Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ (41:53) (We shall show them Our signs upon the horizons and within themselves, until it becomes clear to them that it is the Truth. Does it not suffice concerning your Lord that He is Witness over all things? (53))

   The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: We shall show these deniers Our signs upon the horizons — that is to say: what We have sent down to Muḥammad, Our servant, of the Reminder.

   The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of the signs that Allāh promised to show these people. Some of them said: By the signs upon the horizons are meant the battles of the Prophet ﷺ in the regions surrounding the land of the polytheists among the people of Mecca and at their frontier territories; and by His statement: وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ (and within themselves) is meant the conquest of Mecca.

   * Mention of those who said that:

   Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Abī Qays, on the authority of al-Minhāl, concerning His statement: سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الآفَاقِ (We shall show them Our signs upon the horizons), he said: The victory of Muḥammad ﷺ over the people.

   Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الآفَاقِ (We shall show them Our signs upon the horizons), he says: That which We open for you, O Muḥammad, of the horizons; وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ (and within themselves): among the people of Mecca, he says: We open Mecca for you.

   And others said: By that is meant that He shows them the stars of the night and its moon, and the sun of the day, and that is what He promised them that He would show them upon the horizons. And they said: By the horizons are meant: the horizons of the heaven; and by His statement: وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ (and within themselves) the passage of the excrement and the urine.

   * Mention of those who said that:

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His statement: سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ (We shall show them Our signs upon the horizons and within themselves), he said: The horizons of the heavens: their stars, their sun and their moon which revolve; and also signs within themselves.

   And the most correct of the two statements herein is the first statement, namely what al-Suddī said. That is because Allāh, mighty and exalted is He, promised His Prophet ﷺ that He would show these polytheists who denied him signs upon the horizons, and it is not reasonable that He would threaten them with showing something they had already seen. Rather, it is necessary that this was a promise from Him to them to show them what they had not seen before, namely the victory of the Prophet of Allāh ﷺ over the frontier territories of their land and over their land. As for the stars, the sun and the moon: those they had already seen abundantly, before and after, and there is no reason to threaten them with the fact that He would show them that.

   And His statement: حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ (until it becomes clear to them that it is the Truth), He, praised be His praise, says: I show these polytheists Our battles at their frontier territories and among themselves, until they know the truth of what We have sent down to Muḥammad and revealed to him of the promise to him that We shall make the religion with which We sent him prevail over all religions, even though the polytheists hate that.

   And His statement: أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ (Does it not suffice concerning your Lord that He is Witness over all things?), the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: Does it not suffice concerning your Lord, O Muḥammad, that He is witness over all things that His creatures do, that no knowledge of any of it escapes Him, and that He requites them for their deeds — the doer of good with goodness, and the doer of evil with his requital?

   And in His statement: أَنَّهُ (that He) there are two possibilities:

   The first: that it is in the position of the genitive by repetition of the bā', so that the meaning of the statement is then: Does it not suffice concerning your Lord, with the fact that He is Witness over all things? And the other: that it is in the position of the nominative, governed by His statement "yakfī" (suffices), so that the meaning of the statement is: Does your Lord's testimony over all things not suffice?

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ (53) يقول تعالى ذكره: سنري هؤلاء المكذّبين, ما أنـزلنا على محمد عبدنا من الذكر, آياتنا في الآفاق. واختلف أهل التأويل في معنى الآيات التي وعد الله هؤلاء القوم أن يريهم, فقال بعضهم: عني بالآيات في الآفاق وقائع النبيّ صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم بنواحي بلد المشركين من أهل مكة وأطرافها, وبقوله: ( وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ ) فتح مكة. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا أبو كريب, قال: ثنا ابن يمان, عن سفيان, عن عمرو بن دينار, عن عمرو بن أبي قيس, عن المنهال, في قوله: ( سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الآفَاقِ ) قال: ظهور محمد صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم على الناس. حدثنا محمد, قال: ثنا أحمد, قال: ثنا أسباط, عن السديّ( سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الآفَاقِ ) يقول: ما نفتح لك يا محمد من الآفاق ( وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ ) في أهل مكة, يقول: نفتح لك مكة. وقال آخرون: عنى بذلك أنه يريهم نجوم الليل وقمره, وشمس النهار, وذلك ما وعدهم أنه يريهم في الآفاق. وقالوا: عنى بالآفاق: آفاق السماء, وبقوله: ( وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ ) سبيل الغائط والبول. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني يونس, قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب, قال: قال ابن زيد, في قوله: ( سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ ) قال: آفاق السموات: نجومها وشمسها وقمرها اللاتي يجرين, وآيات فى أنفسهم أيضا. وأولى القولين في ذلك بالصواب القول الأول, وهو ما قاله السديّ, وذلك أن الله عزّ وجلّ وعد نبيّه صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم أن يري هؤلاء المشركين الذين كانوا به مكذّبين آيات في الآفاق, وغير معقول أن يكون تهدّدهم بأن يريهم ما هم راءوه, بل الواجب أن يكون ذلك وعدا منه لهم أن يريهم ما لم يكونوا راؤه قبل من ظهور نبيّ الله صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم على أطراف بلدهم وعلى بلدهم, فأما النجوم والشمس والقمر, فقد كانوا يرونها كثيرا قبل وبعد ولا وجه لتهددهم بأنه يريهم ذلك. وقوله: ( حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ ) يقول جلّ ثناؤه: أري هؤلاء المشركين وقائعنا بأطرافهم وبهم حتى يعلموا حقيقة ما أنـزلنا إلى محمد, وأوحينا إليه من الوعد له بأنا مظهرو ما بعثناه به من الدين على الأديان كلها, ولو كره المشركون. وقوله: ( أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: أولم يكف بربك يا محمد أنه شاهد على كل شيء مما يفعله خلقه, لا يعزب عنه علم شيء منه, وهو مجازيهم على أعمالهم, المحسن بالإحسان, والمسيء جزاءه. وفي قوله: ( أنَّهُ ) وجهان: أحدهما: أن يكون في موضع خفض على وجه تكرير الباء, فيكون معنى الكلام حينئذ: أولم يكف بربك بأنه على كلّ شيء شهيد؟ والآخر: أن يكون في موضع رفع رفعا, بقوله: يكف, فيكون معنى الكلام: أولم يكف بربك شهادته على كل شيء.