عن مجاهد ( وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا ) عن الحق فهم يترددون . حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة ( وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا ) قال: ضلالات . حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد، في قول الله ( وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا فَأَغْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لا يُبْصِرُونَ ) قال: جعل هذا سدًّا بينهم وبين الإسلام والإيمان، فهم لا يخلصون إليه، وقرأ وَسَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَأَنْذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنْذِرْهُمْ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ وقرأ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ ... الآية كلها، وقال: من منعه الله لا يستطيع . وقوله ( فَأَغْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لا يُبْصِرُونَ ) يقول: فأغشينا أبصار هؤلاء أي: جعلنا عليها غشاوة ؛ فهم لا يبصرون هدى ولا ينتفعون به. كما حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة ( فَأَغْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لا يُبْصِرُونَ ) هدى، ولا ينتفعون به . وذُكر أن هذه الآية نـزلت في أبي جهل بن هشام حين حلف أن يقتله أو يشدخ رأسه بصخرة. * ذكر الرواية بذلك: حدثني عمران بن موسى، قال: ثنا عبد الوارث بن سعيد، قال: ثنا عُمارة بن أبي حفصة، عن عكرمة قال: قال أبو جهل: لئن رأيت محمدًا لأفعلن ولأفعلن، فأنـزلت ( إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا فِي أَعْنَاقِهِمْ أَغْلالا ) .. إلى قوله ( فَهُمْ لا يُبْصِرُونَ ) قال: فكانوا يقولون: هذا محمد، فيقول أين هو، أين هو؟ لا يبصره . وقد رُوي عن ابن عباس أنه كان يقرأ ذلك: (فَأَعْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لا يُبْصِرُونَ) بالعين بمعنى : أعشيناهم عنه، وذلك أن العَشَا هو أن يمشي بالليل ولا يبصر.