Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement: مَا قُلْتُ لَهُمْ إِلا مَا أَمَرْتَنِي بِهِ أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ رَبِّي وَرَبَّكُمْ وَكُنْتُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًا مَا دُمْتُ فِيهِمْ فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّيْتَنِي كُنْتَ أَنْتَ الرَّقِيبَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَنْتَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ (117) (I said nothing to them except what You commanded me: worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them as long as I dwelt among them, but when You took me away, You were the One who watched over them, and You are a witness over all things (117)).

   Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a report from Allah — exalted is His mention — about the statement of ʿĪsā. He says: I said nothing to them except that which You commanded me to speak to them in the way of words, and that is that I said to them: "Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord" = "And I was a witness over them as long as I dwelt among them," by which He says: and I was, concerning what they did while I was in their midst, a witness over them and over their deeds and their words = "but when You took me away," by which He says: when You took me up to Yourself = "You were the One who watched over them," by which He says: You were their keeper in my place, for I was only a witness of their works which they performed while I was in their midst.

   In this lies the clarification that Allah — exalted is His mention — only made known to him the deeds of the people and their statement after He had taken him up to Himself and removed him, through His statement: أَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ (Did you say to the people: take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah?).

   = "and You are a witness over all things," by which He says: and You bear witness over all things, for nothing remains hidden from You. As for me, I was only a witness of a portion of things, namely that which I saw with my own eyes while I dwelt among the people. So I bear witness only of that which I beheld and saw with my own eyes and was present at.

   * * *

   And in accordance with what we have said concerning His statement, "You were the One who watched over them," the people of interpretation have spoken.

   * Mention of who said that:

   13032 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "You were the One who watched over them" — as for "al-raqīb" (the watcher), that is al-ḥafīẓ (the keeper).

   13033 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "You were the One who watched over them" — he said: the keeper.

   * * *

   A group of the scholars said: the answer that ʿĪsā gave to his Lord was an instruction (a teaching) that Allah — exalted is He — gave him therein.

   * Mention of who said that:

   13034 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, on the authority of his father, concerning: أَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِي أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِي بِحَقٍّ (Did you say to the people: take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah? He said: Glory be to You, it is not for me to say that to which I have no right) — he said: Allah instructed him (caused him to know this).

   13035 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd al-Ḥafarī related to us, saying: it was read aloud to Sufyān, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, on the authority of his father Ṭāwūs, who said: ʿĪsā put forward an argument, and Allah instructed him: أَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ (Did you say to the people: take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah?), the verse.

   13036 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Maysara, who said: Allah — exalted is His mention — said: "O ʿĪsā, did you say to the people: take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah?" He said: then his joints trembled, and he feared that he might have said it, and he said: سُبْحَانَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِي أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِي بِحَقٍّ إِنْ كُنْتُ قُلْتُهُ فَقَدْ عَلِمْتَهُ تَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِي وَلا أَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِكَ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ عَلامُ الْغُيُوبِ (Glory be to You, it is not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would already have known it. You know what is in my soul, and I do not know what is in Your soul. Verily, You are the Knower of the unseen).

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   Footnotes:

   (21) See the explanation of "shahīd" (witness) in the linguistic registers given earlier (sh-h-d) = and the explanation of "mā dāma" (as long as) in the foregoing 10:185 / 11:74.

   (22) See the explanation of "tawaffāhu" (He took him away) in the foregoing 6:455-461 / 8:73 / 9:100.

   (23) See the explanation of "al-raqīb" (the watcher) in the foregoing 7:523.

   (24) In the printed version and the manuscript it reads "tawfīqan" (with a fāʾ before the qāf), in this place and what follows it. That is without doubt an error of the copyist and the editor; the correct reading is what has been established here. One says: "waqqaftu al-rajula ʿalā al-kalima tawqīfan," when you teach someone a word that he did not know or that had escaped him. That is to say that it was from Allah's instruction to him, and that he did not say it of his own accord.

