Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَيَوْمَ يُعْرَضُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا عَلَى النَّارِ أَذْهَبْتُمْ طَيِّبَاتِكُمْ فِي حَيَاتِكُمُ الدُّنْيَا وَاسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهَا فَالْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ عَذَابَ الْهُونِ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَكْبِرُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَبِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَفْسُقُونَ (46:20) (And on the Day when those who disbelieved are brought before the Fire: "You consumed your good things in your worldly life and enjoyed them; so today you are recompensed with the punishment of humiliation, on account of your arrogance on the earth without right, and on account of your defiant disobedience.")

   The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: ( وَيَوْمَ يُعْرَضُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ) — those who disbelieved in Allah — ( عَلَى النَّارِ ) — to the Fire — it is said to them: ( أَذْهَبْتُمْ طَيِّبَاتِكُمْ فِي حَيَاتِكُمُ الدُّنْيَا وَاسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهَا ) — you consumed your good things in your worldly life and enjoyed them therein.

   As Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying ( وَيَوْمَ يُعْرَضُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا عَلَى النَّارِ ): Yazīd recited through until he reached ( وَبِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَفْسُقُونَ ). By Allah, you know that some peoples forfeit their good deeds. Let a man spare his good things if he is able to do so; and there is no power except through Allah. It is related that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb used to say: "If I wished, I could have the best food among you and wear the softest clothing, but I spare my good things." And we were told that when he arrived in Syria, food was prepared for him such as he had never seen before. He said: "This is for us; what then is there for the poor Muslims who have died while they could not even sate themselves with barley bread?" Khālid ibn al-Walīd said: "For them is Paradise." Then ʿUmar's eyes filled with tears and he said: "If our portion lies in the refuse of this world and they have departed — Abū Jaʿfar said: as I believe — with Paradise, then they have far surpassed us by a great distance."

   And we were told that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ entered upon the people of aṣ-Ṣuffa, a place where the poor Muslims used to gather, while they were patching their clothes with leather because they could find no cloth patches for them. He said: "Are you better off today, or on the day when one of you goes out in the morning in one set of garments and returns in the evening in another, and a bowl is set before him in the morning and another in the evening, and his house is draped just as the Kaʿba is draped?" They said: "We are better off on that day." He said: "No, rather today you are better off."

   Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: A companion of ours related to us on the authority of Abū Hurayra, he said: "Our food with the Prophet ﷺ consisted only of the two black things: water and dates. By Allah, we did not see this wheat of yours, and we did not know what it was."

   He (Saʿīd) said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū Burda ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Qays al-Ashʿarī, on the authority of his father, he said: "O my son, had you seen us with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, while we were with our Prophet when the rain struck us, you would have thought that our smell was the smell of sheep; for our clothing consisted only of wool."

   Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning the saying of Allah, Mighty and Exalted is He: ( أَذْهَبْتُمْ طَيِّبَاتِكُمْ فِي حَيَاتِكُمُ الدُّنْيَا ) ... to the end of the verse. Then he recited: مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتَهَا نُوَفِّ إِلَيْهِمْ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فِيهَا وَهُمْ فِيهَا لا يُبْخَسُونَ (Whoever desires the worldly life and its adornment, We will fully repay them their deeds therein, and they will not be deprived therein) and he recited: مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الآخِرَةِ نَزِدْ لَهُ فِي حَرْثِهِ وَمَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الدُّنْيَا نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا (Whoever desires the harvest of the Hereafter, for him We will increase his harvest; and whoever desires the harvest of this world, We will give him of it) and he recited: مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْعَاجِلَةَ عَجَّلْنَا لَهُ فِيهَا مَا نَشَاءُ لِمَنْ نُرِيدُ (Whoever desires the fleeting [life], for him We hasten therein what We will, for whom We intend) ... to the end of the verse, and he said: "These are the ones who consumed their good things in their worldly life."

   The reciters differed over the reading of His saying ( أَذْهَبْتُمْ طَيِّبَاتِكُمْ ). Most of the reciters of the cities read it ( أَذْهَبْتُمْ ) without the interrogative form, except Abū Jaʿfar the reciter, for he read it with the interrogative form. The Arabs pose a question by way of rebuke, but they also sometimes drop the interrogative form, so that they say: "Have you gone and done such and such?" or "You have gone and done such and such." The more pleasing of the two readings to me is the dropping of the interrogative form, on account of the consensus of the body of proof among the reciters upon it, and because it is the more eloquent of the two linguistic forms.

