Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: Ask those of Our messengers whom We sent before you: did We appoint, apart from the Most Merciful (al-Raḥmān), gods to be worshipped? (43:45)

   The scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the meaning of His word: Ask those of Our messengers whom We sent before you, and concerning who it is that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was commanded to ask. Some of them said: those whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was commanded to ask about that are the believers among the People of the two Books: the Torah and the Gospel.

   * Mention of who said that:

   ʿAbd al-Aʿlā ibn Wāṣil related to me, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿUyayna, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: in the reading of ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd it stands: "And ask them about whom We sent before you of Our messengers."

   Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: Ask those of Our messengers whom We sent before you — it is the reading of ʿAbdallāh: "Ask them about whom We sent before you of Our messengers."

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: Ask those of Our messengers whom We sent before you, he says: ask the people of the Torah and the Gospel: did the messengers come to them with anything other than the affirmation of Allah's oneness (tawḥīd), namely that they acknowledge Allah alone as One? He said: and in some readings it stands: "And ask them about whom We sent before you of Our messengers." Did We appoint, apart from the Most Merciful, gods to be worshipped?

   Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, in some readings: "And ask them about whom We sent before you of Our messengers" — ask the People of the Book: did the messengers not come to them with the affirmation of Allah's oneness? Did they not come with pure devotion (ikhlāṣ)?

   It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: Ask those of Our messengers whom We sent before you — in the reading of Ibn Masʿūd it stands: "Ask those who read the Book before you," by which are meant: the believers among the People of the Book.

   And others said: no, those whom he was commanded to ask are the prophets who were gathered for him on the night in which he was taken on the Night Journey (isrāʾ) to Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis).

   * Mention of who said that:

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: Ask those whom We sent before you... the verse, he said: they were gathered for him on the night in which he was taken to Jerusalem, and he led them in prayer and led them as imam. Then Allah said to him: ask them. He said: but he was too strong in faith and certainty concerning Allah and concerning what had come from Allah to ask them. And he recited: If you are in doubt concerning what We have sent down to you, then ask those who read the Book before you (10:94). He said: so he was not in doubt, and he asked neither the prophets nor those who read the Book. He said: and Jibrāʾīl ﷺ called out, and I said to myself: "Now our father Ibrāhīm will lead us in prayer." He said: "Then Jibrāʾīl pushed against my back" and said: step forward, O Muḥammad, and pray. And he recited: Glory be to Him who carried His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque... up to where he reached that We might show him some of Our signs (17:1).

   And the correct of the two sayings in the interpretation of this is the saying of the one who said: by this is meant: ask the believers among the People of the two Books.

   If someone were to say: how is it permissible to say "ask the messengers" while the meaning is "ask those who believe in them and in their Book"? Then it is answered: that is permissible, because those who believe in them and in their Books are the ones who transmit what the messengers brought them from their Lord. The report about them and about what they brought from their Lord, when it is correct, is in meaning the same as their own report; and asking about what they brought is in meaning the same as asking them, when the one asked belongs to the people who possess knowledge about them and are trustworthy concerning them. That is comparable to the command of Allah — exalted be His praise — to us, that we refer that about which we dispute among ourselves back to Allah and to the Messenger, where He says: If you dispute about anything, then refer it back to Allah and the Messenger (4:59). And it is known that the meaning of that is: refer it back to the Book of Allah and the Sunna of His Messenger, for referring back to that is a referring back to Allah and the Messenger. Likewise His word: Ask those of Our messengers whom We sent before you — its meaning is only: ask the Books of those of the messengers whom We sent before you, for you know the correctness thereof from Our side. Thus the mention of the messengers was made to suffice in place of the mention of the Books, since the meaning thereof was known.

   And His word: Did We appoint, apart from the Most Merciful, gods to be worshipped?, he says: did We command them, in that with which they came to them, to worship gods apart from Allah, or did they come to them with the command to that from Our side?