   (25) In the printed version and the manuscript it reads "Allāh waffaqahu"; see the preceding note, as well as what comes in the following narration.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : مَا قُلْتُ لَهُمْ إِلا مَا أَمَرْتَنِي بِهِ أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ رَبِّي وَرَبَّكُمْ وَكُنْتُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًا مَا دُمْتُ فِيهِمْ فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّيْتَنِي كُنْتَ أَنْتَ الرَّقِيبَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَنْتَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ (117) قال أبو جعفر: وهذا خبر من الله تعالى ذكره عن قول عيسى, يقول: ما قلت لهم إلا الذي أمرتني به من القول أن أقوله لهم, وهو أن قلت لهم: " اعبدوا الله ربي وربكم " =" وكنت عليهم شهيدًا ما دمت فيهم "، يقول: وكنت على ما يفعلونه وأنا بين أظهرهم شاهدًا عليهم وعلى أفعالهم وأقوالهم (21) =" فلما توفيتني" ، يقول: فلما قبضتني إليك (22) =" كنت أنت الرقيب عليهم " ، يقول: كنت أنت الحفيظ عليهم دوني, (23) لأني إنما شهدت من أعمالهم ما عملوه وأنا بين أظهرهم. وفي هذا تبيانُ أن الله تعالى ذكره إنما عرّفه أفعالَ القوم ومقالتهم بعد ما قبضه إليه وتوفاه بقوله: أَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ . =" وأنت على كل شيء شهيد " يقول: وأنت تشهد على كل شيء, لأنه لا يخفى عليك شيء, وأما أنا، فإنما شهدت بعض الأشياء, وذلك ما عاينت وأنا مقيم بين أظهر القوم, فإنما أنا أشهد على ذلك الذي عاينت ورأيتُ وشهدت. * * * وبنحو الذي قلنا في قوله: " كنت أنت الرقيب عليهم " ، قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: 13032 - حدثني محمد بن الحسين قال ، حدثنا أحمد بن مفضل قال ، حدثنا أسباط, عن السدى: " كنت أنت الرقيب عليهم " ، أما " الرقيب "، فهو الحفيظ. 13033 - حدثنا القاسم قال ، حدثنا الحسين قال ، حدثني حجاج, عن ابن جريج: " كنت أنت الرقيب عليهم " ، قال: الحفيظ. * * * وكانت جماعة من أهل العلم تقول: كان جواب عيسى الذي أجاب به ربَّه من الله تعالى، توقيفًا منه له فيه. (24) * ذكر من قال ذلك: 13034 - حدثنا ابن وكيع قال ، حدثنا ابن يمان, عن سفيان, عن معمر, عن ابن طاوس, عن أبيه: أَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِي أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِي بِحَقٍّ ، قال: الله وقَّفَه. (25) 13035- حدثنا ابن وكيع قال ، حدثنا أبو داود الحفري قال ، قرئ على سفيان, عن معمر, عن ابن طاوس, عن أبيه طاوس قال : احتج عيسى، والله وقّفه: أَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ ، الآية. 13036 - حدثنا ابن وكيع قال ، حدثنا جرير, عن عطاء, عن ميسرة قال : قال الله تعالى ذكره: " يا عيسى أأنت قلت للناس اتخذوني وأمي إلهين من دون الله " ؟ قال: فأُرعدت مفاصله, وخشى أن يكون قد قالها, فقال: سُبْحَانَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِي أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِي بِحَقٍّ إِنْ كُنْتُ قُلْتُهُ فَقَدْ عَلِمْتَهُ تَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِي وَلا أَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِكَ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ عَلامُ الْغُيُوبِ . ---------------------------- الهوامش : (21) انظر تفسير: "شهيد" فيما سلف من فهارس اللغة (شهد) = وتفسير"ما دام" فيما سلف 10: 185/ 11 : 74. (22) انظر تفسير"توفاه" فيما سلف 6: 455 - 461/8 : 73/9 : 100. (23) انظر تفسير"الرقيب" فيما سلف 7 : 523. (24) في المطبوعة والمخطوطة: "توفيقًا" (بالفاء قبل القاف) ، في هذا الموضع وما يليه. وهو خطأ من الناسخ والناشر لا شك فيه ، صوابه ما أثبت. يقال: "وقفت الرجل على الكلمة توقيفًا" ، إذا علمته الكلمة لم يكن يعلمها ، أو غابت عنه. أي أنها كانت من تعليم الله إياه ، لم يقلها من عند نفسه. (25) في المطبوعة والمخطوطة: "الله وفقه" ، وانظر التعليق السالف ، وكذلك ما سيأتي في الأثر التالي.