Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ (81) ("Say: 'If the Most Merciful had a child, then I would be the first of the worshippers'" (43:81)).

   The exegetes differed over the interpretation of His word: قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ . Some of them said concerning its meaning: Say, O Muḥammad, if the Most Merciful had a child—according to your claim, O polytheists (mushrikīn)—then I would be the first of those who believe in Allah by charging you with falsehood, and who deny what you have said, namely that He has a child.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, 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—all of them—on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ ("Say: if the Most Merciful had a child"), as you say, فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ("then I would be the first of the worshippers"), namely of those who believe in Allah; so say what you wish.

   Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ("then I would be the first of the worshippers"), he said: Say: if Allah had a child—according to your claim—then I would be the first to worship Allah and to acknowledge Him as One and to charge you with falsehood.

   And others said: No, rather its meaning is: Say, the Most Merciful has no child, and I am the first of the worshippers of Him by acknowledging that.

   * Mention of who said that:

   ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word: قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ("Say: if the Most Merciful had a child, then I would be the first of the worshippers"). He says: The Most Merciful has no child, and I am the first of the witnesses.

   And others said: No, rather its meaning is negation, and the meaning of "in" (إن) is denial, and its interpretation is: that is not so, and it is not fitting that it should be so.

   * 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 word: قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ("Say: if the Most Merciful had a child, then I would be the first of the worshippers"). Qatāda said: This is an expression from the speech of the Arabs: إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ ("if the Most Merciful had a child"), that is to say: that is not so, and it is not fitting.

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning his word: قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ("Say: if the Most Merciful had a child, then I would be the first of the worshippers"), he said: This is the repudiation (al-inkāf): the Most Merciful has no child; Allah averts that He should have a child. And "in" here is like "mā" (negation); for it is: the Most Merciful has no child, the Most Merciful has no child—just like His word: وَإِنْ كَانَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ ("and their scheming was not such that the mountains should be removed by it"), which only means: their scheming was not such that the mountains should be removed by it, for what Allah has sent down from His Book and established in His decree is firmer than the mountains. And "in" is "mā" (negation); the Arabs say: "in kāna" (in the sense of) "mā kāna"—that which you say. And in His word: فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ("then I am the first of the worshippers"): the first to worship Allah with the belief and the affirmation that the Most Merciful has no child; upon this basis I worship Allah.

   Ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Barqī related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Abī Salama related to us, saying: I asked Ibn Muḥammad about the word of Allah: إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ ("if the Most Merciful had a child"); he said: (it means) "mā kāna" (it was not, there is none).

   Ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Barqī related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: I asked Zayd ibn Aslam about the word of Allah: قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ ("Say: if the Most Merciful had a child"); he said: This is a well-known expression of the Arabs: "in kāna" (means) "mā kāna"—this has never been the case. Then he said: And His word (uses) "wa-in kāna" (in the sense of) "mā kāna".

   And others said: The meaning of "in" in this place is the meaning of the conditional (al-mujāzāh); they said: and the interpretation of the word is: If the Most Merciful had had a child, I would have been the first to worship Him on account of that.

   * 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: قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ("Say: if the Most Merciful had a child, then I would be the first of the worshippers"), he said: If He had had a child, I would have been the first to worship Him with (the acknowledgement) that He has a child; but He has no child.

   And others said: Its meaning is: Say, if the Most Merciful had a child, then I would be the first to reject that; and they interpreted the meaning of "the worshippers" (al-ʿābidīn) as "the rejecters, the refusers," in accordance with the Arabic saying: "so-and-so ʿabida about this matter" when he rejected it, became angry over it, and refused it—he "yaʿbidu ʿabadan." As the poet said:

   Indeed, Umm al-Walīd has fallen in love, and she has come to refuse (taʿabbadu) on account of what she saw upon my head.

   And as the other said:

   When the man of affection wishes it, he severs his friend and rages (yaʿbid) against him, inevitably, unjustly.

   And indeed Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Abī Dhiʾb related to me, on the authority of Abū Qusayṭ, on the authority of Baʿja ibn Zayd al-Juhanī, that a woman of theirs entered in to her husband—and he too was a man of theirs—and she bore him (a child) after six months. That was mentioned to ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān—may Allah be pleased with him—and he commanded that she be stoned (rajm). Then ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib—may Allah be pleased with him—entered in to him and said: Indeed Allah, blessed and exalted is He, says in His Book: وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلاثُونَ شَهْرًا ("and the bearing of him and the weaning of him is thirty months"), and He said: وَفِصَالُهُ فِي عَامَيْنِ ("and the weaning of him is in two years"). He said: And by Allah, ʿUthmān did not refuse (mā ʿabida) (did not become angry) (when he heard this), but sent (a messenger) after her so that she might be brought back. Yūnus said: Ibn Wahb said: "ʿabida" means: he refused out of aversion (istankafa).

