Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   And His words: فَأَقْبَلُوا إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ ("Then they came hastening toward him"). The reciters (qurrāʾ) differed over the reading of this. Most of the reciters of Medina and Basra, and some of the reciters of Kufa, read it: فَأَقْبَلُوا إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ ("yaziffūn"), with fatḥa on the yāʾ and tashdīd (doubling) of the fāʾ, derived from their saying: "the ostrich ran (zaffat)" — and that is the beginning of its running and the utmost of its going. To this belongs the saying of al-Farazdaq:

   "And the leader of the herd of mares came before her young camels, hastening forth (yaziff), while she came behind him, being driven on (zufaf)." (2)

   And a group of the people of Kufa read that: "yuziffūn", with ḍamma on the yāʾ and tashdīd of the fāʾ, derived from "azaffa, fa-huwa yuziff" ("he drove on, so he drives on"). And al-Farrāʾ claimed that he had only heard "zafaftu" therein, and he said: perhaps the reading of whoever read it as "yuziffūn", with ḍamma on the yāʾ, is derived from the saying of the Arabs: "aṭradtu al-rajul", that is: I made him an outcast, and "ṭaradtuhu" when you drove him away by saying: "go away from us". Thus "yuziffūn" would mean: they came in this form, in the position of one who is driven on in this state, and so the alif is inserted. Just as you say: "aḥmadtu al-rajul" when you made his praise public, and "huwa muḥmad" when you see his affair on the way to being praiseworthy, while you have not yet spread his praise. He said: and al-Mufaḍḍal recited to me:

   "Ḥuṣayn wished that he would become ruler over [the tribe of] Jidhāʿa, but Ḥuṣayn was, in the morning, humiliated and overpowered (aqhar)." (3)

   He said "aqhar", while it is really "quhira" ("he was overpowered"), but he meant: he came into a state of being overpowered. And some read that: "yazifūn", with fatḥa on the yāʾ and takhfīf (without doubling) of the fāʾ, derived from "wazafa yazifu". And it is transmitted from al-Kisāʾī that he did not know that [reading], and al-Farrāʾ said: I do not know it, unless it is a dialectal form that I have not heard. And it is transmitted from Mujāhid that he used to say: al-wazf is al-nasalān (a swift pace).

   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 words: إليه يزفون ("hastening toward him"), he said: al-wazīf is al-nasalān (a swift pace).

   And the correct reading herein, according to us, is the reading of whoever read it with fatḥa on the yāʾ and tashdīd of the fāʾ, because that is the correct and well-known one from the language of the Arabs, and that upon which the reading of the eloquent reciters rests.

   And the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed over its meaning. Some said: its meaning is: the people of Ibrāhīm came toward Ibrāhīm, running.

   * Mention of who said that:

   ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his words: فَأَقْبَلُوا إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ ("Then they came hastening toward him"): they came toward him, running.

   And others said: they came toward him, walking.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning his words: فَأَقْبَلُوا إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ ("Then they came hastening toward him"), he said: walking.

   And others said: its meaning is: they came, hastening.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, on the authority of his father: فَأَقْبَلُوا إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ ("Then they came hastening toward him"), he said: hastening; he said: yaziff means: he hastens.

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   Footnotes:

   (2) The verse is by al-Farazdaq (his dīwān, ed. al-Ṣāwī, 558), from his qaṣīda that begins with: "You felt longing at Aʿshāsh, while you scarcely used to long." (In al-Lisān, under q-r-ʿ): the qarīʿ of the camels is the one who grasps the leg of the she-camel and makes her kneel. It has also been said that he is called qarīʿ because he strikes the she-camel (yaqraʿ). Al-Farazdaq said (and he recited the evidentiary verse). The ifāl: plural of afīl and afīla, which is the young camel-foal. Abū ʿUbayd said: the ifāl are the young of the pregnant camels. And in (al-Lisān, under z-f-f): al-zafīf is swiftness of walking with short steps and composure. It has also been said: it is the beginning of the running of the ostrich: "zaffa yaziff zaffan, wa-zafīfan, wa-zufūfan", and "azaffa" according to al-Aʿrābī. Al-Farrāʾ said in Maʿānī al-Qurʾān: and the people [read] "yazifūn" with fatḥa on the yāʾ, that is: they hasten. And al-Aʿmash read it "yuziffūn" (with ḍamma on the yāʾ), that is: they came in the form of the zafīf, in the position of one who is driven on in this state. And al-Zajjāj said: yaziffūn: they hasten. And its origin is from the zafīf of the ostrich, and that is the beginning of its running. End.

