Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   And His statement ( Nothing is revealed to me except that I am only a clear warner ) — He, exalted is His mention, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Say, O Muḥammad, to the polytheists (mushrikīn) of Quraysh: Allah reveals to me the knowledge of that of which I have no knowledge — such as the knowledge concerning the highest assembly (al-malaʾ al-aʿlā) and their disputes among themselves over the matter of Ādam when He willed to create him — only because I am nothing but a clear warner. Thus "fa-innamā," according to this interpretation, is in the genitive position (khafḍ), according to the view of the one who holds that a word such as the one mentioned here necessarily requires a genitive-governing preposition, such that omitting or adding that preposition is equivalent. Or it is in the accusative (naṣb), according to the view of the one who holds that something of this kind takes the accusative when the genitive-governing preposition is omitted; according to his method it is therefore in the accusative. We have already expounded that previously in a manner that makes its repetition in this place unnecessary.

   Another interpretation may also be given to this statement, namely that the meaning is: Allah reveals to me only your warning. And when the statement is construed according to this meaning, "annamā" is in the nominative position (rafʿ), because the statement then takes the meaning: nothing is revealed to me except the warning.

   His statement ( except that I am only a clear warner ) means: except that I am a warner for you, who provides you with clarity — namely, only your warning. It is said: ( illā annamā anā — except that I ) and not ( illā annamā annaka — except that you ), even though the report comes from Muḥammad about Allah, because the revelation (waḥy) is a statement, and so it takes the meaning of a quotation, just as one says in colloquial speech: "They informed me that I am a wrongdoer (annī musīʾ)" and "They informed me that you are a wrongdoer (annaka musīʾ)," with one and the same meaning, as the poet said:

   Two men of Ḍabba informed us

   that we had seen a naked man (1)

   with the meaning: they informed us that they had seen. That is permissible, because the report in its origin is a quotation.

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   Footnotes:

   (1) This verse is among the evidentiary citations of al-Farrāʾ in Maʿānī al-Qurʾān (folio 282). He said: and His statement "Nothing is revealed to me except that I am only a clear warner": if you wish, you place "annamā" in the nominative position (as the deputy subject of "is revealed"), as if you say: nothing is revealed to me except the warning; and if you wish, you give it the meaning: nothing is revealed to me except because I am a prophet and warner. Then when you omit the lām, "innamā" is in the accusative position, and in this place the meaning is: nothing is revealed to me except that you are a clear warner, because the meaning is a quotation, just as you say in colloquial speech: "they informed me that I am a wrongdoer," and "they informed me that you are a wrongdoer." And it is like his statement: "Two men of Ḍabba ... the verse," the meaning of which is: they informed us that they had seen. That is permissible because its origin is a quotation. End.

   Show original Arabic

   وقوله ( إِنْ يُوحَى إِلَيَّ إِلا أَنَّمَا أَنَا نَذِيرٌ مُبِينٌ ) يقول تعالى ذكره لنبيه محمد صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم: قل يا محمد لمشركي قريش: ما يوحي الله إليّ علم ما لا علم لي به, من نحو العلم بالملأ الأعلى واختصامهم في أمر آدم إذا أراد خلقه, إلا لأني إنما أنا نذير مبين;" فإنما " على هذا التأويل في موضع خفض على قول من كان يرى أن مثل هذا الحرف الذي ذكرنا لا بد له من حرف خافض, فسواء إسقاط خافضه منه وإثباته. وإما على قول من رأى أن مثل هذا ينصب إذا أسقط منه الخافض, فإنه على مذهبه نصب, وقد بيَّنا ذلك فيما مضى بما أغنى عن إعادته في هذا الموضع. وقد يتجه لهذا الكلام وجه آخر, وهو أن يكون معناه: ما يوحي الله إلى إنذاركم. وإذا وجه الكلام إلى هذا المعنى, كانت " أنما " في موضع رفع, لأن الكلام يصير حينئذ بمعنى: ما يوحى إلي إلا الإنذار. قوله ( إِلا أَنَّمَا أَنَا نَذِيرٌ مُبِينٌ ) يقول: إلا أني نذير لكم مبين لكم إلا إنذاركم. وقيل: إلا أنما أنا, ولم يقل: إلا أنما أنك, والخبر من محمد عن الله, لأن الوحْي قول, فصار في معنى الحكاية, كما يقال في الكلام: أخبروني أني مسيء, وأخبروني أنك مسيء بمعنى واحد, كما قال الشاعر: رَجُــلانِ مِــنْ ضَبَّــةَ أخْبَرَانـا أنَّـــا رأيْنــا رَجُــلا عُرْيانــا (1) بمعنى: أخبرانا أنهما رأيا, وجاز ذلك لأن الخبر أصله حكاية. ------------------------ الهوامش: (1) هذا البيت من شواهد الفراء في معاني القرآن ( الورقة 282 ) قال : وقوله" إن يوحى إلى إلا أنما أنا نذير مبين" : إن شئت جعلت" أنما" في موضع رفع ( نائب فاعل بيوحى ) كأنك قلت : ما يوحى إلي إلا الإنذار ، وإن شئت جعلت المعنى : ما يوحى إلي لأني نبي ونذير . فإذا ألقيت اللام كان موضع" إنما" نصبا ،ويكون في هذا الموضع ما يوحى إلي إلا أنك نذير مبين ، لأن المعنى حكاية ، كما تقول في الكلام : أخبروني أني مسيء ، وأخبروني أنك مسيء . وهو كقوله :" رجلان من ضبة .... البيت" . والمعنى : أخبرانا أنهما رأيا ، فجاز ذلك لأن أصله الحكاية أ هـ .