Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The Exalted, glorified be His mention, says: These names that you have given — namely al-Lāt, al-ʿUzzā, and the third, the other one, Manāt — are nothing but names that you yourselves and your fathers have invented, O you who assign associates to Allah (mushrikīn), you and your fathers before you. Allah has sent down no authority for that, that is to say: concerning these names. He says: Allah has not permitted you that, and has granted you no authorization for it.

   As Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ ("any authority") … up to the end of the verse.

   And His word إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلا الظَّنَّ ("they follow nothing but conjecture") — the Exalted, glorified be His mention, says: these polytheists (mushrikīn) follow, with respect to these names by which they have named their gods, nothing but the conjecture that what they say is true — not certain knowledge. وَمَا تَهْوَى الأنْفُسُ ("and that for which the souls long") — He says: and the desire of their souls, for they did not derive that from any revelation that came to them from Allah, nor from a messenger of Allah who informed them about it, but it is merely a fabrication of their own, or else they took it over from their fathers, who were in the same state of disbelief in Allah as that in which they themselves are.

   And His word وَلَقَدْ جَاءَهُمْ مِنْ رَبِّهِمُ الْهُدَى ("and indeed, guidance has come to them from their Lord") — He says: and indeed, to these polytheists in Allah there has come from their Lord the clear exposition concerning that about which they had no certainty, namely their naming of al-Lāt, al-ʿUzzā, and the third, Manāt, with these names, and their worship of them. He says: indeed, to them there has come from their Lord the guidance concerning that, and the clear exposition by means of the revelation that We revealed to Muḥammad ﷺ, that worship of them is not fitting, and that worship is due to none but Allah, the One, the All-Subduer.

   And Ibn Zayd said concerning that what Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word وَلَقَدْ جَاءَهُمْ مِنْ رَبِّهِمُ الْهُدَى ("and indeed, guidance has come to them from their Lord"): but they derived no benefit from it.

   Statement concerning the explanation of the word of the Exalted: ﴿أَمْ لِلإنْسَانِ مَا تَمَنَّى (٢٤) فَلِلَّهِ الآخِرَةُ وَالأولَى (٢٥) وَكَمْ مِنْ مَلَكٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ لا تُغْنِي شَفَاعَتُهُمْ شَيْئًا إِلا مِنْ بَعْدِ أَنْ يَأْذَنَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَرْضَى (٢٦)﴾ ("Or shall man have what he desires? (24) To Allah belongs the Hereafter and the first life. (25) And how many an angel is there in the heavens whose intercession avails nothing, except after Allah has given permission for whom He wills and with whom He is pleased. (26)")

   The Exalted, glorified be His mention, says: Or did Muḥammad ﷺ desire what Allah has bestowed upon him of this honor with which He honored him — prophethood and messengership — and did He send down the revelation upon him, and did he wish for that, whereupon his Lord granted it to him? Well then, to Allah belongs what is in the Abode of the Hereafter and in the first — that is the worldly life; He gives to whom He wills of His creatures what He wills, and He withholds from whom He wills of them what He wills.

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

   * Mention of who said that:

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word أَمْ لِلإنْسَانِ مَا تَمَنَّى ("Or shall man have what he desires?"), he said: and if Muḥammad desired this, then it is for him.

   And His word وَكَمْ مِنْ مَلَكٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ لا تُغْنِي شَفَاعَتُهُمْ شَيْئًا ("and how many an angel is there in the heavens whose intercession avails nothing") — the Exalted, glorified be His mention, says: and how many an angel is there in the heavens, whose intercession avails nothing: many of the angels of Allah, their intercession with Allah avails the one for whom they intercede in nothing, except that they intercede for him after Allah has granted them permission for the intercession on behalf of whom He wills of them that they intercede for, and with whom He is pleased. He says: and after He is, with regard to His angels who intercede for him, pleased that they intercede for him, so that their intercession then avails him. This is only a rebuke from Allah, the Exalted, glorified be His mention, directed at the worshippers of the idols and the chiefs of Quraysh and others, who said مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى ("we worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah in nearness"). Then Allah, exalted be His mention, said to them: the intercession of My angels who are with Me avails the one for whom they intercede in nothing, except after I have given them permission for the intercession on his behalf and My pleasure concerning that — how then would it be with the intercession of those who are below them? Thus He let them know that the intercession of that which they worship besides Him does not avail them.

