Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of His statement, the Exalted: إِنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَإِنْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَتَتَّقُوا يُؤْتِكُمْ أُجُورَكُمْ وَلا يَسْأَلْكُمْ أَمْوَالَكُمْ (36) ("Indeed, the worldly life is only play and amusement. And if you believe and are God-fearing, He will give you your rewards, and He does not ask you for your possessions.")

   The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says — while urging His believing servants to fight against His enemies, to spend in His way, and to sacrifice their blood in the struggle against the people of disbelief in Him: Fight, O believers, against the enemies of Allah and your enemies among the people of disbelief, and do not let the love of life lead you to abandon the fight against them, for the worldly life is only play and amusement — except for that of it which is for Allah, in working in His way and seeking His good pleasure. Whatever falls outside of that is only play and amusement, which fades and passes away and withers and vanishes, or a sin whose disgrace and shame remain resting upon the one who commits it. وَإِنْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَتَتَّقُوا يُؤْتِكُمْ أُجُورَكُمْ ("And if you believe and are God-fearing, He will give you your rewards"). He says: and if you, in this world — whose contents belong to it, and are therefore play and amusement — believe in Him and fear Him by performing His obligations and avoiding disobedience to Him — and that is what remains for you of it and is not nullified by the long duration of the amusement and the play — then your Lord will give you your rewards for that, and recompense you for it with what is better for you on the day of your poverty and your need for your deeds. وَلا يَسْأَلْكُمْ أَمْوَالَكُمْ ("and He does not ask you for your possessions"). He says: and your Lord does not ask you for your possessions, but rather He imposes upon you the acknowledgment of His oneness (tawḥīd), and the rejection of all besides Him as partners, and the devotion of divinity and obedience to Him alone.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : إِنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَإِنْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَتَتَّقُوا يُؤْتِكُمْ أُجُورَكُمْ وَلا يَسْأَلْكُمْ أَمْوَالَكُمْ (36) يقول تعالى ذكره: حاضا عباده المؤمنين على جهاد أعدائه, والنفقة في سبيله, وبذل مهجتهم في قتال أهل الكفر به: قاتلوا أيها المؤمنون أعداء الله وأعداءكم من أهل الكفر, ولا تدعكم الرغبة في الحياة إلى ترك قتالهم, فإنما الحياة الدنيا لعب ولهو, إلا ما كان منها لله من عمل في سبيله, وطلب رضاه. فأما ما عدا ذلك فإنما هو لعب ولهو, يضمحلّ فيذهب ويندرس فيمرّ, أو إثم يبقى على صاحبه عاره وخزيه ( وَإِنْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَتَتَّقُوا يُؤْتِكُمْ أُجُورَكُمْ ) يقول: وإن تعملوا في هذه الدنيا التي ما كان فيها مما هو لها, فلعب ولهو, فتؤمنوا به وتتقوه بأداء فرائضه, واجتناب معاصيه, وهو الذي يبقى لكم منها, ولا يبطل بطول اللهو واللعب, ثم يؤتكم ربكم عليه أجوركم, فيعوّضكم منه ما هو خير لكم &; 22-191 &; منه يوم فقركم, وحاجتكم إلى أعمالكم ( وَلا يَسْأَلْكُمْ أَمْوَالَكُمْ ) يقول: ولا يسألكم ربكم أموالكـم, ولكنه يكلفكم توحيده, وخلع ما سواه من الأنداد, وإفراد الألوهية والطاعة له .