Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: النَّارُ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ (The Fire, to which they are exposed morning and evening; and on the Day when the Hour arrives: "Admit the people of Pharaoh into the severest punishment!") (40:46).

   The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says, while clarifying about the evil punishment that befell these wretched ones of the people of Pharaoh, that which overtook them of the evil punishment of Allah: ( النَّارُ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا ) (The Fire, to which they are exposed). For when they perished and Allah drowned them, their souls were placed in the bodies of black birds, and these are exposed to the Fire twice each day, ( غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا ) (morning and evening), until the Hour arrives.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Qays, on the authority of al-Hudhayl ibn Sharaḥbīl, who said: The souls of the people of Pharaoh are in the bodies of black birds that go to the Fire morning and evening, and that is their exposure.

   Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: It has reached me that the souls of the people of Pharaoh are in the bodies of black birds that are exposed to the Fire morning and evening, until the Hour arrives.

   ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Abī ʿUmayr related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Muḥammad al-Fazārī al-Balkhī related to us, saying: I heard al-Awzāʿī, and a man asked him and said: "May Allah have mercy upon you, we have seen birds coming out of the sea flying toward the west, white, flock after flock, whose number none knows but Allah; and when evening came, an equal number returned, black." He said: "Did you take note of that?" They said: "Yes." He said: "Indeed, in the crops of those birds are the souls of the people of Pharaoh, which are exposed to the Fire morning and evening. Then they return to their nests while their feathers are burned and have turned black; then during the night white feathers grow, and the black ones fall out; then they go out in the morning, and they are exposed to the Fire morning and evening, and then they return to their nests. That is their habit in this world; and when the Day of Resurrection arrives, Allah says: ( أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ ) (Admit the people of Pharaoh into the severest punishment)." They said: And they used to say: indeed, they were six hundred thousand warriors.

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ḥarmala related to me, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Ḥumayd, who said: I heard Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī say: In the Hereafter there is no night and no midday, but only morning and evening, and that is in the Qurʾān concerning the people of Pharaoh: ( يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا ) (they are exposed to it morning and evening). And likewise He said concerning the people of Paradise: وَلَهُمْ رِزْقُهُمْ فِيهَا بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيًّا (And for them is their provision therein, morning and evening).

   And it was said: By this is meant: they are exposed morning and evening to their dwelling-places in the Fire, as a punishment for them.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ( النَّارُ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا ) (The Fire, to which they are exposed morning and evening). He said: They are exposed to it in the morning and in the evening; it is said to them: "O people of Pharaoh, these are your dwelling-places," as a reproach, a requital, and a humiliation for them.

   Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Waraqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: ( غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا ) (morning and evening). He said: As long as the world exists.

   And the most correct of the statements concerning this is that one says: Indeed, Allah has informed that the people of Pharaoh are exposed to the Fire morning and evening. And it is possible that that exposure to the Fire is as we have mentioned on the authority of al-Hudhayl and those who share his statement, and it is possible that it is as Qatāda said. There is no report that yields binding proof that this one or the other is intended, so concerning it there applies only that which the outward meaning of the Qurʾān indicates, namely that they are exposed to the Fire morning and evening. The origin of "al-ghuduww" (morning) and "al-ʿashiyy" (evening) are verbal nouns (maṣādir) that have been made into time-designations.

   And some grammarians of Basra said concerning this: It is merely a maṣdar, as you say: "I came to him in the darkness" (ẓalāman); it was made into an adverbial qualifier, while it is a maṣdar. He said: And if you were to say: "Your appointment is a morning" (ghudwa), or "Your appointment is darkness" (ẓalām), and you were to put it in the nominative, as you say: "Your appointment is Friday," then that would not be correct, because these maṣādir and what resembles them — such as "saḥar" (the last part of the night) — are made exclusively into adverbial qualifiers. He said: And the adverbial qualifier in its entirety is not declinable (ghayr mutamakkin). And the grammarians of Kufa said: In these time-designations, even though they are maṣādir, only the indication (taʿrīb) has been heard: "Your appointment is the day of your appointment, morning and evening" (ṣabāḥ wa-rawāḥ), as the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, said: غُدُوُّهَا شَهْرٌ وَرَوَاحُهَا شَهْرٌ (its morning journey is a month and its evening journey is a month), where He placed it in the nominative. And they mentioned that they heard: "The ṭaylasān is only two months" [see footnote]. They said: And in indefinite time-designations only the nominative has been heard, except in their statement: "Your generosity is only at times" (aḥyānan). And they said: This was only permitted because it has the meaning: "Your generosity is from time to time"; and because the explanation of it is the annexation (iḍāfa), it was placed in the accusative.

