Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   Explanation of His word: إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَنْ يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلالا بَعِيدًا (116) ("Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be associated with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And whoever associates partners with Allah has strayed into a far error." (4:116))

   Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted in praise means thereby: Indeed, Allah does not forgive Ṭuʿma, since he associated partners and died in his shirk against Allah, and neither does He forgive others of His creatures because of their shirk and their unbelief (kufr) against Him. "But He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills" — He says: and He forgives what falls below shirk against Allah of sins, for whom He wills. The Exalted in praise means thereby: that Ṭuʿma, were it not that he had associated partners with Allah and had died in his shirk, would have been under the will of Allah with respect to what had proceeded from him of treachery and disobedience, and his affair with respect to his punishment or His forgiving him would have belonged to Allah. So too is the ruling concerning everyone who commits a crime: his affair belongs to Allah, unless his crime is shirk against Allah and unbelief, for then he is among those concerning whom it is established that he is among the people of the Fire if he dies in his shirk. And when he then dies in his shirk, Allah has made the Garden (janna) forbidden to him and his abode is the Fire.

   And al-Suddī said concerning that with what follows:

   10429 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be associated with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills" — He says: for whoever of the Muslims avoids the major sins.

   And as for His word "And whoever associates partners with Allah has strayed into a far error": He means: and whoever associates with Allah a partner in His worship has deviated from the path of truth and strayed from the straight way, with a far straying and a grave deviation. That is because, through his shirk against Allah in His worship, he has obeyed Satan and walked his path, and has abandoned obedience to Allah and the way of His religion. That is the far error and the manifest loss.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَنْ يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلالا بَعِيدًا (116) قال أبو جعفر: يعني بذلك جل ثناؤه: إن الله لا يغفر لطعمة إذ أشرك ومات على شركه بالله، ولا لغيره من خلقه بشركهم وكفرهم به=" ويغفر ما دون ذلك لمن يشاء "، يقول: ويغفر ما دون الشرك بالله من الذنوب لمن يشاء. يعني بذلك جل ثناؤه: أن طعمة لولا أنه أشرك بالله ومات على شركه، لكان في مشيئة الله على ما سلف من خيانته ومعصيته، وكان إلى الله أمره في عذابه والعفو عنه= وكذلك حكم كل من اجترم جُرْمًا، فإلى الله أمره، إلا أن يكون جرمه شركًا بالله وكفرًا، فإنه ممن حَتْمٌ عليه أنه من أهل النار إذا مات على شركه (18) = فأما إذا مات على شركه، فقد حرَّم الله عليه الجنة ومأواه النار. * * * وقال السدي في ذلك بما:- 10429- حدثنا محمد بن الحسين قال، حدثنا أحمد بن مفضل قال، حدثنا أسباط، عن السدي: " إن الله لا يغفر أن يشرك به ويغفر ما دون ذلك لمن يشاء "، يقول: من يجتنب الكبائر من المسلمين. * * * وأما قوله: " ومن يشرك بالله فقد ضل ضلالا بعيدًا "، فإنه يعني: ومن يجعل لله في عبادته شريكًا، فقد ذهب عن طريق الحق وزال عن قصد السبيل، ذهابًا بعيدًا وزوالا شديدًا، وذلك أنه بإشراكه بالله في عبادته قد أطاع الشيطان وسلك طريقه، (19) وترك طاعة الله ومنهاج دينه. فذاك هو الضلال البعيد والخُسران المبين.