Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of His statement, the Exalted: تِلْكَ آيَاتُ اللَّهِ نَتْلُوهَا عَلَيْكَ بِالْحَقِّ فَبِأَيِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَ اللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ يُؤْمِنُونَ ("These are the signs of Allah which We recite to you in truth. Then in what discourse after Allah and His signs will they believe?") (6)

   The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: these signs and proofs, O Muḥammad, from your Lord to His creatures, We recite to you in truth. He says: We inform you of them with the truth, not with the false, as the polytheists (mushrikīn) of your people inform of their gods with the false, namely that they bring them nearer to Allah. "Then in what discourse after Allah and His signs will you believe?" — the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says to the polytheists who ascribe partners to Him: in what discourse, O people, after this discourse of Allah which is recited to you, and after His proof against you and His indications by which He has pointed you to His oneness — namely that there is for you no Lord other than Him — will you then believe, if you have denied His discourse and His signs? And this explanation is according to the reading of those who read (tuʾminūna, "will you believe"), in the manner of Allah's address with this statement to the polytheists, and that is the reading of the generality of the reciters of Kūfa.

   As for the reading of those who read it (yuʾminūna, "will they believe") with the yāʾ, then its meaning is: in what discourse, O Muḥammad, after the discourse of Allah which is recited to you and His signs, these by which He has pointed out to these polytheists and by which He has admonished them, will these polytheists then believe? And that is the reading of the generality of the reciters of Medina and Basra. For both readings there is a correct basis and an intelligible explanation. With whichever of the two readings the reciter recites, he has acted correctly according to us, even though I incline more toward the reading with the yāʾ, since it stands in the context of verses which have passed before it in the manner of the report, and that is His statement: لِقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ ("for a people who are certain") and لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ ("for a people who reason").

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : تِلْكَ آيَاتُ اللَّهِ نَتْلُوهَا عَلَيْكَ بِالْحَقِّ فَبِأَيِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَ اللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ يُؤْمِنُونَ (6) يقول تعالى ذكره: هذه الآيات والحجج يا محمد من ربك على خلقه نتلوها عليك بالحقّ: يقول: نخبرك عنها بالحقّ لا بالباطل, كما يخبر مشركو قومك عن آلهتهم بالباطل, أنها تقرّبهم إلى الله زُلْفَى, فبأيّ حديث بعد الله وآياته تؤمنون: يقول تعالى ذكره للمشركين به: فبأيّ حديث أيها القوم بعد حديث الله هذا الذي يتلوه عليكم, وبعد حجه عليكم وأدلته التي دلكم بها على وحدانيته من أنه لا ربّ لكم سواه, تصدّقون, إن كنتم كذّبتم لحديثه وآياته. وهذا التأويل على مذهب قراءة من قرأ (تُؤْمِنُونَ) على وجه الخطاب من الله بهذا الكلام للمشركين, وذلك قراءة عامة قرّاء الكوفيين. وأما على قراءة من قرأه (يُؤْمِنُونَ) بالياء, فإن معناه: فبأيّ حديث يا محمد بعد حديث الله الذي يتلوه عليك وآياته هذه التي نبه هؤلاء المشركين عليها, وذكرهم بها, يؤمن هؤلاء المشركون, وهي قراءة عامة قرّاء أهل المدينة والبصرة, ولكلتا القراءتين وجه صحيح, وتأويل مفهوم, فبأية القراءتين قرأ ذلك القارئ فمصيب عندنا, وإن كنت أميل إلى قراءته بالياء إذ كانت في سياق آيات قد مضين قبلها على وجه الخبر, وذلك قوله: لِقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ و لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ .