Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ مِنْكُمْ وَالصَّابِرِينَ وَنَبْلُوَ أَخْبَارَكُمْ (47:31) (And We shall certainly test you until We know who among you are the fighters (mujāhidīn) and the patient ones, and We test your reports.)

   The Exalted, whose renown be mentioned, says to those who believe in Him among the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ (And We shall certainly test you), O believers, with combat and with jihād against the enemies of Allah, حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ مِنْكُمْ (until We know who among you are the fighters). He says: Until My party and My protected ones, the people of jihād for the cause of Allah among you, and the people of patience in fighting His enemies, become known, so that this becomes manifest concerning them, and so that the discerning among you in His religion are distinguished from the doubters and those confused therein, and the people of faith (īmān) from the people of hypocrisy (nifāq). And We test your reports, so that We may distinguish the truthful among you from the liar.

   And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.

   * 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 saying حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ مِنْكُمْ وَالصَّابِرِينَ (until We know who among you are the fighters and the patient ones), and His saying وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ (And We shall certainly test you with something of fear and hunger) and the like. He said: Allah, glorified be He, informed the believers that the worldly life is an abode of testing, and that He tests them therein, and He commanded them to be patient and gave them glad tidings, for He said: وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ (And give glad tidings to the patient ones). Then He informed them that He had dealt thus with His prophets and His chosen ones, so that their hearts might be set at ease, and He said: مَسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا (Adversity and hardship touched them, and they were shaken). Now, al-baʾsāʾ is poverty, al-ḍarrāʾ is sickness, and "they were shaken" (zulzilū) is by the trials and the harm that people inflicted upon them.

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ مِنْكُمْ وَالصَّابِرِينَ (And We shall certainly test you until We know who among you are the fighters and the patient ones): He said: We put you to the test; al-balwā is the testing. And he recited الم * أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لا يُفْتَنُونَ (Alif Lām Mīm. Do the people think that they will be left alone as soon as they say: "We believe," without being tested?). He said: without being put to the test. وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ (And We have already tested those who were before them)... the verse.

   The reciters differed concerning the recitation of His saying وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ مِنْكُمْ وَالصَّابِرِينَ وَنَبْلُوَ أَخْبَارَكُمْ . Most of the reciters of the cities read it with the nūn — "nabluwa" (We test) and "naʿlam" (We know) — and "nabluwa" in the form of a report from Allah, mighty and exalted is His majesty, about Himself; except for ʿĀṣim, for he read all of this with the yāʾ. And the nūn is the recitation according to our view, on account of the agreement of the authoritative reciters upon it, even though the other [recitation] has a sound basis.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ مِنْكُمْ وَالصَّابِرِينَ وَنَبْلُوَ أَخْبَارَكُمْ (31) يقول تعالى ذكره لأهل الإيمان به من أصحاب رسول الله صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم ( وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ ) أيها المؤمنون بالقتل, وجهاد أعداء الله ( حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ مِنْكُمْ ) يقول: حتى يعلم حزبي وأوليائي أهل الجهاد في الله منكم, وأهل الصبر على قتال أعدائه, فيظهر ذلك لهم, ويعرف ذوو البصائر منكم في دينه من ذوي الشكّ والحيرة فيه وأهل الإيمان من أهل النفاق ونبلو أخباركم, فنعرف الصادق منكم من الكاذب. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني عليّ, قال: ثنا أبو صالح, قال: ثني معاوية, عن علي, عن ابن عباس, قوله ( حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ مِنْكُمْ وَالصَّابِرِينَ ) , وقوله وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ ونحو هذا قال: أخبر الله سبحانه المؤمنين أن الدنيا دار بلاء, وأنه مبتليهم فيها, وأمرهم بالصبر, وبشَّرهم فقال: وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ ثم أخبرهم أنه هكـذا فعـل بأنبيائه, وصفوته لتطيب أنفسهـم, فقال: مَسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا فالبأساء: الفقر, والضّراء: السقم, وزُلزلوا بالفتن وأذى الناس إياهم. حدثني يونس, قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب, قال: قال ابن زيد في قوله ( وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ مِنْكُمْ وَالصَّابِرِينَ ) قال: نختبركم, البلوى: الاختبار. وقرأ الم * أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لا يُفْتَنُونَ قال: لا يختبرون وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ ... الآية . واختلفت القرّاء في قراءة قوله ( وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ مِنْكُمْ وَالصَّابِرِينَ وَنَبْلُوَ أَخْبَارَكُمْ ) , فقرأ ذلك عامة قرّاء الأمصار بالنون ( نبلو ) و ( نعلم ) , ونبلو على وجه الخبر من الله جلّ جلاله عن نفسه, سوى عاصم فإنه قرأ جميع ذلك بالياء والنون هي القراءة عندنا لإجماع الحجة من القراء عليها, وإن كان للأخرى وجه صحيح.