Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement, exalted is His praise: قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي لا أَمْلِكُ إِلا نَفْسِي وَأَخِي فَافْرُقْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ (25) ("He said: My Lord, I have power over none but myself and my brother, so separate between us and the corrupt people." (25))

   Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a report from Allah, mighty and exalted, about what the people of Mūsā said when his people spoke to him what they spoke, namely their words: إِنَّا لَنْ نَدْخُلَهَا أَبَدًا مَا دَامُوا فِيهَا فَاذْهَبْ أَنْتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَاتِلا إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ ("We will never enter it as long as they are in it; so go, you and your Lord, and fight, the two of you, we will remain sitting here."). He then said this, while being angry at their statement to him, praying: "O Lord, I have power over none but myself and my brother." By this he means: I am not able to compel anyone to what I love and want regarding obedience to You and following Your command and Your prohibition, except myself and my brother.

   This derives from the statement of one who says: "I have nothing in my power over the matter except this and that," in the meaning of: I am not able to do anything but that.

   And by His statement "so separate between us and the corrupt people" He means: make a separation between us and them by a judgment from You that You pass over us and them, and thereby remove them from us.

   This derives from the statement of one who says: "I have separated (faraqtu) between these two things," in the meaning of: I have parted between the two, as in the statement of the rajaz poet:

   "O Lord, so separate between him and me, as mightily as You have ever separated between two."

   And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.

   Mention of who said that:

   11686 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "so separate between us and the corrupt people," he says: judge between me and them.

   11687 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "so separate between us and the corrupt people," he says: judge between us and them.

   11688 - Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: Mūsā, peace be upon him, became angry when the people said to him: "go, you and your Lord, and fight, the two of you, we will remain sitting here," and he prayed against them and said: "Lord, I have power over none but myself and my brother, so separate between us and the corrupt people." That was a haste (ʿajla) that Mūsā committed.

   11689 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His statement: "so separate between us and the corrupt people," he says: judge between us and them, and give a decision between us and them. All of this means that the man says: "judge between us."

   The judgment of Allah, exalted is His praise, between him and them was thus that He called them "corrupt" (fāsiqīn).

   And by His statement "the corrupt" He means those who have departed from belief in Allah to disbelief (kufr) in Allah.

   And we have already pointed out earlier that the meaning of "al-fisq" (moral corruption) is the departure from one thing to another, with that which relieves us from repeating it.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله جل ثناؤه : قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي لا أَمْلِكُ إِلا نَفْسِي وَأَخِي فَافْرُقْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ (25) قال أبو جعفر: وهذا خبر من الله جل وعز عن قيل قوم موسى حين قال له قومه ما قالوا، من قولهم: إِنَّا لَنْ نَدْخُلَهَا أَبَدًا مَا دَامُوا فِيهَا فَاذْهَبْ أَنْتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَاتِلا إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ = أنه قال عندَ ذلك، وغضب من قيلهم له، (5) داعيا: يا رب إني لا أملك إلا نفسي وأخي= يعني بذلك، لا أقدر على أحد أن أحمله على ما أحب وأريد من طاعتك واتّباع أمرك ونهيك، إلا على نفسي وعلى أخي. * * * = من قول القائل: " ما أملك من الأمر شيئا إلا كذا وكذا "، بمعنى: لا أقدر على شيء غيره. (6) * * * ويعني بقوله: " فافرق بيننَا وبين القوم الفاسقين "، افصل بيننا وبينهم بقضاء منك تقضيه فينا وفيهم فتبعِدُهم منّا. * * * =من قول القائل: " فَرَقت بين هذين الشيئين "، بمعنى: فصلت بينهما، من قول الراجز: (7) يَــا رَبِّ فــافْرُقْ بَيْنَــهُ وَبَيْنِـي أَشَــدَّ مَــا فَــرَّقْتَ بَيْـنَ اثْنَيْـنَ (8) * * * وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل ذكر من قال ذلك: 11686 - حدثني محمد بن سعد قال حدثني أبي قال، حدثني عمي &; 10-189 &; قال، حدثني أبي، عن أبيه، عن ابن عباس: " فافرق بيننا وبين القوم الفاسقين "، يقول: اقض بيني وبينهم. 11687 - حدثني المثنى قال، حدثنا عبد الله قال، حدثني معاوية، عن علي، عن ابن عباس: " فافرق بيننا وبين القوم الفاسقين "، يقول: اقض بيننا وبينهم. 11688 - حدثني موسى بن هارون قال، حدثنا عمرو بن حماد قال، حدثنا أسباط، عن السدي، قال: غضب موسى صلى الله عليه وسلم حين قال له القوم: " اذهب أنت وربك فقاتلا إنّا هاهنا قاعدون "، فدعا عليهم فقال: " رب إنّي لا أملك إلا نفسي وأخي فافرق بيننا وبين القوم الفاسقين "، وكانت عَجْلَةً من موسى عِجلها. (9) 11689 - حدثت عن الحسين قال، سمعت أبا معاذ قال، حدثنا عبيد بن سليمان قال، سمعت الضحاك يقول في قوله: " فافرق بيننا وبين القوم الفاسقين "، يقول: اقض بيننا وبينهم، وافتح بيننا وبينهم= كلّ هذا يقول الرجل: " اقض بيننا " (10) فقضاء الله جل ثناؤه بينه وبينهم: أن سماهم " فاسقين ". (11) * * * وعنى بقوله: " الفاسقين " الخارجين عن الإيمان بالله وبه إلى الكفر بالله وبه. * * * وقد دللنا على أن معنى " الفسق "، الخروج من شيء إلى شيء، فيما مضى، بما أغنى عن إعادته. (12) * * *