Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The statement concerning the explanation of His word, the Exalted: إِنْ تَكْفُرُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنْكُمْ وَلا يَرْضَى لِعِبَادِهِ الْكُفْرَ وَإِنْ تَشْكُرُوا يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْ وَلا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ (If you are ungrateful/disbelieving, then indeed Allah is free of need of you, and He is not pleased with disbelief (kufr) for His servants; and if you are grateful, He is pleased with it for you. And no bearer of burdens bears the burden of another. Then to your Lord is your return, and He will inform you of what you used to do; verily, He is Knowing of what the breasts conceal) (7).

   The exegetes differed concerning the explanation of His word: ( إِنْ تَكْفُرُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنْكُمْ وَلا يَرْضَى لِعِبَادِهِ الْكُفْرَ ). Some of them said: that pertains to a particular group of people, and its meaning is: if you, O polytheists (mushrikīn), disbelieve in Allah, then Allah is free of need of you, and He is not pleased with disbelief (kufr) for His believing servants, whom He has set apart for His worship and obedience.

   * 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 word: ( إِنْ تَكْفُرُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنْكُمْ وَلا يَرْضَى لِعِبَادِهِ الْكُفْرَ ), he means the disbelievers (kuffār) whose hearts Allah did not will to purify, so that they would say: there is no god but Allah. Then he said: ( وَلا يَرْضَى لِعِبَادِهِ الْكُفْرَ ) and He is not pleased with disbelief for His servants — and they are His devoted servants concerning whom He said: verily, over My servants you have no authority; He made obligatory upon them the testimony that there is no god but Allah and made it beloved to them.

   Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, [concerning] ( وَلا يَرْضَى لِعِبَادِهِ الْكُفْرَ ), he said: He is not pleased for His believing servants that they should become disbelievers.

   Others said: rather, that applies generally to all people, and its meaning is: O people, if you disbelieve, then Allah is free of need of you, and He is not pleased that you should disbelieve in Him.

   The correct view concerning this is what Allah, Mighty and Exalted is He, said: if you disbelieve in Allah, O you who disbelieve in Him, then Allah is free of need of your faith and your worship of Him, and He is not pleased with disbelief for His servants, in the meaning of: He is not pleased for His servants that they should disbelieve in Him, as one says: I do not love injustice, even though I may wish that so-and-so should wrong so-and-so, so that he may be punished.

   And His word: ( وَإِنْ تَشْكُرُوا يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْ ) says: and if you believe in your Lord and obey Him, He is pleased with your gratitude to Him — and that is their faith in Him and their obedience to Him. Thus He intended gratitude without mentioning it, and mentioned only the deed that indicates it. That is similar to His word: Those to whom the people said: verily, the people have gathered against you, so fear them; but that increased them in faith — in the meaning of: the people's statement to them increased them in faith.

   And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes spoke.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, [concerning] ( وَإِنْ تَشْكُرُوا يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْ ), he said: if you obey, He is pleased with it for you.

   And His word: ( وَلا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى ) says: no sinful soul bears the sin of another sinful soul besides itself, and it is called to account only for its own sin. Allah, Mighty and Exalted is He, informs His servants that upon every soul rests what it has earned, and that it is not called to account for the sin of another.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, [concerning] ( وَلا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى ), he said: no one is seized for the sin of another.

   And His word: ( ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ ) — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: then, after you have earned in the world what you have earned of good and evil, faith and disbelief, O people, to your Lord is your destination after your death. ( فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ ) says: then He will inform you of what you used to do in the world of good and evil, and He will requite you for all of that according to your desert: the doer of good among you for his good deed, and the doer of evil with what he has deserved. Allah, Mighty and Exalted is He, says to His servants: beware of meeting your Lord while you have done in the world that which He does not accept from you, lest you perish; for no deed of any doer among you remains hidden from Him.

   And His word: ( إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ ) — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: verily, there is not hidden from Allah what your hearts conceal, O people, of that which your eyes do not perceive; how then with that which the eyes have perceived and the gazes have seen? Allah, Mighty and Exalted is He, means thereby only the announcement that nothing remains hidden from Him, and that He records precisely for His servants their deeds in order to requite them for them, so that they may fear Him in the hidden of their affairs and in the open thereof.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : إِنْ تَكْفُرُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنْكُمْ وَلا يَرْضَى لِعِبَادِهِ الْكُفْرَ وَإِنْ تَشْكُرُوا يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْ وَلا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ (7) اختلف أهل التأويل في تأويل قوله: ( إِنْ تَكْفُرُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنْكُمْ وَلا يَرْضَى لِعِبَادِهِ الْكُفْرَ ) فقال بعضهم: ذلك لخاص من الناس, ومعناه: إن تكفروا أيها المشركون بالله, فإن الله غني عنكم, ولا يرضى لعباده المؤمنين الذين أخلصهم لعبادته وطاعته الكفر. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني عليّ قال: ثنا أبو صالح, قال: ثني معاوية, عن عليّ, عن ابن عباس, قوله: ( إِنْ تَكْفُرُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنْكُمْ وَلا يَرْضَى لِعِبَادِهِ الْكُفْرَ ) يعني الكفار الذين لم يرد الله أن يطهر قلوبهم, فيقولوا: لا إله إلا الله, ثم قال: ( وَلا يَرْضَى لِعِبَادِهِ الْكُفْرَ ) وهم عباده المخلصون الذين قال فيهم: إِنَّ عِبَادِي لَيْسَ لَكَ عَلَيْهِمْ سُلْطَانٌ فألزمهم شهادة أن لا إله إلا الله وحببها إليهم. حدثنا محمد, قال: ثنا أحمد, قال: ثنا أسباط, عن السديّ( وَلا يَرْضَى لِعِبَادِهِ الْكُفْرَ ) قال: لا يرضى لعباده المؤمنين أن يكفروا. وقال آخرون: بل ذلك عام لجميع الناس, ومعناه: أيها الناس إن تكفروا, فإن الله غني عنكم, ولا يرضى لكم أن تكفروا به. والصواب من القول في ذلك ما قال الله جلّ وعزّ: إن تكفروا بالله أيها الكفار به, فإن الله غني عن إيمانكم وعبادتكم إياه, ولا يرضى لعباده الكفر, بمعنى: ولا يرضى لعباده أن يكفروا به, كما يقال: لست أحب الظلم, وإن أحببت أن يظلم فلان فلانا فيعاقب. وقوله: ( وَإِنْ تَشْكُرُوا يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْ ) يقول: وإن تؤمنوا بربكم وتطيعوه يرض شكركم له, وذلك هو إيمانهم به وطاعتهم إياه, فكنى عن الشكر ولم يُذْكر, وإنما ذكر الفعل الدالّ عليه, وذلك نظير قوله: الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا بمعنى: فزادهم قول الناس لهم ذلك إيمانا. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا محمد, قال: ثنا أحمد, قال: ثنا أسباط, عن السديّ( وَإِنْ تَشْكُرُوا يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْ ) قال: إن تطيعوا يرضه لكم. وقوله: ( وَلا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى ) يقول: لا تأثم آثمة إثم آثمة أخرى غيرها, ولا تؤاخذ إلا بإثم نفسها, يعلم عز وجل عباده أن على كل نفس ما جنت, وأنها لا تؤاخذ بذنب غيرها. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا محمد, قال: ثنا أحمد, قال: ثنا أسباط, عن السديّ( وَلا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى ) قال: لا يؤخذ أحد بذنب أحد. وقوله: ( ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: ثم بعد اجتراحكم في الدنيا ما اجترحتم من صالح وسيئ, وإيمان وكفر أيها الناس, إلى ربكم مصيركم من بعد وفاتكم,( فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ ) يقول: فيخبركم بما كنتم في الدنيا تعملونه من خير وشر, فيجازيكم على كل ذلك جزاءكم, المحسن منكم بإحسانه, والمسيء بما يستحقه، يقول عز وجل لعباده: فاتقوا أن تلقوا ربكم وقد عملتم في الدنيا بما لا يرضاه منكم فتهلكوا, فإنه لا يخفى عليه عمل عامل منكم. وقوله: ( إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: إن الله لا يخفى عليه ما أضمرته صدوركم أيها الناس مما لا تدركه أعينكم, فكيف بما أدركته العيون ورأته الأبصار. وإنما يعني جلّ وعزّ بذلك الخبر عن أنه لا يخفى عليه شيء, وأنه محص على عباده أعمالهم, ليجازيهم بها كي يتقوه في سرّ أمورهم وعلانيتها.