Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   And His statement: ( And follow the best of what has been sent down to you from your Lord ) — the Exalted, whose mention is lofty, says: and follow, O people, that which your Lord has commanded you in His revelation, and shun that which He has forbidden you therein, and that is the best of what has been sent down to us from our Lord.

   If someone were to say: is there then anything in the Qurʾān that is better than something else? Then he is answered: the Qurʾān is in its entirety good, and the meaning of this is not what you supposed. The meaning is only: and follow, of that which your Lord has sent down to you of command and prohibition and report and parable and narrative and argument and promise and threat, the best of it, namely that you comply with His command and abstain from that which He has forbidden. For the prohibition belongs to that which has been sent down in the Book, and were they to act according to that which is forbidden to them, then they would be acting according to the ugliest of it; that, then, is its purport.

   And in accordance with that which we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad related to us, he said: Aḥmad related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: ( And follow the best of what has been sent down to you from your Lord ) — He says: that which you have been commanded in the Book — ( before the punishment comes to you ). His statement: ( before the punishment comes to you unexpectedly ) — He says: before the punishment of Allah overtakes you suddenly — ( while you do not perceive ) — He says: while you do not know, until it overtakes you suddenly.

   Show original Arabic

   وقوله: ( وَاتَّبِعُوا أَحْسَنَ مَا أُنـزلَ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: واتبعوا أيها الناس ما أمركم به ربكم في تنـزيله, واجتنبوا ما نهاكم فيه عنه, وذلك هو أحسن ما أنـزل إلينا من ربنا. فإن قال قائل: ومن القرآن شيء وهو أحسن من شيء؟ قيل له: القرآن كله حسن, وليس معنى ذلك ما توهمت, وإنما معناه: واتبعوا مما أنـزل إليكم ربكم من الأمر والنهي والخبر, والمثل, والقصص, والجدل, والوعد, والوعيد أحسنه أن تأتمروا لأمره, وتنتهوا عما نهى عنه, لأن النهي مما أنـزل في الكتاب, فلو عملوا بما نهوا عنه كانوا عاملين بأقبحه, فذلك وجهه. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا محمد, قال: ثنا أحمد, قال: ثنا أسباط, عن السديّ( وَاتَّبِعُوا أَحْسَنَ مَا أُنـزلَ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ ) يقول: ما أمرتم به في الكتاب ( مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَكُمُ الْعَذَابُ ) قوله: ( مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَكُمُ الْعَذَابُ بَغْتَةً ) يقول: من قبل أن يأتيكم عذاب الله فجأة ( وَأَنْتُمْ لا تَشْعُرُونَ ) يقول: وأنتم لا تعلمون به حتى يغشاكم فجأة.