Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement: أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ غَيْرِ اللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا فِيهِ اخْتِلَافًا كَثِيرًا (4:82).

   Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by His statement: "Do they not then ponder the Qurʾān?": do they not ponder—those who at night devise something other than what they say to you, O Muḥammad—the Book of Allah, so that they might come to know Allah's proof against them concerning obedience to you and following your command, and that what you have brought them of the revelation is from their Lord, on account of the coherence of its meanings, the mutual agreement of its rulings, the fact that one passage supports another by confirmation, and that one passage testifies for another by verification—for had it been from other than Allah, its rulings would have differed from one another, its meanings would have contradicted one another, and one passage would have exposed the corruption of another, as in:

   9987 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his statement: "Do they not then ponder the Qurʾān? And had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found in it much contradiction," that is to say: the statement of Allah is not contradictory, and it is true; in it there is no falsehood. And indeed, the statement of men is contradictory.

   9988 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: indeed, the Qurʾān—one passage of it does not belie another, and one passage does not contradict another. Whatever men do not understand of a matter, that is only due to the deficiency of their intellect and their ignorance! And he recited: "And had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found in it much contradiction." He said: it is therefore an obligation upon the believer that he say: كُلٌّ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ (All is from Allah), and that he believe in the ambiguous (mutashābih), and that he not set one passage against another. And when he does not understand a matter and does not know (how to interpret it), let him then say: "That which Allah has said is true," and let him acknowledge that Allah, exalted is He, does not make a statement and then nullify it. It is fitting that he believe in the truth of what has come from Allah.

   9989 — Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, his statement: "Do they not then ponder the Qurʾān?", he said: "ponder" (yatadabbarūn) means: reflecting upon it.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : أَفَلا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ غَيْرِ اللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا فِيهِ اخْتِلافًا كَثِيرًا (82) قال أبو جعفر: يعني جل ثناؤه بقوله: " أفلا يتدبرون القرآن "، أفلا يتدبر المبيتون غير الذي تقول لهم، يا محمد كتاب الله، فيعلموا حجّة الله عليهم في طاعتك واتباع أمرك، وأن الذي أتيتهم به من التنـزيل من عند ربهم، لاتِّساق معانيه، وائتلاف أحكامه، وتأييد بعضه بعضًا بالتصديق، وشهادة بعضه لبعض بالتحقيق، فإن ذلك لو كان من عند غير الله لاختلفت أحكامه، وتناقضت معانيه، وأبان بعضه عن فساد بعض، كما:- 9987 - حدثنا بشر بن معاذ قال، حدثنا يزيد قال، حدثنا سعيد، عن قتادة قوله: " أفلا يتدبرون القرآن ولو كان من عند غير الله لوجدوا فيه اختلافًا كثيرًا " أي: قول الله لا يختلف، وهو حق ليس فيه باطل، وإنّ قول الناس يختلف. 9988 - حدثني يونس قال، أخبرنا ابن وهب قال، قال ابن زيد: إن القرآن لا يكذّب بعضه بعضًا، ولا ينقض بعضه بعضًا، ما جهل الناس من أمرٍ، (13) فإنما هو من تقصير عقولهم وجهالتهم! وقرأ: " ولو كان من عند غير الله لوجدوا فيه اختلافًا كثيرًا ". قال: فحقٌّ على المؤمن أن يقول: كُلٌّ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ ، ويؤمن بالمتشابه، ولا يضرب بعضه ببعض= وإذا جهل أمرًا ولم يعرف أن يقول: (14) " الذي قال الله حق "، ويعرف أن الله تعالى لم يقل قولا وينقضه، (15) ينبغي أن يؤمن بحقيقة ما جاء من الله. (16) 9989 - حدثني يحيى بن أبي طالب قال، حدثنا يزيد قال، أخبرنا جويبر، عن الضحاك قوله: " أفلا يتدبرون القرآن "، قال: " يتدبرون "، النظر فيه. ----------------- الهوامش : (13) في المطبوعة: "من أمره" ، وهو خطأ محض ، والصواب ما أثبت من المخطوطة. (14) في المطبوعة والمخطوطة: "إذا جهل أمرًا" بإسقاط الواو ، وهو لا يستقيم. وهو معطوف على قوله: "فحق على المؤمن أن يقول...". (15) في المطبوعة: "وينقض" والصواب من المخطوطة. (16) في المطبوعة: "بحقية ما جاء من الله" ، وأثبت ما في المخطوطة.