Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِنَا سَوْفَ نُصْلِيهِمْ نَارًا كُلَّمَا نَضِجَتْ جُلُودُهُمْ بَدَّلْنَاهُمْ جُلُودًا غَيْرَهَا لِيَذُوقُوا الْعَذَابَ ("Verily, those who disbelieve in Our signs—We shall make them burn in a Fire. Every time their skins are roasted through, We replace them with other skins, so that they may taste the punishment.")

   Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a threat from Allah, exalted be His praise, directed at those who persisted in their denial of what Allah sent down to Muḥammad (the Prophet ﷺ)—among the Jews of the Banū Isrāʾīl and the rest of the disbelievers—and in their denial of His messenger. Allah says to them: Verily, those who denied what I sent down to My messenger Muḥammad (the Prophet ﷺ) of My signs—that is: the signs of His sending down and the revelation of His Book, namely the proofs and evidences therein for the truthfulness of Muḥammad (the Prophet ﷺ)—and who did not believe in them, among the Jews of the Banū Isrāʾīl and the rest of the disbelievers in that = "We shall make them burn in a Fire," He says: We shall roast them through in a Fire in which they are broiled = that is: in which they are roasted = "every time their skins are roasted through," He says: every time their skins are roasted and burned thereby = "We replace them with other skins," that is: with skins other than the skins that were roasted through and broiled, as in:

   9833 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Thuwayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, concerning: "every time their skins are roasted through, We replace them with other skins," he said: When their skins are burned, We replace them with white skins, like sheets of parchment (qaraṭīs).

   9834 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his statement: "Verily, those who disbelieve in Our signs—We shall make them burn in a Fire. Every time their skins are roasted through, We replace them with other skins," he says: Every time their skins are burned, We replace them with other skins.

   9835 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning his statement: "every time their skins are roasted through," he said: We have been informed that it is written in the first Book: The skin of one of them is forty cubits thick, his tooth is seventy cubits, and his belly—were a mountain to be placed within it, it could contain it. And when the Fire consumes their skins, they are replaced with other skins.

   9836 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, saying: It reached me on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning: "every time their skins are roasted through, We replace them with other skins," he said: We roast them through seventy thousand times in a single day.

   9837 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū ʿUbayda al-Ḥaddād related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn Ḥassān, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning his statement: "every time their skins are roasted through, We replace them with others," he said: The Fire roasts through seventy thousand skins each day. He said: And the skin of the disbeliever is forty cubits thick—and Allah knows best by which cubit!

   * * *

   Abū Jaʿfar said: And if a questioner asks and says: What is the meaning of His statement, exalted be His praise: "every time their skins are roasted through, We replace them with other skins"? And is it permissible that they be replaced with skins other than their skins which they had in this world, so that they be punished therein? If that is permissible according to you, then permit also that they be replaced with bodies and souls other than their bodies and souls which they had in this world, so that those be punished! And if you permit that, you are compelled to acknowledge that those who are punished with the Fire in the Hereafter are persons other than those upon whom Allah pronounced the punishment on account of their disbelief in Him and their disobedience toward Him, and that the punishment would then have been lifted from the disbelievers!!

   * * *

   It has been said: People differed concerning the meaning of that.

   Some of them said: The punishment reaches only the human being, who is something other than the skin and the flesh; the skin is burned only so that the pain of the punishment may reach the human being. As for the skin and the flesh, they feel no pain. They said: It therefore makes no difference whether the disbeliever is given back his skin which he had in this world, or another skin, since the skins feel no pain and are not punished; what feels pain and is punished is only the soul, which perceives the pain and which the suffering reaches. They said: And since that is so, it is not absurd that for every disbeliever in the Fire, at every moment and every hour, innumerable skins are created which are burned over him, so that the pain of the punishment may reach his soul, since the skins feel no pain.

