Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of the statement of the Exalted: وَضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَظَنُّوا مَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مَحِيصٍ (41:48) — ("And that which they used to call upon before has strayed away from them, and they have become certain that there is no escape for them.")

   The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And on the Day of Resurrection, the gods whom these polytheists (mushrikīn) used to worship in this world will be lost to them, so that with those gods a path other than theirs is taken; they avail them nothing and ward off nothing from them of the punishment of Allah that has befallen them.

   And His statement: وَظَنُّوا مَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مَحِيصٍ ("and they have become certain that there is no escape for them") — He says: And at that moment they attained the certainty that there is no place of refuge for them, that is to say: there is no refuge to which they may resort against the punishment of Allah.

   And in accordance with what we have said concerning that, the exegetes (of the Qurʾān) 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: وَظَنُّوا مَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مَحِيصٍ ("and they have become certain that there is no escape for them") — they attained the certainty that there is no place of refuge for them.

   And the linguists differed concerning the reason why, in this place, the governing action of the verb ẓanna ("to suppose, to be certain") has been suspended. Some of the scholars of Basra said: that was done because the meaning of His statement وَظَنُّوا ("and they supposed") is: they attained certainty. He said: And the word "mā" here is a particle and not a noun, and the verb does not govern anything of this kind; therefore the verb has been suspended from operation. And some of them said: the verb is not suspended from operation while it nonetheless acts upon the meaning, except for a reason. He said: And the reason is that it is a quotation (ḥikāya); so when it relates to something upon which it does not act, then it is a quotation and a wish, and when it does act, then it is according to its fundamental principle.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَظَنُّوا مَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مَحِيصٍ (48) يقول تعالى ذكره: وضلّ عن هؤلاء المشركين يوم القيامة آلهتهم التي كانوا يعبدونها في الدنيا, فأخذ بها طريق غير طريقهم, فلم تنفعهم, ولم تدفع عنهم شيئا من عذاب الله الذي حلّ بهم. وقوله: ( وَظَنُّوا مَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مَحِيصٍ ) يقول: وأيقنوا حينئذ ما لهم من ملجأ: أي ليس لهم ملجأ يلجئون إليه من عذاب الله. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا محمد, قال: ثنا أحمد, قال: ثنا أسباط, عن السديّ(وَظَنُّوا مَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مَحِيصٍ) : استيقنوا أنه ليس لهم ملجأ. واختلف أهل العربية في المعنى الذي من أجله أبطل عمل الظنّ في هذا الموضع, فقال بعض أهل البصرة فعل ذلك, لأن معنى قوله: ( وَظَنُّوا ) : استيقنوا. قال: و " ما " هاهنا حرف وليس باسم, والفعل لا يعمل في مثل هذا, فلذلك جعل الفعل ملغى. وقال بعضهم: ليس يلغي الفعل وهو عامل في المعنى إلا لعلة. قال: والعلة أنه حكاية, فإذا وقع على ما لم يعمل فيه كان حكاية وتمنيا, وإذا عمل فهو على أصله.