   And the most preferable of the statements concerning this, in my view, is the statement of him who said: the meaning of "in" (إن) is the conditional that requires a consequence (jazāʾ), as we have mentioned from al-Suddī. That is because "in" in this place does not escape one of two meanings: either it is the particle that has the meaning of the conditional that requires a consequence, or it has the meaning of denial. And if one directs it toward denial, then the statement has no essential meaning, for it becomes: Say, the Most Merciful has no child; and if it is given that meaning, it gives the ignorant among the polytheists of Allah the impression that thereby He only denied that Allah, mighty and exalted is He, had a child before certain times, and that He then brought forth for Himself a child after there was none. And moreover: if that were its meaning, then those whom Allah commanded His prophet Muḥammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to say to: "the Most Merciful has no child, and I am the first of the worshippers," could say: You have spoken truly, and it is as you say, and we did not claim that He had a child from eternity; we only said: He had no child, then He created the jinn and allied Himself with them by marriage, so that from them a child came to be for Him—as Allah has reported about them that they said this. And Allah, exalted is His mention, would not bring forth for His prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and against those who charged him with falsehood an argument which they would be able to contest. And since in our directing of "in" toward the meaning of denial there is that which we have mentioned, of the two meanings the conditional is the most fitting. And if that is so, then the correctness is clear of what we say, namely that the meaning of the word is: Say, O Muḥammad, to the polytheists of your people who claim that the angels are the daughters of Allah: If the Most Merciful had a child, then I would in that be the first of His worshippers, before you; but He has no child, so I worship Him with (the acknowledgement) that He has no child and that it is not fitting that He should have one.

   And when the word is directed toward what we have said along this path, then it is not by way of doubt, but by way of gentleness in speech and graciousness of address, as He, exalted is His praise, said: قُلِ اللَّهُ وَإِنَّا أَوْ إِيَّاكُمْ لَعَلَى هُدًى أَوْ فِي ضَلالٍ مُبِينٍ ("Say: 'Allah,' and indeed, we or you are upon guidance or in clear error").

   And it is already known that the truth is with him (the Prophet), and that his adversaries are in clear error.

   ------------------------

   Footnotes:

   (1) In al-Nihāya of Ibn al-Athīr: "inkāf Allāh of evil" means: declaring Him free of it and sanctifying (Him). And "ankaftuhu": I declared him free.

   (2) This is a verse whose poet I have been unable to determine. The author cites it in connection with His word, the Exalted: ( fa-anā awwal al-ʿābidīn ). Abū ʿUbayda said in the interpretation of the verse (Majāz al-Qurʾān, fol. 221): its import is "in kāna lil-Raḥmān walad"—"in" stands in the place of "mā" according to some: "mā kāna lil-Raḥmān walad." And the fāʾ: its import is the import of the wāw, he means: "it was not, and I am the first of the worshippers." And others said: its import is: if the Most Merciful had a child according to your saying, then I am the first of the worshippers, that is to say: of those who deny that and reject what you have said. And it is from "ʿabidtu taʿbadu," that is to say of the type "ʿalima yaʿlamu," in the sense of: he rejected something, became angry over it, or detested it. And "taʿabbada" in the verse means: he rejects or becomes angry, which is equivalent to "ʿabida" in the sense of rejecting and becoming angry. In (the Lisān: ʿbd) it states: and "taʿabbada" is like "ʿabida."

   (3) Of this verse too I have been unable to determine the poet; it has the same meaning as the preceding verse. The author cites it in connection with the same verse; he means that the poet's saying "yaʿbid ʿalayhi" is the present tense of "ʿabida ʿalayhi" like "ʿalima": when he became angry at him. And in (the Lisān: ʿbd) it states: and al-ʿabad (as sabab) means: prolonged anger. Al-Farrāʾ said: "ʿabida ʿalayhi" and "aḥina ʿalayhi," that is to say: he became angry. And al-Ghanawī said: al-ʿabad is grief and sorrow. Al-Farazdaq said:

   Those are my people; if you satirize me, I satirize them, and I refuse (aʿbadu) to satirize Kulayb along with Dārim.

