Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَمَنْ يَعْشُ عَنْ ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَنِ نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَانًا فَهُوَ لَهُ قَرِينٌ (And whoever turns blindly away from the remembrance of the Most Merciful, We assign to him a devil, and he is a companion to him) (36)

   The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: and whoever turns away from the remembrance of Allah and does not fear His power nor dread His punishment ( We assign to him a devil, and he is a companion to him ) He says: We assign to him a devil who tempts him, and he is a companion to him. He says: he becomes a companion to the devil, that is to say he becomes so. The original meaning of "al-ʿashw" is: to look without being able to see clearly, due to a defect in the eye. One says of this: "ʿashā fulān yaʿshū ʿashwan wa-ʿushuwwan," when a person's eyesight weakens and his eye dims, as though there were a veil over it, as the poet said:

   "When you come to him, peering toward the light of his fire, you find abundant firewood and a blazing, flaring fire." (2)

   He means: when you become impoverished and come to him, he helps you. But when the eyesight vanishes entirely and one no longer sees, then one says of this: "ʿashiya fulān yaʿshā ʿashan" — with shortening (of the final letter) — and from this comes the saying of al-Aʿshā:

   "She saw a man, absent of both eyes (brows), uneven of build, blind and blinded." (3)

   One says of this: "a blind man (aʿshā)" and "a blind woman (ʿashwāʾ)." The meaning of the sentence is only: and whoever does not look into the proofs of Allah because of his turning away from them, except with a weak gaze, like the gaze of one whose eyesight is weakened ( We assign to him a devil ). And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: ( And whoever turns blindly away from the remembrance of the Most Merciful, We assign to him a devil ) He says: when he turns away from the remembrance of Allah, We assign to him a devil ( and he is a companion to him ).

   Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His statement: ( And whoever turns blindly away from the remembrance of the Most Merciful ) he said: turns away.

   And some have explained it with the meaning: and whoever is blind. And whoever explains it thus, then his reading should be ( wa-man yaʿshā ), with a fatḥa on the shīn, in accordance with what I have clarified.

   * Mention of who explained it thus: Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His statement: ( And whoever turns blindly away from the remembrance of the Most Merciful ) he said: whoever is blind to the remembrance of the Most Merciful.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَمَنْ يَعْشُ عَنْ ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَنِ نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَانًا فَهُوَ لَهُ قَرِينٌ (36) يقول تعالى ذكره: ومن يعرض عن ذكر الله فلم يخف سطوته, ولم يخش عقابه ( نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَانًا فَهُوَ لَهُ قَرِينٌ ) يقول: نجعل له شيطانا يغويه فهو له قرين: يقول: فهو للشيطان قرين, أي يصير كذلك, وأصل العشو: النظر بغير ثبت لعلة في العين, يقال منه: عشا فلان يعشو عشوا وعشوّا: إذا ضعف بصره, وأظلمت عينه, كأن عليه غشاوة, كما قال الشاعر: مَتـى تَأتِـهِ تَعْشُـو إلـى ضَـوْءِ نارِهِ تَجِـدْ حَطَبـا جَـزْلا وَنـارًا تَأَجَّجـا (2) يعني: متى تفتقر فتأته يعنك. وأما إذا ذهب البصر ولم يبصر, فإنه يقال فيه: عَشِيَ فلان يَعْشَى عَشًى منقوص, ومنه قول الأعشى? رأتْ رَجُـــلا غَــائِبَ الوَافِــدَيْنِ مُخْــتَلِفَ الخَـلْقِ أعْشَـى ضَرِيـرا (3) يقال منه: رجل أعشى وامرأة عشواء. وإنما معنى الكلام: ومن لا ينظر في حجج الله بالإعراض منه عنه إلا نظرًا ضعيفًا, كنظر من قد عَشِيَ بصره ( نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَانًا ). وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا بشر, قال: ثنا يزيد, قال: ثنا سعيد, عن قتادة, قوله: ( وَمَنْ يَعْشُ عَنْ ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَنِ نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَانًا ) يقول: إذا أعرض عن ذكر الله نقيض له شيطانا( فَهُوَ لَهُ قَرِينٌ ). حدثنا محمد, قال: ثنا أحمد, قال: ثنا أسباط, عن السديّ, في قوله: ( وَمَنْ يَعْشُ عَنْ ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَنِ ) قال: يعرض. وقد تأوّله بعضهم بمعنى. ومن يعمَ, ومن تأوّل ذلك كذلك, فيحب أن تكون قراءته ( وَمَنْ يَعْشَ ) بفتح الشين على ما بيَّنت قيل. * ذكر من تأوّله كذلك: حدثني يونس, قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب, قال: قال ابن زيد, في قوله: ( وَمَنْ يَعْشُ عَنْ ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَنِ ) قال: من يعمَ عن ذكر الرحمن.