   (3) The verse is by al-Mukhabbal al-Saʿdī, in which he lampoons al-Zibriqān. Al-Farrāʾ cited it in Maʿānī al-Qurʾān (photocopy of the University, 273) in explanation of the reading of al-Aʿmash of His words, the Exalted: "fa-aqbalū ilayhi yazifūn" with ḍamma on the yāʾ. He said: as if it were from "azaffat", and we have only heard it as "zafaftu"; you say to the man: "he came toward us, he hastens (yaziff)" (with fatḥa on the yāʾ). And perhaps the reading of al-Aʿmash is derived from the saying of the Arabs: "qad aṭradtu al-rajul", that is: I made him an outcast, [and] "ṭaradtuhu" when you said to him: "go away from us". "yuziffūn": that is: they came in this form, in the position of one who is driven on in this state, and so the alif is inserted, just as you say to the man: he is maḥmūd when you made his praise public, and he is muḥmad when you see his affair on the way to being praiseworthy, while you have not yet spread his praise. He said: and al-Mufaḍḍal recited to me: "Ḥuṣayn wished... [the verse]." He said "aqhar": that is: he came into a state of being overpowered, while it is really "quhira" ("he was overpowered"). And the people read after that "yazifūn" with fatḥa on the yāʾ and kasra on the zāʾ. And some reciters read: "yazifūn" with takhfīf, as if it were from "wazafa yazifu". And al-Kisāʾī claimed that he did not know it. And al-Farrāʾ said: nor do I know it, unless it is [a dialect] that has not reached us. (In al-Lisān: "us".) And in al-Lisān and al-Muḥkam, under j-dh-ʿ: (and the jidhāʿ of the man: his people, it has no singular). Al-Mukhabbal said, in which he lampoons al-Zibriqān: "Tamannā... [the verse]." That is: his companions were humiliated and overpowered. And al-Aṣmaʿī transmitted it: "qad udhilla wa-uqhirā" (in the passive form). Or "uqhira" would mean: he was found overpowered. And Abū ʿUbayda specified by al-jidhāʿ the tribe of al-Zibriqān.