   * * *

   Others said: On the contrary, the skins feel pain, as do the flesh and the other constituents of the body of the children of men. And when his skin or another constituent of his body is burned, the pain of that reaches the whole. They said: And the meaning of His statement: "every time their skins are roasted through, We replace them with other skins" is: We replace them with unburned skins. For they are given back anew, while the first were burned; they are thus given back unburned, and it is for this reason that "other" was said, because they are other than the skins which they had in this world, with which they disobeyed Allah when those were theirs. They said: That is comparable to the saying of the Arabs to the goldsmith when one asks him to forge a ring out of an already-forged ring, by converting it from its present form into another form: "Forge me out of this ring another ring," whereupon he breaks it and forges out of it another ring; and the ring forged with the second forging is the very same as the first, but because it was made into a ring again after being broken, it was said: "it is another." They said: Likewise is the meaning of His statement: "every time their skins are roasted through, We replace them with other skins"; when the skins were burned and then, after the burning, were given back anew, it was said: "they are other," in that sense.

   * * *

   Others said: The meaning of it is: "every time their skins are roasted through"—their garments—We replace them with other garments of pitch. The garments of pitch are thus made into skins for them, just as one says of something proper to a person: "it is the skin between his eyes and his face," because of its being proper to him. They said: Likewise are the garments of pitch, concerning which Allah says in His Book: سَرَابِيلُهُمْ مِنْ قَطِرَانٍ وَتَغْشَى وُجُوهَهُمُ النَّارُ [Sūrat Ibrāhīm: 50] ("their garments are of pitch, and the Fire covers their faces"); when these became for them a clothing that does not leave their bodies, they were made into skins for them, and it has been said: every time the pitch ignites upon their bodies and burns, they are replaced with other garments of pitch. They said: As for the skins of the disbelievers among the inhabitants of the Fire, those do not burn, for in their burning—until the moment of their restoration—lies their perishing, and in their perishing lies their relief. They said: And Allah, exalted be His remembrance, has informed concerning them that they do not die and that their punishment is not lightened. They said: And the skins of the disbelievers are one of their bodily parts; and if it were permissible that something of them burns and perishes and is thereafter, after the perishing, given back in the Fire, then that would be permissible for all their constituents. And if that were permissible, it would necessarily follow that for them perishing is permissible, then restoration and death, then being brought back to life—whereas Allah has informed concerning them that they do not die. They said: And in His informing concerning them that they do not die lies a clear proof that none of the constituents of their bodies dies, and the skins are one of those constituents.

   * * *

   As for the meaning of His statement: "so that they may taste the punishment," He says: We did that to them so that they would experience the pain of the punishment, its anguish, and its severity, on account of their having, in this world, denied and rejected the signs of Allah.

   * * *

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement: إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا (56) ("Verily, Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.")

   Abū Jaʿfar said: He says: Verily, Allah has ever been = "Almighty" (ʿazīz) in His requital of whomever of His creatures He requites; no one who wishes to afflict Him with harm can escape Him, and no one upon whom He carries out a punishment can avenge himself upon Him = "All-Wise" (ḥakīm) in His governance and His disposition.

   -------------------

   Footnotes:

   (20) See the explanation of "al-iṣlāʾ" (the making to burn) in what precedes: 27-29, 231.

   (21) The report 9833—"Thuwayr" is Thuwayr ibn Abī Fākhita Saʿīd ibn ʿIlāqa al-Hāshimī. His biography has already been given under the numbers 3212 and 5414. In the printed edition it reads "Nuwayr," and in the manuscript it is not furnished with diacritical points. In the printed edition it reads "julūdan bayḍāʾ" (white skins), which is an error; the correct reading is in the manuscript. And "al-qaraṭīs" is the plural of "qirṭās": the white sheet upon which one writes.

   (22) In the printed edition it reads "that his skin...," but what is in the manuscript has been adopted here. By it is meant the thickness of the skin, as will follow shortly under number 9837.

   (23) In the printed edition it reads "law wasiʿahu"; what is in the manuscript has been adopted.

   (24) The report 9837—"Abū ʿUbayda al-Ḥaddād" is ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Wāṣil al-Sadūsī. His biography has already been given under number 8284. And "Hishām ibn Ḥassān al-Qardūsī" has already been mentioned under number 2827.