   Show original Arabic

   يقول تعالى ذكره: ما هذه الأسماء التي سميتموها وهي اللات والعزّى ومناة الثالثة الأخرى، إلا أسماء سميتموها أنتم وآباؤكم أيها المشركون بالله، وآباؤكم من قبلكم، ما أنزل الله بها، يعني بهذه الأسماء، يقول: لم يبح الله ذلك لكم، ولا أذن لكم به. كما حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد، في قوله (مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ) ... إلى آخر الآية. وقوله (إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلا الظَّنَّ) يقول تعالى ذكره: ما يتبع هؤلاء المشركون في هذه الأسماء التي سموا بها آلهتهم إلا الظنّ بأنّ ما يقولون حقّ لا اليقين (وَمَا تَهْوَى الأنْفُسُ) يقول: وهوى أنفسهم، لأنهم لم يأخذوا ذلك عن وحي جاءهم من الله، ولا عن رسول الله أخبرهم به، وإنما اختراق من قِبل أنفسهم، أو أخذوه عن آبائهم الذين كانوا من الكفر بالله على مثل ما هم عليه منه. وقوله (وَلَقَدْ جَاءَهُمْ مِنْ رَبِّهِمُ الْهُدَى) يقول: ولقد جاء هؤلاء المشركين بالله من ربهم البيان مما هم منه على غير يقين، وذلك تسميتهم اللات والعزّى ومناة الثالثة بهذه الأسماء وعبادتهم إياها. يقول: لقد جاءهم من ربهم الهدى في ذلك، والبيان بالوحي الذي أوحيناه إلى محمد ﷺ أن عبادتها لا تنبغي، وأنه لا تصلح العبادة إلا لله الواحد القهار. وقال ابن زيد في ذلك ما حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد، في قوله: (وَلَقَدْ جَاءَهُمْ مِنْ رَبِّهِمُ الْهُدَى) فما انتفعوا به. القول في تأويل قوله تعالى: ﴿أَمْ لِلإنْسَانِ مَا تَمَنَّى (٢٤) فَلِلَّهِ الآخِرَةُ وَالأولَى (٢٥) وَكَمْ مِنْ مَلَكٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ لا تُغْنِي شَفَاعَتُهُمْ شَيْئًا إِلا مِنْ بَعْدِ أَنْ يَأْذَنَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَرْضَى (٢٦)﴾ يقول تعالى ذكره: أم اشتهى محمد ﷺ ما أعطاه الله من هذه الكرامة التي كرّمه بها من النبوّة والرسالة، وأنزل الوحي عليه، وتمنى ذلك، فأعطاه إياه ربه، فلله ما في الدار الآخرة والأولى، وهي الدنيا، يعطي من شاء من خلقه ما شاء، ويحرم من شاء منهم ما شاء. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد، في قوله (أَمْ لِلإنْسَانِ مَا تَمَنَّى) قال: وإن كان محمد تمنى هذا، فذلك له. وقوله (وَكَمْ مِنْ مَلَكٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ لا تُغْنِي شَفَاعَتُهُمْ شَيْئًا) يقول تعالى ذكره: وكم من ملك في السموات لا تغني: كثير من ملائكة الله، لا تنفع شفاعتهم عند الله لمن شفعوا له شيئا، إلا أن يشفعوا له من بعد أن يأذن الله لهم بالشفاعة لمن يشاء منهم أن يشفعوا له ويرضى، يقول: ومن بعد أن يرضى لملائكته الذين يشفعون له أن يشفعوا له، فتنفعه حينئذ شفاعتهم، وإنما هذا توبيخ من الله تعالى ذكره لعبدة الأوثان والملأ من قريش وغيرهم الذين كانوا يقولون (مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى) فقال الله جلّ ذكره لهم: ما تنفع شفاعة ملائكتي الذين هم عندي لمن شفعوا له، إلا من بعد إذني لهم بالشفاعة له ورضاي، فكيف بشفاعة من دونهم، فأعلمهم أن شفاعة ما يعبدون من دونه غير نافعتهم.