Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   Discussion of the explanation of His word: لَقَدْ كَفَرَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ ثَالِثُ ثَلاثَةٍ وَمَا مِنْ إِلَهٍ إِلا إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ وَإِنْ لَمْ يَنْتَهُوا عَمَّا يَقُولُونَ لَيَمَسَّنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ (73) (They have indeed committed disbelief who said: "Verily, Allah is the third of three," while there is no god but one God. And if they do not desist from what they say, the painful punishment will surely afflict those among them who committed disbelief. (73))

   Abū Jaʿfar said: This too is a report from Allah, whose mention is exalted, concerning another group of the Israelites, whose characteristic He described in the preceding verses: that they, when He put them to the test after they had supposed that they would not be tried or tested, out of disbelief toward their Lord and out of shirk (ascribing partners to Allah), said: "Allah is the third of three."

   * * *

   And this was a view held by the great mass of the Christians before the division into the Jacobites, the Melkites, and the Nestorians. They said, according to what has reached us: "The eternal God is one substance comprising three hypostases: a Father, begetting and not begotten; a Son, begotten and not begetting; and a spouse who proceeds between the two."

   * * *

   Allah, whose mention is exalted, says, giving the lie to them in what they claimed about that: "While there is no god but one God," He says: you have, O people, no worshipped god but one Worshipped One, and He is the One who begets nothing and is not begotten, but is rather the Creator of every begetter and every begotten one. "And if they do not desist from what they say," He says: if the utterers of this claim do not desist from what they say, namely their statement: "Allah is the third of three," "then the painful punishment will surely afflict those among them who committed disbelief," He says: verily, the painful punishment will surely afflict those who utter this claim, as well as those who utter the other claim: هُوَ الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ (He is the Messiah, the son of Mary) — for both groups are disbelievers and polytheists (mushrikūn). Therefore He returned, in the announcement of the punishment, to generality, and did not say: "then a painful punishment will surely afflict them," for had it been said thus, the announcement of Allah, whose mention is exalted, would apply exclusively to the utterer of the second claim, namely those who say: "Allah is the third of three," and there would not fall under it the one who says: "The Messiah is Allah." Therefore the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, made the announcement general for every disbeliever, so that those addressed by these verses would know that the announcement of Allah has encompassed both groups of the children of Israel, as well as everyone among the disbelievers who was in the same state as they.

   * * *

   If someone were to say: And if the matter is as you have described, then to whom do "the hāʾ and the mīm" refer in His word "among them" (minhum)?

   Then it is said: to the children of Israel.

   * * *

   The explanation of the statement is therefore, since the matter is as we have described: and if these Israelites do not desist from what they say concerning Allah of unheard-of claims, the painful punishment will surely afflict those among them who say: "Verily, the Messiah is Allah," and those who say: "Verily, Allah is the third of three," and every disbeliever who treads their path — because of their disbelief toward Allah.

   * * *

   And a group of the exegetes has said, in accordance with our view, that namely the Christians are intended by these verses.

   Mention of who said that:

   12294 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "They have indeed committed disbelief who said: Verily, Allah is the third of three," he said: The Christians said: "He, the Messiah, and his mother," and that is His word, the Exalted: أَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ [Surah Al-Māʾidah: 116] (Did you say to the people: "Take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah"?).

   12295 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: Mujāhid said: "They have indeed committed disbelief who said: Verily, Allah is the third of three," in a similar manner.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : لَقَدْ كَفَرَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ ثَالِثُ ثَلاثَةٍ وَمَا مِنْ إِلَهٍ إِلا إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ وَإِنْ لَمْ يَنْتَهُوا عَمَّا يَقُولُونَ لَيَمَسَّنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ (73) قال أبو جعفر: وهذا أيضًا خبر من الله تعالى ذكره عن فريق آخر من الإسرائيليين الذين وصف صفتهم في الآيات قبل: أنه لما ابتلاهم بعد حِسْبَانهم أنهم لا يُبتلون ولا يفتنون، قالوا كفرًا بربهم وشركًا: " الله ثالث ثلاثة ". * * * وهذا قولٌ كان عليه جماهير النصارى قبل افتراق اليعقوبية والملكية والنَّسطورية. (12) كانوا فيما بلغنا يقولون: " الإله القديم جوهر واحد يعم ثلاثة أقانيم: أبًا والدًا غير مولود، وابنًا مولودًا غير والد، وزوجًا متتبَّعة بينهما ". * * * يقول الله تعالى ذكره، مكذّبًا لهم فيما قالوا من ذلك: " وما من إله إلا إله واحد "، يقول: ما لكم معبود، أيها الناس، إلا معبود واحد، وهو الذي ليس بوالد لشيء ولا مولود، بل هو خالق كل والد ومولود=" وإن لم ينتهوا عما يقولون "، يقول: إن لم ينتهوا قائلو هذه المقالة عما يقولون من قولهم: " الله ثالث ثلاثة " (13) =" ليمسن الذين كفروا منهم عذاب أليم "، يقول: ليمسن الذين يقولون هذه المقالة، والذين يقولون المقالة الأخرى: هُوَ الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ ، لأن الفريقين كلاهما كفرة مشركون، فلذلك رجع في الوعيد بالعذاب إلى العموم، (14) ولم يقل: " ليمسنَّهم عذابٌ أليم "، لأن ذلك لو قيل كذلك، صار الوعيد من الله تعالى ذكره خاصًّا لقائل القول الثاني، وهم القائلون: " الله ثالث ثلاثة "، ولم يدخل فيهم القائلون: " المسيح هو الله ". فعمّ بالوعيد تعالى ذكره كلَّ كافر، ليعلم المخاطبون بهذه الآيات أنّ وعيد الله قد شمل كلا الفريقين من بني إسرائيل، ومن كان من الكفار على مثل الذي هم عليه. * * * فإن قال قائل: وإن كان الأمر على ما وصفت، فعلى مَنْ عادت " الهاء والميم " اللتان في قوله: " منهم "؟ قيل: على بني إسرائيل. * * * فتأويل الكلام، إذْ كان الأمر على ما وصفنا: وإن لم ينته هؤلاء الإسرائيليون عما يقولون في الله من عظيم القول، ليمسنَّ الذين يقولون منهم: " إن المسيح هو الله "، والذين يقولون: " إن الله ثالث ثلاثة "، وكل كافر سلك سبيلهم= عذابٌ أليم، بكفرهم بالله. (15) * * * وقد قال جماعة من أهل التأويل بنحو قولنا، في أنه عنى بهذه الآيات النصارى. ذكر من قال ذلك: 12294 - حدثنا محمد بن الحسين قال، حدثنا أحمد بن المفضل قال، حدثنا أسباط، عن السدي: " لقد كفر الذين قالوا: إنّ الله ثالث ثلاثة "، قال: قالت النصارى: " هو والمسيح وأمه "، فذلك قول الله تعالى: أَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ [سورة المائدة: 116]. 12295 - حدثنا القاسم قال، حدثنا الحسين قال، حدثني حجاج، عن ابن جريج قال، قال مجاهد: " لقد كفر الذين قالوا إن الله ثالث ثلاثة "، نحوه. -------------- الهوامش : (12) في المطبوعة: "والملكانية" ، وأثبت ما في المخطوطة. (13) انظر تفسير"انتهى" فيما سلف 3 : 569/ 6 : 14. (14) انظر تفسير"مس" فيما سلف 7: 414 ، تعليق: 5 ، والمراجع هناك. (15) انظر تفسير"عذاب أليم" فيما سلف من فهارس اللغة (ألم).