   "Aʿbadu" here means: I disdain. End.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ (81) اختلف أهل التأويل في تأويل قوله: ( قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ) فقال بعضهم: في معنى ذلك: قل يا محمد إن كان للرحمن ولد في قولكم وزعمكم أيها المشركون, فأنا أوّل المؤمنين بالله في تكذيبكم, والجاحدين ما قلتم من أن له ولدا. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني 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 ( قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ ) كما تقولون ( فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ) المؤمنين بالله, فقولوا ما شئتم. حدثنا ابن عبد الأعلى, قال: ثنا ابن ثور, عن معمر, عن ابن أبي نجيح, عن مجاهد, في قوله: ( فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ) قال: قل إن كان لله ولد في قولكم, فأنا أول من عبد الله ووحده وكذّبكم. وقال آخرون: بل معنى ذلك: قل ما كان للرحمن ولد, فأنا أول العابدين له بذلك. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني عليّ, قال: ثنا أبو صالح, قال: ثني معاوية, عن عليّ, عن ابن عباس, قوله: ( قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ) يقول: لم يكن للرحمن ولد فأنا أول الشاهدين. وقال آخرون: بل معنى ذلك نفي, ومعنى إن الجحد, وتأويل ذلك ما كان ذلك, ولا ينبغي أن يكون. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا بشر, قال: ثنا يزيد, قال: ثنا سعيد, عن قتادة, قوله: ( قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ) قال قتادة: وهذه كلمة من كلام العرب ( إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ ) : أي إن ذلك لم يكن, ولا ينبغي. حدثني يونس, قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب, قال: قال ابن زيد, في قوله: ( قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ) قال: هذا الإنكاف (1) ما كان للرحمن ولد, نكف الله أن يكون له ولد, وإن مثل " ما " إنما هي: ما كان للرحمن ولد, ليس للرحمن ولد, مثل قوله: وَإِنْ كَانَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ إنما هي: ما كان مكرهم لتزول منه الجبال, فالذي أنـزل الله من كتابه وقضاه من قضائه أثبت من الجبال, و " إن " هي" ما " إن كان ما كان تقول العرب: إن كان, وما كان الذي تقول. وفي قوله: ( فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ) أول من يعبد الله بالإيمان والتصديق أنه ليس للرحمن ولد على هذا أعبد الله. حدثني ابن عبد الرحيم البرقي, قال: ثنا عمرو بن أبي سلمة, قال: سألت ابن محمد, عن قول الله: ( إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ ) قال: ما كان. حدثني ابن عبد الرحيم البرقي, قال: ثنا عمرو, قال: سألت زيد بن أسلم, عن قول الله: ( قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ ) قال: هذا قول العرب معروف, إن كان: ما كان, إن كان هذا الأمر قط, ثم قال: وقوله: وإن كان: ما كان. وقال آخرون: معنى " إن " في هذا الموضع معنى المجازاة, قالوا: وتأويل الكلام: لو كان للرحمن ولد, كنت أوّل من عبده بذلك. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا محمد, قال: ثنا أحمد, قال: ثنا أسباط, عن السديّ( قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ ) قال: لو كان له ولد كنت أول من عبده بأن له ولدا, ولكن لا ولد له. وقال آخرون: معنى ذلك: قل إن كان للرحمن ولد, فأنا أوّل الآنفين ذلك, ووجهوا معنى العابدين إلى المنكرين الآبين, من قول العرب: قد عبِد فلان من هذا الأمر إذا أنف منه وغضب وأباه, فهو يعبد عبدا, كما قال الشاعر? ألا هَــوِيَتْ أُمُّ الوَلِيــدِ وأصْبَحَـتْ لِمَـا أبْصَـرَتْ فِـي الـرأس مِنِّي تَعَبَّدُ (2) وكما قال الآخر? مَتـى مـا يَشـأْ ذُو الودّ يَصْرِمْ خَلِيلَهُ وَيَعْبَــدْ عَلَيْــهْ لا محَالَــةَ ظالِمَـا (3) وقد حدثني يونس بن عبد الأعلى, قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب, ثني قال: ابن أبي ذئب, عن أبي قسيط, عن بعجة بن زيد الجهني, أن امرأة منهم دخلت على زوجها, وهو رجل منهم أيضا, فولدت له في ستة أشهر, فذكر ذلك لعثمان بن عفان رضي الله عنه فأمر بها أن تُرجم, فدخل عليه عليّ بن أبي طالب رضي الله عنه فقال: إن الله تبارك وتعالى يقول في كتابه: وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلاثُونَ شَهْرًا وقال: وَفِصَالُهُ فِي عَامَيْنِ قال: فوالله ما عبِد عثمان أن بعث إليها تردّ. قال يونس, قال ابن وهب: عبد: استنكف. وأولى الأقوال في ذلك عندي بالصواب قول من قال: معنى: ( إنْ ) الشرط الذي يقتضي الجزاء على ما ذكرناه عن السديّ, وذلك أن " إن " لا تعدو في هذا الموضع أحد معنيين: إما أن يكون الحرف الذي هو بمعنى الشرط الذي يطلب الجزاء, أو تكون بمعنى الجحد, وهب إذا وجهت إلى الجحد لم يكن للكلام كبير معنى, لأنه يصير بمعنى: قل ما كان للرحمن ولد, وإذا صار بذلك المعنى أوهم أهل الجهل من أهل الشرك بالله أنه إنما نفى بذلك عن الله عزّ وجلّ أن يكون له ولد قبل بعض الأوقات, ثم أحدث له الولد بعد أن لم يكن, مع أنه لو كان ذلك معناه لقدر الذين أمر الله نبيَّهُ محمدا صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم أن يقول لهم: ما كان للرحمن ولد, فأنا أول العابدين أن يقولوا له صدقت, وهو كما قلت, ونحن لم نـزعم أنه لم يزل له ولد. وإنما قلنا: لم يكن له ولد, ثم خلق الجنّ فصاهرهم, فحدث له منهم ولد, كما أخبر الله عنهم أنهم كانوا يقولونه, ولم يكن الله تعالى ذكره ليحتجّ لنبيه صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم وعلى مكذبيه من الحجة بما يقدرون على الطعن فيه, وإذ كان في توجيهنا " إن " إلى معنى الجحد ما ذكرنا, فالذي هو أشبه المعنيين بها الشرط. وإذ كان ذلك كذلك, فبينة صحة ما نقول من أن معنى الكلام: قل يا محمد لمشركي قومك الزاعمين أن الملائكة بنات الله: إن كان للرحمن ولد فأنا أول عابديه بذلك منكم, ولكنه لا ولد له, فأنا أعبده بأنه لا ولد له, ولا ينبغي أن يكون له. وإذا وجه الكلام إلى ما قلنا من هذا الوجه لم يكن على وجه الشكّ, ولكن على وجه الإلطاف من الكلام وحسن الخطاب, كما قال جلّ ثناؤه قُلِ اللَّهُ وَإِنَّا أَوْ إِيَّاكُمْ لَعَلَى هُدًى أَوْ فِي ضَلالٍ مُبِينٍ . وقد علم أن الحقّ معه, وأن مخالفيه في الضلال المبين. ------------------------ الهوامش: (1) في النهاية لابن الأثير : إنكاف الله من سوء : أي تنزيهه وتقديسه . وأنكفته : نزهته . (2) هذا شاهد لم أقف على قائله . استشهد به المؤلف عند قوله تعالى : ( فأنا أول العابدين ) . قال أبو عبيدة في تفسير الآية ( مجاز القرآن الورقة 221 ) : مجازها إن كان للرحمن ولد : إن في موضع ( ما ) في قول بعضهم : ما كان للرحمن ولد . والفاء : مجازها مجاز الواو . يريد : ما كان وأنا أول العابدين . وقال آخرون : مجازها : إن كان في قولكم للرحمن ولد ، فأنا أول العابدين : أي الكافرين بذاك ، والجاحدين لما قلتم . وهو من عبدت تعبد . ا هـ . أي من باب علم يعلم . بمعنى أنف أو غضب أو كره الشيء . وتعبد في البيت: بمعنى تأنف أو تغضب ، وهو كعبد بمعنى أنف وغضب قال في ( اللسان : عبد ) : وتعبد : كعبد . (3) وهذا الشاهد أيضا لم أقف على قائله ، وهو بمعنى الشاهد الذي قبله ، استشهد به المؤلف على الآية نفسها ، يريد أن قول الشاعر : يعبد عليه هو مضارع عبد عليه كعلم : إذا غضب عليه . وفي ( اللسان : عبد ) والعبد ( كسبب) طول الغضب . قال الفراء : عبد عليه ، وأحن عليه ، أي غضب . وقال الغنوي : العبد : الحزن والوجد . قال الفرزدق . أولَئِـكَ قَـوْمِي إنْ هَجَـوْتِي هَجَـوْتُهُم وَأَعْبَــدُ أنْ أهْجُــو كُلَيْبــا بِـدَارِمِ أعبد : أي آنف . ا هـ .