   And His statement: ( وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ ) (And on the Day when the Hour arrives: "Admit the people of Pharaoh into the severest punishment"). The Qurʾān reciters differed in the reading of this. Most of the reciters of the Hijaz and Iraq, except for ʿĀṣim and Abū ʿAmr, read it: ( وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ ), with a fatḥa on the alif of "adkhilū," both in connection and at the beginning, with the meaning: the command to admit them into the Fire. And when it is read thus, then "al-āl" is in the accusative because "adkhilū" governs it. And ʿĀṣim and Abū ʿAmr read it: "وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ ادْخُلُوا," with the connecting-alif (waṣl) that drops in pronunciation in connection, and with a ḍamma upon it when one begins with it after the pause on "al-sāʿa." And whoever reads it thus, with that person "al-āl" is in the accusative because of the vocative (nidāʾ), since the meaning of the statement according to his reading is: "Enter, O people of Pharaoh, into the severest punishment."

   And the correct view concerning this, in my opinion, is that one says: Indeed, they are two well-known readings, close to each other in meaning; with each of the two a group of reciters has read, so with whichever of the two the reciter reads, he is correct. The meaning of the statement is then: And on the Day when the Hour arrives, it is said to the people of Pharaoh: "Enter, O people of Pharaoh, into the severest punishment" — this according to the reading of whoever connects the alif of "udkhulū" and does not break it off. And the meaning according to the other reading is: And on the Day when the Hour arrives, Allah says to His angels: ( أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ ) (Admit the people of Pharaoh into the severest punishment).

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   Footnotes:

   (2) The ṭaylasān: something which the scholars and notables used to wear around their necks and on their shoulders for protection against the cold. He means that the period during which one wears the ṭaylasān amounts to two months.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : النَّارُ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ (46) يقول تعالى ذكره مبيِّنا عن سوء العذاب الذي حلّ بهؤلاء الأشقياء من قوم فرعون ذلك الذي حاق بهم من سوء عذاب الله ( النَّارُ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا ) إنهم لما هلكوا وغرقهم الله, جعلت أرواحهم في أجواف طير سود, فهي تعرض على النار كلّ يوم مرتين ( غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا ) إلى أن تقوم الساعة. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا محمد بن بشار, قال: ثنا عبد الرحمن, قال: ثنا سفيان, عن أبي قيس, عن الهذيل بن شرحبيل, قال: أرواح آل فرعون في أجواف طير سود تغدو وتروح على النار, وذلك عرضها. حدثنا محمد, قال: ثنا أحمد, قال: ثنا أسباط, عن السديّ, قال: بلغني أن أرواح قوم فرعون في أجواف طير سود تعرض على النار غدوّا وعشيًّا, حتى تقوم الساعة. حدثنا عبد الكريم بن أبي عمير, قال: ثنا حماد بن محمد الفزاري البلخي, قال: سمعت الأوزاعيّ وسأله رجل فقال: رحمك الله, رأينا طيورا تخرج من البحر تأخذ ناحية الغرب بيضا, فوجا فوجا, لا يعلم عددها إلا الله, فإذا كان العشيّ رجع مثلُها سُودا, قال: وفطنتم إلى ذلك؟ قالوا: نعم, قال: إن تلك الطيور في حواصلها أرواح آل فرعون يُعرضون على النار غدوّا وعشيًّا, فترجع إلى وكورها وقد احترقت رياشها, وصارت سوداء, فتنبت عليها من الليل رياش بيض, وتتناثر السود, ثم تغدو, ويُعرضون على النار غدوّا وعشيا, ثم ترجع إلى وكورها, فذلك دَأبُها في الدنيا; فإذا كان يوم القيامة, قال الله ( أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ ) قالوا: وكانوا يقولون: إنهم ستّ مئة ألف مقاتل. حدثني يونس, قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب, قال: ثني حرملة, عن سليمان بن حميد, قال: سمعت محمد بن كعب القرظي يقول: ليس في الآخرة ليل ولا نصف نهار, وإنما هو بُكرة وعشيّ, وذلك في القرآن في آل فرعون ( يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا ) وكذلك قال لأهل الجنة وَلَهُمْ رِزْقُهُمْ فِيهَا بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيًّا . وقيل: عنى بذلك: أنهم يعرضون على منازلهم في النار تعذيبا لهم غدوّا وعشيّا. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا بشر, قال: ثنا يزيد, قال: ثنا سعيد, عن قتادة ( النَّارُ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا ) قال: يعرضون عليها صباحا ومساء, يقال لهم: يا آل فرعون هذه منازلكم, توبيخا ونقمة وصغارا لهم. حدثنا محمد بن عمرو, قال: ثنا أبو عاصم, قال: ثنا عيسى; وحدثني الحارث, قال: ثنا الحسن, قال: ثنا ورقاء جميعا, عن ابن أبي نجيح, عن مجاهد, قوله: ( غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا ) قال: ما كانت الدنيا. وأولى الأقوال في ذلك بالصواب أن يقال: إن الله أخبر أن آل فرعون يعرضون على النار غدوّا وعشيّا. وجائز أن يكون ذلك العرض على النار على نحو ما ذكرناه عن الهذيل ومن قال مثل قوله, وأن يكون كما قال قتادة, ولا خبر يوجب الحجة بأن ذلك المعني به, فلا في ذلك إلا ما دل عليه ظاهر القرآن, وهم أنهم يعرضون على النار غدوا وعشيا, وأصل الغدو والعشي مصادر جعلت أوقاتا. وكان بعض نحويي البصرة يقول في ذلك: إنما هو مصدر, كما تقول: أتيته ظلاما; جعله ظرفا وهو مصدر. قال: ولو قلت: موعدك غدوة, أو موعدك ظلام, فرفعته, كما تقول: موعدك يوم الجمعة, لم يحسن, لأن هذه المصادر وما أشبهها من نحو سحر لا تجعل إلا ظرفا; قال: والظرف كله ليس بمتمكن; وقال نحويو الكوفة: لم يسمع في هذه الأوقات, وإن كانت مصادر, إلا التعريب: موعدك يوم موعدك صباح ورواح, كما قال جلّ ثناؤه: غُدُوُّهَا شَهْرٌ وَرَوَاحُهَا شَهْرٌ فرفع, وذكروا أنهم سمعوا: إنما الطيلسان شهران (2) قالوا: ولم يسمع في الأوقات النكرات إلا الرفع إلا قولهم: إنما سخاؤك أحيانا, وقالوا: إنما جاز ذلك لأنه بمعنى: إنما سخاؤك الحين بعد الحين, فلما كان تأويله الإضافة نصب. وقوله: ( وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ ) اختلفت القرّاء في قراءة ذلك فقرأته عامة قرّاء أهل الحجاز والعراق سوى عاصم وأبي عمرو ( وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ ) بفتح الألف من أدخلوا في الوصل والقطع بمعنى: الأمر بإدخالهم النار. وإذا قُرئ ذلك كذلك, كان الآل نصبا بوقوع أدخلوا عليه, وقرأ ذلك عاصم وأبو عمرو: " وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ ادْخُلُوا " بوصل الألف وسقوطها في الوصل من اللفظ, وبضمها إذا ابتدئ بعد الوقف على الساعة, ومن قرأ ذلك كذلك, كان الآل على قراءته نصبا بالنداء, لأن معنى الكلام على قراءته: ادخلوا يا آل فرعون أشدّ العذاب. والصواب من القول في ذلك عندي أن يقال إنهما قراءتان معروفتان متقاربتا المعنى قد قرأ بكل واحدة منهما جماعة من القرّاء, فبأيتهما قرأ القارئ فمصيب. فمعنى الكلام إذن: ويوم تقوم الساعة يقال لآل فرعون: ادخلوا يا آل فرعون أشدّ العذاب, فهذا على قراءة من وصل الألف من ادخلوا ولم يقطع, ومعناه على القراءة الأخرى, ويوم تقوم الساعة يقول الله لملائكته ( أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ ) . ------------------------ الهوامش: (2) الطيلسان : شيء كان يضعه العلماء والكبراء حول أعناقهم وعلى أكتافهم اتقاء البرد . يريد أن مدة لبس الطيلسان شهران .