   Show original Arabic

   وقوله ( فَأَقْبَلُوا إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ ) اختلفت القرّاء في قراءة ذلك، فقرأته عامة قراء المدينة والبصرة، وبعض قرّاء الكوفة: ( فَأَقْبَلُوا إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ ) بفتح الياء وتشديد الفاء من قولهم: زَفَّتِ النعامة، وذلك أوّل عدوها، وآخر مشيها; ومنه قول الفرزدق: وَجَــاءَ قَـرِيعُ الشَّـوْلِ قَبْـلَ إِفَالِهَـا يَـزِفُّ وَجَـاءَتْ خَلْفَـهُ وَهِـيَ زُفَّفُ (2) . وقرأ ذلك جماعة من أهل الكوفة: " يُزِفُّونَ" بضم الياء وتشديد الفاء من أزف فهو يزف. وكان الفرّاء يزعم أنه لم يسمع في ذلك إلا زَفَفْت، ويقول: لعلّ قراءة من قرأه: " يُزِفُّونَ" بضم الياء من قول العرب: أطْرَدْتُ الرجل: أي صيرته طريدا، وطردته: إذا أنت خسئته إذا قلت: اذهب عنا; فيكون يزفون: أي جاءوا على هذه الهيئة بمنـزلة المزفوفة على هذه الحالة، فتدخل الألف. كما تقول: أحمدت الرجل: إذا أظهرت حمده، وهو محمد: إذا رأيت أمره إلى الحمد، ولم تنشر حمده; قال: وأنشدني المفضَّل: تَمَنَّــى حُـصَيْنٌ أنْ يَسُـودَ جِذَاعَـةُ فأَمْسَــى حُـصَيْنٌ قَـدْ أذَلَّ وَأَقْهَـرا (3) فقال: أقهر، وإنما هو قُهِر، ولكنه أراد صار إلى حال قهر. وقرأ ذلك بعضهم. " يَزِفُونَ" بفتح الياء وتخفيف الفاء من وَزَفَ يَزِفُ وذُكر عن الكسائي أنه لا يعرفها، وقال الفرّاء: لا أعرفها إلا أن تكون لغة لم أسمعها. وذُكر عن مجاهد أنه كان يقول: الوَزْف: النَّسَلان. 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 (إليه يزفون) قال: الوزيف: النسلان. والصواب من القراءة في ذلك عندنا قراءة من قرأه بفتح الياء وتشديد الفاء، لأن ذلك هو الصحيح المعروف من كلام العرب، والذي عليه قراءة الفصحاء من القرّاء. وقد اختلف أهل التأويل في معناه، فقال بعضهم: معناه: فأقبل قوم إبراهيم إلى إبراهيم يَجْرُون. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني عليّ ، قال: ثنا أبو صالح، قال: ثني معاوية، عن عليّ، عن ابن عباس، قوله ( فَأَقْبَلُوا إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ ) : فأقبلوا إليه يجرون. وقال آخرون: أقبلوا إليه يَمْشُون. * ذكر من قال ذلك: محمد بن الحسين، قال: ثنا أحمد بن المفضل، قال: ثنا أسباط، عن السديّ، في قوله ( فَأَقْبَلُوا إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ ) قال: يَمْشُون. وقال آخرون: معناه: فأقبلوا يستعجلون. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد، عن أبيه ( فَأَقْبَلُوا إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ ) قال: يستعجلون، قال: يَزِفّ: يستعجل. ------------------------ الهوامش: (2) البيت للفرزدق ( ديوانه طبعة الصاوي 558 ) من قصيدته التي مطلعها:" عزفت بأعشاش وما كدت تعزف" . ( وفي اللسان: قرع ) : القريع من الإبل الذي يأخذ بذراع الناقة فينيخها. وقيل سمي قريعا لأنه يقرع الناقة، قال الفرزدق ( وأنشد بيت الشاهد ). والإفال: جمع أفيل وأفيلة، وهو الفصيل. وقال أبو عبيد: الإفال بنات المخاض. وفي ( اللسان: زفف ) الزفيف: سرعة المشي مع تقارب وسكون. وقيل: هو أول عدو النعام: زف يزف زفا، وزفيفا وزفوفا، وأزف عن الأعرابي. قال الفرّاء في معاني القرآن : والناس يزفون بفتح الياء، أي يسرعون. وقرأها الأعمش يزفون ( بضم الياء ) أي يجيئون على هيئة الزفيف، بمنزلة المزفوفة على هذه الحال. وقال الزجاج: يزفون: يسرعون. وأصله من زفيف النعامة، وهو ابتداء عدوها .اهـ. (3) البيت للمخبل السعدي يهجو الزبرقان. واستشهد به الفرّاء في معاني القرآن ( مصورة الجامعة 273 ) لتخريج قراءة الأعمش قوله تعالى:" فأقبلوا إليه يزفون" بضم الياء. قال كأنها من أزفت، ولم نسمعها إلا زففت تقول للرجل: جاءنا يزف ( بفتح الياء ) . ولعل قراءة الأعمش من قول العرب: قد أطردت الرجل: أي صيرته طريدا، طردته إذا أنت قلت له: اذهب عنا." يزفون" : أي جاءوا على هذه الهيئة بمنزلة المزفوفة. على هذه الحال، فتدخل الألف، كما تقول للرجلك هو محمود: إذا أظهرت حمده، وهو محمد: إذا رأيت أمره إلى الحمد؛ ولم تنشر حمده. قال: وأنشدني المفضل:" تمنى حصين ... البيت" فقال: اقهر: أي صار إلى القهر، وإنما هو قهر. وقرأ الناس بعد" يزفون" بفتح الياء وكسر الزاي. وقد قرأ بعض القراء:" يزفون" بالتخفيف كأنها من وزف يزف. وزعم الكسائي أنه لا يعرفها. وقال الفرّاء: لا أعرفها أيضا، إلا أن تكون لم تقع إلينا . وفي اللسان إلينا. وفي اللسان والمحكم: جذع: ( وجذاع الرجل: قومه، لا واحد لها ). قال المخبل يهجو الزبرقان:" تمنى... البيت". أي قد صار أصحابه أذلاء مقهورين ورواه الأصمعي: قد أذل وأقهرا ( بالبناء للمجهول ). أو يكون" أقهر" وجد مقهورا . وخص أبو عبيدة بالجذاع رهط الزبرقان.