   (25) In the manuscript it reads "which is the skin and the flesh," which is not correct; the editor of the first printed edition rightly added "ghayr" (other than).

   (26) "Istaṣāghahu khātaman": he asked him to forge a ring for him. This form is not mentioned in the dictionaries, but it is sound Arabic and a correct analogy.

   (27) In the printed edition it reads "al-iḥtirāq"; what is in the manuscript has been adopted.

   (28) In the printed edition and in the manuscript it reads: "Others said: the meaning of it," but the context requires what has been adopted.

   (29) The addition between brackets is indispensable.

   (30) In the printed edition it reads "lā taḥriq"; the correct reading is what is in the manuscript, as adopted here.

   (31) That is: it then perishes until it is restored anew, and its perishing would require a period in which the punishment is lightened from them. This is invalid, as one will see in the following arguments.

   (32) See the explanation of "kāna" in the sense of "lam yazal" (to have ever been) in what precedes: 426, note: 1, and the references there.

   (33) See the explanation of "ʿazīz" and "ḥakīm" in the linguistic indices.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِنَا سَوْفَ نُصْلِيهِمْ نَارًا كُلَّمَا نَضِجَتْ جُلُودُهُمْ بَدَّلْنَاهُمْ جُلُودًا غَيْرَهَا لِيَذُوقُوا الْعَذَابَ قال أبو جعفر: هذا وعيد من الله جل ثناؤه للذين أقاموا على تكذيبهم بما أنـزل الله على محمد من يهود بني إسرائيل وغيرهم من سائر الكفار، وبرسوله. يقول الله لهم: إن الذين جحدوا ما أنـزلتُ على رسولي محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، من آياتي = يعني: من آيات تنـزيله، ووَحي كتابه، وهي دلالاته وحججه على صدق محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم = فلم يصدقوا به من يهود بني إسرائيل وغيرهم من سائر أهل الكفر به =" سوف نصليهم نارًا "، يقول: سوف ننضجهم في نارٍ يُصلون فيها = أي يشوون فيها (20) =" كلما نضجت جلودهم "، يقول: كلما انشوت بها جلودهم فاحترقت =" بدلناهم جلودًا غيرها "، يعني: غير الجلود التي قد نضجت فانشوت، كما:- 9833 - حدثنا ابن حميد قال، حدثنا جرير، عن الأعمش، عن ثوير، عن ابن عمر: " كلما نضجت جلودهم بدّلناهم جلودًا غيرها "، قال: إذا احترقت جلودهم بدّلناهم جلودًا بيضًا أمثالَ القراطيس. (21) 9834 - حدثنا بشر بن معاذ قال، حدثنا يزيد قال، حدثنا سعيد، عن قتادة قوله: " إن الذين كفروا بآياتنا سوف نصليهم نارًا كلما نضجت جلودهم &; 8-485 &; بدلناهم جلودًا غيرَها "، يقول: كلما احترقت جلودهم بدّلناهم جلودًا غيرَها. 9835 - حدثني المثنى قال، حدثنا إسحاق قال، حدثنا ابن أبي جعفر، عن أبيه، عن الربيع في قوله: " كلما نضجت جلودهم "، قال: سمعنا أنه مكتوب في الكتاب الأول: جلدُ أحدهم أربعون ذراعًا، (22) وسِنُّه سبعون ذراعًا، وبطنه لو وضع فيه جبل وَسِعه. (23) فإذا أكلت النار جلودهم بُدّلوا جلودًا غيرها. 9836 - حدثني المثنى قال، حدثنا سويد بن نصر قال، أخبرنا ابن المبارك قال: بلغني عن الحسن: " كلما نضجت جلودهم بدلناهم جلودًا غيرها "، قال: ننضجهم في اليوم سبعين ألف مرة. 9837 - حدثنا القاسم قال، حدثنا الحسين قال، حدثنا أبو عبيدة الحداد، عن هشام بن حسان، عن الحسن قوله: " كلما نضجت جلودهم بدلناهم غيرها "، قال: تنضج النار كل يوم سبعين ألف جلد. قال: وغلظ جلد الكافر أربعون ذراعًا، والله أعلم بأيِّ ذراع! (24) . * * * قال أبو جعفر: فإن سأل سائل فقال: وما معنى قوله جل ثناؤه: " كلما نضجت جلودهم بدّلناهم جلودًا غيرها "؟ وهل يجوز أن يبدّلوا جلودًا غير جلودهم التي كانت لهم في الدنيا، فيعذَّبوا فيها؟ فإن جاز ذلك عندك، فأجز أن يُبدَّلوا أجسامًا وأرواحًا غير أجسامهم وأرواحهم التي كانت لهم في الدنيا فتعذّب! وإن أجزت ذلك، لزمك أن يكون المعذبون في الآخرة بالنار، غيرُ الذين أوعدهم الله العقابَ على كفرهم به ومعصيتهم إياه، وأن يكون الكفار قد ارتفعَ عنهم العذاب!! * * * قيل: إن الناس اختلفوا في معنى ذلك. فقال بعضهم: العذاب إنما يصل إلى الإنسان الذي هو غير الجلد واللحم، (25) وإنما يحرق الجلد ليصل إلى الإنسان ألم العذاب. وأما الجلد واللحم، فلا يألمان. قالوا: فسواء أعيد على الكافر جلدهُ الذي كان له في الدنيا أو جلدٌ غيره، إذ كانت الجلود غير آلمة ولا معذَّبة، وإنما الآلمةُ المعذبةُ: النفسُ التي تُحِس الألم، ويصل إليها الوجع. قالوا: وإذا كان ذلك كذلك، فغير مستحيل أن يُخْلق لكل كافر في النار في كل لحظة وساعة من الجلود ما لا يحصى عدده، ويحرق ذلك عليه، ليصل إلى نفسه ألم العذاب، إذ كانت الجلود لا تألَمُ. * * * وقال آخرون: بل الجلودُ تألم، واللحمُ وسائرُ أجزاء جِرْم بني آدم. وإذا أحرق جلدهُ أو غيره من أجزاء جسده، وصل ألم ذلك إلى جميعه. قالوا: ومعنى قوله: " كلما نضجت جلودهم بدلناهم جلودًا غيرها ": بدلناهم جلودًا غير محترقة. وذلك أنها تعاد جديدة، والأولى كانت قد احترقتْ، فأعيدت غير محترقة، فلذلك قيل: " غيرها "، لأنها غير الجلود التي كانت لهم في الدنيا، التي عصوا الله وهى لهم. قالوا: وذلك نظيرُ قول العرب للصّائغ إذا استصاغته خاتمًا من خاتم مَصُوغ، (26) بتحويله عن صياغته التي هُو بها، إلى صياغة أخرى: " صُغْ لي من هذا الخاتم خاتمًا غيره "، فيكسره ويصوغ له منه خاتمًا غيره، والخاتم المصوغ بالصّياغة الثانية هو الأول، ولكنه لما أعيد بعد كسره خاتمًا قيل: " هو غيره ". قالوا: فكذلك معنى قوله: " كلما نضجت جلودهم بدّلناهم جلودًا غيرها "، لما &; 8-487 &; احترقت الجلود ثم أعيدت جديدة بعد الاحتراق، (27) قيل: " هي غيرها "، على ذلك المعنى. * * * وقال آخرون: معنى ذلك: " كلما نضجت جلودهم "، (28) سرابيلهم، بدلناهم سرابيل من قَطِران غيرها. فجعلت السرابيل [من] القطران لهم جلودًا، (29) كما يقال للشيء الخاص بالإنسان: " هو جِلدة ما بين عينيه ووجهه "، لخصُوصه به. قالوا: فكذلك سرابيل القطران التي قال الله في كتابه: سَرَابِيلُهُمْ مِنْ قَطِرَانٍ وَتَغْشَى وُجُوهَهُمُ النَّارُ [سورة إبراهيم: 50]، لما صارت لهم لباسًا لا تفارق أجسامهم، جعلت لهم جلودًا، فقيل: كلما اشتعل القَطِران في أجسامهم واحترق، بدلوا سرابيل من قطران آخر. قالوا: وأما جلود أهل الكفر من أهل النار، فإنها لا تحترق، (30) لأن في احتراقها = إلى حال إعادتها = فناءَها، (31) وفي فنائها رَاحتها. قالوا: وقد أخبر الله تعالى ذكره عنها: أنهم لا يموتون ولا يخفف عنهم من عذابها. قالوا: وجلود الكفار أحد أجسامهم، ولو جاز أن يحترق منها شيء فيفنى ثم يعاد بعد الفناء في النار، جاز ذلك في جميع أجزائها. وإذا جاز ذلك، وجب أن يكون جائزًا عليهم الفناء، ثم الإعادة والموت، ثم الإحياء، وقد أخبر الله عنهم أنهم لا يموتون. قالوا: وفي خبره عنهم أنهم لا يموتون، دليل واضح أنه لا يموت شيء من أجزاء أجسامهم، والجلود أحدُ تلك الأجزاء. * * * وأما معنى قوله: " ليذوقوا العذاب "، فإنه يقول: فعلنا ذلك بهم، ليجدوا ألم العذاب وكربه وشدته، بما كانوا في الدنيا يكذّبون آيات الله ويجحدونها. * * * القول في تأويل قوله : إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا (56) قال أبو جعفر: يقول: إن الله لم يزل (32) =" عزيزًا " في انتقامه ممن انتقم منه من خلقه، لا يقدر على الامتناع منه أحد أرادَه بضرّ، ولا الانتصار منه أحدٌ أحلّ به عقوبة =" حكيمًا " في تدبيره وقضائه. (33) ------------------- الهوامش : (20) انظر تفسير"الإصلاء" فيما سلف: 27 - 29 ، 231. (21) الأثر: 9833 -"ثوير" ، هو: ثوير بن أبي فاختة سعيد بن علاقة الهاشمي. مضت ترجمته برقم: 3212 ، 5414. وفي المطبوعة: "نوير" ، وفي المخطوطة غير منقوط. في المطبوعة: "جلودًا بيضاء" ، وهو خطأ ، والصواب في المخطوطة. و"القراطيس" جمع"قرطاس": وهو الصحيفة البيضاء التي يكتب فيها. (22) في المطبوعة: "أن جلده..." ، وأثبت ما في المخطوطة. وعنى بذلك غلظ الجلد ، كما سيأتي في رقم: 9837. (23) في المطبوعة: "لوسعه" ، وأثبت ما في المخطوطة. (24) الأثر: 9837 -"أبو عبيدة الحداد" ، هو: عبد الواحد بن واصل السدوسي. مضت ترجمته برقم: 8284. و"هشام بن حسان القردوسي" مضى برقم: 2827. (25) في المخطوطة: "الذي هو الجلد واللحم" ، وهو لا يستقيم ، وأصاب ناشر المطبوعة الأولى في زيادة"غير". (26) "استصاغه خاتما": طلب إليه أن يصوغ له خاتمًا. وهذه صيغة لم تذكرها كتب اللغة ، وهي عربية معرقة ، وقياس صحيح. (27) في المطبوعة: "الاحتراق" ، وأثبت ما في المخطوطة. (28) في المطبوعة والمخطوطة: "وقال آخرون: معنى ذلك" ، والسياق يقتضي ما أثبت. (29) الزيادة التي بين القوسين ، لا غنى عنها. (30) في المطبوعة: "لا تحرق" والجيد ما في المخطوطة كما أثبته. (31) يعني: أنها عندئذ تفنى حتى تعاد مرة أخرى ، وفناؤه يوجب فترة يخف فيها عنهم العذاب. وهذا باطل كما سترى في الحجج التالية. (32) انظر تفسير"كان" بمعنى: لم يزل فيما سلف: 426 ، تعليق: 1 ، والمراجع هناك. (33) انظر تفسير"عزيز" و"حكيم" في فهارس اللغة.