Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of His word, the Exalted: وَيُنَجِّي اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا بِمَفَازَتِهِمْ لا يَمَسُّهُمُ السُّوءُ وَلا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ (61) ("And Allah delivers those who feared [Him] through their attainment of success; evil does not touch them, nor will they grieve") (61).

   The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: and Allah delivers from Hell (jahannam) and its punishment those who feared Him by fulfilling His obligations and avoiding His acts of disobedience in the life of this world, "through their attainment of success" — that is to say: through their gaining of triumph; it is a maṣdar-form (mafʿala) thereof.

   And in accordance with what we have said concerning the explanation of this, the scholars of explanation (taʾwīl) have also spoken, even if the wordings of some of them differ from the wording we have used concerning it.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad related to me, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His word: ( وَيُنَجِّي اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا بِمَفَازَتِهِمْ ) ("And Allah delivers those who feared [Him] through their attainment of success"), he said: through their righteous deeds.

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: ( وَيُنَجِّي اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا بِمَفَازَتِهِمْ ) ("And Allah delivers those who feared [Him] through their attainment of success"), he said: through their [good] works. He said: and the others bear on the Day of Resurrection their own burdens وَمِنْ أَوْزَارِ الَّذِينَ يُضِلُّونَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ أَلا سَاءَ مَا يَزِرُونَ ("and [a portion] of the burdens of those whom they led astray without knowledge; verily, evil is that which they bear").

   The Qurʾān reciters differed concerning this. The majority of the reciters of Medina, and some of the reciters of Mecca and Basra, read it ( بِمَفَازَتِهِمْ ) in the singular. And the majority of the reciters of Kufa read it "bi-mafāzātihim" in the plural.

   The correct view concerning this, in my opinion, is that they are two widespread readings, each of which has been read by scholars among the reciters; with whichever of the two the reciter reads, he is correct, on account of the agreement of their two meanings. The Arabs, in such cases, sometimes use the singular and sometimes the plural with the same meaning. Thus one of them says: "I heard the voice (ṣawt) of the people" and "I heard their voices (aṣwāt)," just as He, whose praise is exalted, has said: إِنَّ أَنْكَرَ الأَصْوَاتِ لَصَوْتُ الْحَمِيرِ ("Indeed, the most repugnant of sounds is surely the sound of the donkeys"), where He did not say "the sounds of the donkeys"; and had it come thus, that too would have been correct.

   And His word: ( لا يَمَسُّهُمُ السُّوءُ وَلا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ) ("evil does not touch them, nor will they grieve"). The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: the God-fearing are touched by nothing of the affliction of Hell — and that is the evil of which He, whose praise is exalted, has informed that it will never touch them — "nor will they grieve," that is to say: and they will not grieve over the worldly desires that escaped them, now that they have come to the honor of Allah and the bliss of the Gardens.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَيُنَجِّي اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا بِمَفَازَتِهِمْ لا يَمَسُّهُمُ السُّوءُ وَلا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ (61) يقول تعالى ذكره: وينجي الله من جهنم وعذابها, الذين اتقوه بأداء فرائضه, واجتناب معاصيه في الدنيا, بمفازتهم: يعني بفوزهم, وهي مفعلة منه. وبنحو الذي قلنا في تأويل ذلك قال أهل التأويل, وإن خالفت ألفاظ بعضهم اللفظة التي قلناها في ذلك. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد, قال: ثنا أحمد, قال: ثنا أسباط, عن السديّ, في قوله: ( وَيُنَجِّي اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا بِمَفَازَتِهِمْ ) قال: بفضائلهم. حدثني يونس, قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب, قال: قال ابن زيد في قوله: ( وَيُنَجِّي اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا بِمَفَازَتِهِمْ ) قال: بأعمالهم, قال: والآخرون يحملون أوزارهم يوم القيامة وَمِنْ أَوْزَارِ الَّذِينَ يُضِلُّونَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ أَلا سَاءَ مَا يَزِرُونَ . واختلفت القرّاء في ذلك, فقرأته عامة قرّاء المدينة, وبعض قرّاء مكة والبصرة: ( بِمَفَازَتِهِمْ ) على التوحيد. وقرأته عامة قرّاء الكوفة: " بمفازاتهم " على الجماع. والصواب عندي من القول في ذلك أنهما قراءتان مستفيضتان, قد قرأ بكل واحدة منهما علماء من القرّاء فبأيتهما قرأ القارئ فمصيب, لاتفاق معنييهما، والعرب توحد مثل ذلك أحيانا وتجمع بمعنى واحد, فيقول أحدهم: سمعت صوت القوم, وسمعت أصواتهم, كما قال جل ثناؤه: إِنَّ أَنْكَرَ الأَصْوَاتِ لَصَوْتُ الْحَمِيرِ , ولم يقل: أصوات الحمير, ولو جاء ذلك كذلك كان صوابا. وقوله: ( لا يَمَسُّهُمُ السُّوءُ وَلا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: لا يمس المتقين من أذى جهنم شيء, وهو السوء الذي أخبر جل ثناؤه أنه لن يمسهم, ولا هم يحزنون، يقول: ولا هم يحزنون على ما فاتهم من آراب الدنيا, إذ صاروا إلى كرامة الله ونعيم الجنان.