Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   Exposition of the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ ("And We sent him to a hundred thousand, or they were more") (147)

   He, exalted be His mention, says: and We sent Yūnus to a hundred thousand people, or they were more than a hundred thousand. And it has been related from Ibn ʿAbbās that he used to say: the meaning of His statement أوْ ("or") is: indeed, they were more.

   * Mention of the narration concerning that:

   Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Sālim ibn Abī al-Jaʿd, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Azwar, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ , he said: indeed, they were more; they were a hundred and thirty thousand.

   Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His statement مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ , he said: they were seventy thousand more. The punishment had already been sent down upon them, but when they made separation between the women and their children, and between the cattle and their young, and they cried out loudly to Allah in lamentation, He lifted the punishment from them; and the sky rained down blood.

   Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Barqī related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Abī Salama related to us, saying: I heard Zuhayr, on the authority of someone who heard Abū al-ʿĀliya, he said: Ubayy ibn Kaʿb related to me that he asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about His statement وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ , he said: they were twenty thousand more.

   And some of the grammarians among the people of Basra said concerning that: its meaning is: to a hundred thousand, or they were more according to your estimation; he says: thus they were according to your estimation.

   By His statement وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ He means only that He sent him to his people, to whom He had promised the punishment; and when it overshadowed them, they turned back in repentance, and Allah lifted it from them. It is said: they were the inhabitants of Nineveh (Nīnawā).

   * Mention of who said that:

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ : he was sent to the inhabitants of Nineveh in the land of Mosul (al-Mawṣil). He said: al-Ḥasan said: Allah sent him before that which befell him befell him فَآمَنُوا فَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ ("they believed then, and We let them enjoy for a time").

   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 إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ , he said: the people of Yūnus to whom he was sent, before the fish swallowed him.

   And it is said: Yūnus was sent to the inhabitants of Nineveh after the fish had cast him out onto the open ground.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: I heard Abū Hilāl Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān, he said: Shahr ibn Ḥawshab related to us, saying: Jibrāʾīl came to him — that is, to Yūnus — and said: "Go to the inhabitants of Nineveh and warn them that the punishment has drawn near to them." He said: "Let me seek a mount." He said: "The matter is more urgent than that." He said: "Let me seek footwear." He said: "The matter is more urgent than that." He said: then he became angry and went to the ship and embarked. When he had embarked, the ship stood still; it would not go forward and would not go backward. He said: then they cast lots, and the lot fell upon him. The fish came, wagging its tail, and the fish was called out to: "O fish, We have not made Yūnus food for you; We have only made you a place of safekeeping and a place of prayer for him." He said: the fish swallowed him and carried him away from that place until it traveled with him past Ayla, then it carried him away until it traveled with him past the Tigris (Dijla), then it carried him away until it cast him out at Nineveh.

   Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Abū Hilāl related to us, saying: Shahr ibn Ḥawshab related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the sending of Yūnus did not take place except after the fish had cast him out.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ (147) يقول تعالى ذكره: فأرسلنا يونس إلى مئة ألف من الناس، أو يزيدون على مئة ألف. وذكر عن ابن عباس أنه كان يقول: معنى قوله ( أوْ ) : بل يزيدون. * ذكر الرواية بذلك: حدثنا ابن بشار، قال: ثنا مؤمل، قال: ثنا سفيان، عن منصور، عن سالم بن أبي الجعد، عن الحكم بن عبد الله بن الأزور، عن ابن عباس، في قوله ( وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ ) قال: بل يزيدون، كانوا مئة ألف وثلاثين ألفا. حدثنا ابن حميد، قال: ثنا يعقوب، عن جعفر، عن سعيد بن جُبَير، في قوله ( مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ ) قال: يزيدون سبعين ألفا، وقد كان العذاب أرسل عليهم، فلما فرقوا بين النساء وأولادها، والبهائم وأولادها، وعجُّوا إلى الله، كشف عنهم العذاب، وأمطرت السماء دما. حدثني محمد بن عبد الرحيم البرقي، قال: ثنا عمرو بن أبي سلمة، قال: سمعت زهيرا، عمن سمع أبا العالية، قال: ثني أبيّ بن كعب، أنه سأل رسول الله صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم عن قوله ( وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ ) قال: يزيدون عشرون ألفا. وكان بعض أهل العربية من أهل البصرة يقول في ذلك: معناه إلى مئة ألف أو كانوا يزيدون عندكم، يقول: كذلك كانوا عندكم. وإنما عنى بقوله ( وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ ) أنه أرسله إلى قومه الذين وعدهم العذاب، فلما أظلهم تابوا، فكشف الله عنهم. وقيل: إنهم أهل نينَوَى. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة ( وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ ) أرسل إلى أهل نينوى من أرض الموصل، قال: قال الحسن: بعثه الله قبل أن يصيبه ما أصابه ( فَآمَنُوا فَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ ) 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، قوله ( إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ ) قال: قوم يونس الذين أرسل إليهم قبل أن يلتقمه الحوت. وقيل: إن يونس أرسل إلى أهل نِيْنَوَى بعد ما نبذه الحوت بالعراء. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني الحارث، قال: ثنا الحسن، قال: سمعت أبا هلال محمد بن سليمان، قال: ثنا شهر بن حوشب، قال: ( أتاه جبرائيل، يعني يونس، وقال: انطلق إلى أهل نِينَوَى فأنذرهم أن العذاب قد حضرهم; قال: ألتمس دابة; قال: الأمر أعجل من ذلك، قال: ألتمس حذاء، قال: الأمر أعجل من ذلك، قال: فغضب فانطلق إلى السفينة فركب; فلما ركب احتبست السفينة لا تُقدم ولا تُؤخر; قال: فتساهموا، قال: فسُهم، فجاء الحوت يبصبص بذنبه، فنودي الحوت: أيا حوت إنا لم نجعل يونس لك رزقا، إنما جعلناك له حوزا ومسجدا; قال: فالتقمه الحوت، فانطلق به من ذلك المكان حتى مر به على الأيْلة، ثم انطلق به حتى مر به على دجلة، ثم انطلق به حتى ألقاه في نينوى ). حدثني الحارث، قال: ثنا الحسن، قال: ثنا أبو هلال، قال: ثنا شهر بن حوشب، عن ابن عباس قال: إنما كانت رسالة يونس بعد ما نبذه الحوت.