Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ("Has the time not yet come for those who believe…"): Has the time not yet come for those who held Allah and His Messenger to be true, that their hearts should grow soft for the remembrance of Allah, so that their hearts bow humbly before it and before what has come down of the Truth — and that is this Qurʾān, which He sent down upon His Messenger ﷺ.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ("Has the time not yet come for those who believe that their hearts should bow humbly before the remembrance of Allah") — he said: that their hearts should become obedient.

   Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of ʿIkrima: أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ("Has the time not yet come for those who believe that their hearts should bow humbly before the remembrance of Allah").

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ("Has the time not yet come for those who believe that their hearts should bow humbly before the remembrance of Allah…") — the āyah. It was related to us that Shaddād ibn Aws transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he said: "The first thing to be taken away from people is humility (khushūʿ)."

   Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Shaddād ibn Aws used to say: the first thing to be taken away from people is humility.

   The reciters (qurrāʾ) differed concerning the reading of His word: وَمَا نـزلَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ ("and what has come down of the Truth"). The majority of the reciters, with the exception of Shayba and Nāfiʿ, read it with doubling (tashdīd): "nazzala" (sent down); and Shayba and Nāfiʿ read: "wa-mā nazala" with lightening (takhfīf, "came down"). With whichever of the two readings the reciter reads, he is correct, on account of the close kinship of the two meanings.

   And His word: وَلا يَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الأمَدُ ("and that they should not be like those who were given the Book before, then the span of time grew long for them"). The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: Has the time not yet come for them that they should not be — He means the believers of the community of Muḥammad ﷺ — كَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلُ ("like those who were given the Book before"), by which He means the Children of Israel; and by "the Book" He means that which was given to them before them: the Torah and the Gospel.

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

   * Mention of who said that:

   Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Abū Maʿshar, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: ʿItrīs ibn ʿUrqūb came to Ibn Masʿūd and said: O ʿAbdallāh, lost is he who does not enjoin the right and forbid the wrong. ʿAbdallāh said: Lost is he whose heart does not recognize the right as right and whose heart does not reject the wrong as wrong. Indeed, when the span of time grew long for the Children of Israel and their hearts became hardened, they fabricated a book from themselves [literally: from between their hands and their feet]; their hearts let themselves be seduced by it and their tongues declared it lawful, and they said: We will present this book to the Children of Israel; whoever believes in it, we leave alone, and whoever rejects it, we kill. He said: Then a man of them placed the Book of Allah in a horn [container], and then placed that horn between his chest muscles. And when it was said to him: Do you believe in this? — he said: I believe in it, while pointing to the horn that was between his chest muscles, [and he said]: and why should I not believe in this book? Thus the best of their religious sects today became the sect of the man with the horn.

   And by His word: فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الأمَدُ ("then the span of time grew long for them") He means: what lies between them and Mūsā ﷺ; and that span (al-amad) is the passage of time.

   And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: الأمَدُ ("the span of time") — he said: the age (al-dahr).

   And His word: فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ ("so that their hearts became hardened") — against good deeds, and they hardened in persisting in disobedience to Allah. وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ ("and many of them are corrupt transgressors [fāsiqūn]"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and many of these to whom the Book was given, before the community of Muḥammad ﷺ, are corrupt transgressors (fāsiqūn).

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   Footnotes:

   (2) The interpretation has fallen out from the pen of the copyist; in al-Durr [it stands] on the authority of ʿIkrima: "Has the time not yet come for those who believe."

   Show original Arabic

   يقول تعالى ذكره (أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ) : ألم يحن للذين صدقوا الله ورسوله أن تلين قلوبهم لذكر الله، فتخضع قلوبهم له، ولما نـزل من الحقّ، وهو هذا القرآن الذي نـزله على رسوله صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد بن سعد، قال: ثني أبي، قال: ثني عمي، قال: ثني أبي، عن أبيه، عن ابن عباس، قوله: (أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ) قال: تطيع قلوبهم. حدثنا ابن حُميد، قال: ثنا يحيى بن واضح، قال: ثنا الحسين، عن يزيد، عن عكرِمة (أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ (2) ) . حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله: (أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ... ) الآية. ذُكر لنا أن شدّاد بن أوس كان يروي عن رسول الله صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم، قال: " إن أوَّل مَا يُرْفعُ مِنَ النَّاس الخُشُوعُ". حدثنا ابن عبد الأعلى، قال: ثنا ابن ثور، عن معمر، عن قتادة، قال: كان شدّاد بن أوس يقول: أوّل ما يرفع من الناس الخشوع. واختلفت القرّاء في قراءة قوله: (وَمَا نـزلَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ )، فقرأته عامة القرّاء غير شيبة ونافع بالتشديد: نـزل، وقرأه شيبة ونافع: وما نـزل بالتخفيف، وبأيّ القراءتين قرأ القارئ فمصيب، لتقارب معنييهما. وقوله: (وَلا يَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الأمَدُ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: ألم يأن لهم أن ولا يكونوا، يعني الذين آمنوا من أمة محمد صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم (كَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلُ ) يعني من بني إسرائيل، ويعني بالكتاب: الذي أوتوه من قبلهم التوراة والإنجيل. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا ابن حُميد، قال: ثنا جرير، عن مُغيرة، عن أبى معشر، عن إبراهيم، قال: جاء عتريس بن عرقوب إلى ابن مسعود، فقال: يا عبد الله هلك من لم يأمر بالمعروف وينه عن المنكر، فقال عبد الله: هلك من لم يعرف قلبه معروفا، ولم ينكر قلبه منكرا، إن بني إسرائيل لما طال عليهم الأمد، وقست قلوبهم اخترعوا كتابا من بين أيديهم وأرجلهم، استهوته قلوبهم، واستحلته ألسنتهم، وقالوا: نعرض بني إسرائيل على هذا الكتاب، فمن آمن به تركناه، ومن كفر به قتلناه، قال: فجعل رجل منهم كتاب الله في قرن، ثم جعل القرن بين ثندوتيه؛ فلما قيل له: أتؤمن بهذا؟ قال: آمنت به، ويوميء إلى القرن الذي بين ثندوتيه، ومالي لا أومن بهذا الكتاب، فمن خير مللهم اليوم ملة صاحب القرن. ويعني بقوله: (فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الأمَدُ ): ما بينهم وبين موسى صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم، وذلك الأمد الزمان. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد بن عمرو، قال: ثنا أبو عاصم، قال: ثنا عيسى؛ وحدثني الحارث، قال: ثنا الحسن، قال: ثنا ورقاء جميعًا، عن ابن أبى نجيح، عن مجاهد قوله: (الأمَدُ ) قال: الدهر. وقوله: (فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ ) عن الخيرات، واشتدّت على السكون إلى معاصي الله.(وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ )، يقول جلّ ثناؤه: وكثير من هؤلاء الذين أوتوا الكتاب، من قبل أمة محمد صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم فاسقون. ------------------------ الهوامش: (2) ‌سقط التفسير من قلم الناسخ، وفي الدر عن عكرمة: ألم يحن للذين آمنوا.