   And in agreement with what we have said concerning this, the scholars of interpretation 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: Did We appoint, apart from the Most Merciful, gods to be worshipped? — did the messengers come to them while He commanded them to worship gods apart from Allah? And it was said: gods to be worshipped (āliha yuʿbadūn), with the report about the gods put in the masculine form, after the manner of the report about the male descendants of Adam, and He did not say "tuʿbad" (feminine singular) nor "yuʿbadna" (feminine plural), by which it would have been made feminine — though they are stones, or a part of inanimate things, as one does in the report about inanimate matters. This was done thus because they were worshipped and venerated as people venerate their kings and high-ranking ones, so that the report about them proceeded after the manner of the report about a possession and about the nobles among the descendants of Adam.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَاسْأَلْ مَنْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رُسُلِنَا أَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ دُونِ الرَّحْمَنِ آلِهَةً يُعْبَدُونَ (45) اختلف أهل التأويل في معنى قوله: ( وَاسْأَلْ مَنْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رُسُلِنَا ) ومن الذين أمر رسول الله صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم بمسألتهم ذلك, فقال بعضهم الذين أمر بمسألتهم ذلك رسول الله صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم, مؤمنو أهل الكتابين: التوراة, والإنجيل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني عبد الأعلى بن واصل, قال: ثنا يحيى بن آدم, عن ابن عيينة, عن ابن أبي نجيح, عن مجاهد قال: في قراءة عبد الله بن مسعود " وَاسأَلْ الَّذِينَ أرْسَلْنا إلَيْهِمْ قَبْلَكَ رُسُلنا ". حدثنا محمد, قال: ثنا أحمد, قال: ثنا أسباط, عن السديّ( وَاسْأَلْ مَنْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رُسُلِنَا ) إنها قراءة عبد الله: " سل الذين أرسلنا إليهم قبلك رسلنا ". حدثنا بشر, قال: ثنا يزيد, قال: ثنا سعيد, عن قتادة ( وَاسْأَلْ مَنْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رُسُلِنَا ) يقول: سل أهل التوراة والإنجيل: هل جاءتهم الرسل إلا بالتوحيد أن يوحدوا الله وحده؟ قال: وفي بعض القراءة: " واسأل الذين أرسلنا إليهم رسلنا قبلك ".( أَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ دُونِ الرَّحْمَنِ آلِهَةً يُعْبَدُونَ ). حدثنا ابن عبد الأعلى, قال: ثنا ابن ثور, عن معمر, عن قتادة في بعض الحروف " واسْأَلْ الَّذِينَ أَرْسَلْنا إِلَيْهِمْ قَبْلَكَ مِنْ رُسُلِنا " سل أهل الكتاب: أما كانت الرسل تأتيهم بالتوحيد؟ أما كانت تأتي بالإخلاص؟. حُدثت عن الحسين, قال: سمعت أبا معاذ يقول: ثنا عبيد, قال: سمعت الضحاك يقول: في قوله: ( وَاسْأَلْ مَنْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رُسُلِنَا ) في قراءة ابن مسعود " سَلِ الَّذِينَ يَقْرَءُونَ الكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ" يعني: مؤمني أهل الكتاب. وقال آخرون: بل الذي أمر بمسألتهم ذلك الأنبياء الذين جُمِعوا له ليلة أُسرِي به ببيت المقدس. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني يونس, قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب, قال: قال ابن زيد, في قوله: ( وَاسْأَلْ مَنْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ )... الآية, قال: جمعوا له ليلة أُسري به ببيت المقدس, فأمهم, وصلى بهم, فقال الله له: سلهم, قال: فكان أشدّ إيمانا ويقينا بالله وبما جاء من الله أن يسألهم, وقرأ فَإِنْ كُنْتَ فِي شَكٍّ مِمَّا أَنْـزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ فَاسْأَلِ الَّذِينَ يَقْرَءُونَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ قال: فلم يكن فى شكّ, ولم يسأل الأنبياء, ولا الذين يقرءون الكتاب. قال: ونادى جبرائيل صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم, فقلت في نفسي: " الآن يؤمنا أبونا إبراهيم "; قال: " فدفع جبرائيل في ظهري", قال: تقدم يا محمد فصلّ, وقرأ سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلا مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ ... حتى بلغ لِنُرِيَهُ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا . وأولى القولين بالصواب في تأويل ذلك, قول من قال: عني به: سل مؤمني أهل الكتابين. فإن قال قائل: وكيف يجوز أن يقال: سل الرسل, فيكون معناه: سل المؤمنين بهم وبكتابهم؟ قيل: جاز ذلك من أجل أن المؤمنين بهم وبكتبهم أهل بلاغ عنهم ما أتوهم به عن ربهم, فالخبر عنهم وعما جاءوا به من ربهم إذا صحَّ بمعنى خبرهم, والمسألة عما جاءوا به بمعنى مسألتهم إذا كان المسئول من أهل العلم بهم والصدق عليهم, وذلك نظير أمر الله جلّ ثناؤه إيانا برد ما تنازعنا فيه إلى الله وإلى الرسول, يقول: فَإِنْ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ ومعلوم أن معنى ذلك: فردوه إلى كتاب الله وسنة رسوله, لأن الرد إلى ذلك رد إلى الله والرسول. وكذلك قوله: ( وَاسْأَلْ مَنْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رُسُلِنَا ) إنما معناه: فاسأل كتب الذين أرسلنا من قبلك من الرسل, فإنك تعلم صحة ذلك من قبلنا, فاستغنى بذكر الرسل من ذكر الكتب, إذ كان معلوما ما معناه. وقوله: ( أَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ دُونِ الرَّحْمَنِ آلِهَةً يُعْبَدُونَ ) يقول: أمرناهم بعبادة الآلهة من دون إلله فيما جاءوهم به, أو أتوهم بالأمر بذلك من عندنا. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا محمد, قال: ثنا أحمد, قال: ثنا أسباط, عن السديّ( أَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ دُونِ الرَّحْمَنِ آلِهَةً يُعْبَدُونَ )؟ أتتهم الرسل يأمرونهم بعبادة الآلهة من دون الله؟ وقيل: ( آلِهَةً يُعْبَدُونَ ), فأخرج الخبر عن الآلهة مخرج الخبر عن ذكور بني آدم, ولم يقل: تعبد, ولا يعبدن, فتؤنث وهي حجارة, أو بعض الجماد كما يفعل في الخبر عن بعض الجماد. وإنما فعل ذلك كذلك, إذ كانت تعبد وتعظم تعظيم الناس ملوكهم وسراتهم, فأجري الخبر عنها مُجْرى الخبر عن المملوك والأشراف من بني آدم.