   And His saying ( فَالْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ عَذَابَ الْهُونِ ): the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: it is said to them: today, O disbelievers who consumed your good things in your worldly life, you are recompensed — that is: you are apportioned — the punishment of humiliation, that is the punishment of disgrace, and it is the punishment of the Fire that humiliates them. As Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: ( عَذَابَ الْهُونِ ) he said: the disgrace. ( بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَكْبِرُونَ فِي الأرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ ) — He says: on account of your arrogance in this world upon the surface of the earth toward your Lord, so that you refused to devote worship sincerely to Him alone and to submit to His command and His prohibition, "without right," that is: without your Lord having permitted it to you or having granted you license for it. ( وَبِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَفْسُقُونَ ) — He says: on account of the fact that you transgressed His obedience therein and disobeyed Him.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَيَوْمَ يُعْرَضُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا عَلَى النَّارِ أَذْهَبْتُمْ طَيِّبَاتِكُمْ فِي حَيَاتِكُمُ الدُّنْيَا وَاسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهَا فَالْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ عَذَابَ الْهُونِ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَكْبِرُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَبِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَفْسُقُونَ (20) يقول تعالى ذكره: ( وَيَوْمَ يُعْرَضُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ) بِاللَّهِ ( عَلَى النَّارِ ) يقال لهم ( أَذْهَبْتُمْ طَيِّبَاتِكُمْ فِي حَيَاتِكُمُ الدُّنْيَا وَاسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهَا ) فيها. كما حدثنا بشر, قال: ثنا يزيد, قال: ثنا سعيد, عن قتادة, قوله ( وَيَوْمَ يُعْرَضُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا عَلَى النَّارِ ) قرأ يزيد حتى بلغ ( وَبِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَفْسُقُونَ ) تعلمون والله أن أقواما يشترطون حسناتهم استبقى رجل طيباته إن استطاع, ولا قوّة إلا بالله. ذُكر أن عمر بن الخطاب كان يقول: لو شئت كنت أطيبكم طعاما, وألينكم لباسا, ولكني أستبقي طيباتي. وذُكر لنا أنه لما قدم الشأم, صنع له طعام لم ير قبله مثله, قال: هذا لنا, فما لفقراء المسلمين الذين ماتوا وهم لا يشبعون من خبز الشعير؟ قال خالد بن الوليد: لهم الجنة, فاغرورقت عينا عمر, وقال: لئن كان حظنا في الحطام, وذهبوا- قال أبو جعفر فيما أرى أنا- بالجنة, لقد باينونا بونا بعيدا. وذُكر لنا " أن نبيّ الله صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم دخل على أهل الصفة مكانا يجتمع - فيه فقراء المسلمين, وهم يرقَعون ثيابهم بالأدَم, ما يجدون لها رقاعا, قال: أنتم اليوم خير, أو يوم يغدو أحدكم في حلة, ويروح في أُخرى, ويغدى عليه بحفنة, ويُراح عليه بأخرى, ويستر بيته كما تستر الكعبة. قالوا: نحن يومئذ خير, قال: " بل أنتم اليوم خير " . حدثنا بشر, قال: ثنا يزيد, قال: ثنا سعيد, عن قتادة, قال: حدثنا صاحب لنا عن أبي هريرة, قال: إنما كان طعامنا مع النبيّ صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم الأسودين: الماء, والتمر, والله ما كنا نرى سمراءكم هذه, ولا ندري ما هي. قال: ثنا سعيد, عن قتادة, عن أبي بردة بن عبد الله بن قيس الأشعريّ, عن أبيه, قال: أي بنيّ لو شهدتنا مع رسول الله صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم ونحن مع نبينا إذا أصابتنا السماء, حسبت أن ريحنا ريح الضأن, إنما كان لباسنا الصوف. حدثني يونس, قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب, قال: قال ابن زيد, في قول الله عزّ وجلّ( أَذْهَبْتُمْ طَيِّبَاتِكُمْ فِي حَيَاتِكُمُ الدُّنْيَا )... إلى آخر الآية, ثم قرأ مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتَهَا نُوَفِّ إِلَيْهِمْ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فِيهَا وَهُمْ فِيهَا لا يُبْخَسُونَ وقرأ مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الآخِرَةِ نَـزِدْ لَهُ فِي حَرْثِهِ وَمَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الدُّنْيَا نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا وقرأ مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْعَاجِلَةَ عَجَّلْنَا لَهُ فِيهَا مَا نَشَاءُ لِمَنْ نُرِيدُ ... إلى آخر الآية, وقال: هؤلاء الذين أذهبوا طيباتهم في حياتهم الدنيا. واختلفت القرّاء في قراءة قوله ( أَذْهَبْتُمْ طَيِّبَاتِكُمْ ) , فقرأته عامة قرّاء الأمصار (أَذْهَبْتُمْ) بغير استفهام, سوى أبي جعفر القارئ, فإنه قرأه بالاستفهام, والعرب تستفهم بالتوبيخ, وتترك الاستفهام فيه, فتقول: أذهبت ففعلت كذا وكذا, وذهبت ففعلت وفعلت. وأعجب القراءتين إليّ ترك الاستفهام فيه, لإجماع الحجة من القرّاء عليه, ولأنه أفصح اللغتين. وقوله ( فَالْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ عَذَابَ الْهُونِ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: يقال لهم: فاليوم أيها الكافرون الذين أذهبوا طيباتهم في حياتهم الدنيا تجزون: أي تثابون عذاب الهون, يعني عذاب الهوان, وذلك عذاب النار الذي يهينهم. كما حدثنا 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 ( عَذَابَ الْهُونِ ) قال: الهوان ( بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَكْبِرُونَ فِي الأرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ ) يقول: بما كنتم تتكبرون في الدنيا على ظهر الأرض على ربكم, فتأبون أن تخلصوا له العبادة, وأن تذعنوا لأمره ونهيه بغير الحقّ, أي بغير ما أباح لكم ربكم, وأذن لكم به ( وَبِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَفْسُقُونَ ) يقول: بما كنتم فيها تخالفون طاعته فتعصونه.