Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, means: no calamity befalls you, O people, in your possessions nor in your souls, except that it is in a book in which that has already been written, before We created your souls, لِكَيْلا تَأْسَوا ("so that you should not grieve"), He says: so that you should not mourn, عَلَى مَا فَاتَكُمْ ("over what has escaped you") of the worldly life, such that you have not attained it thereof, وَلا تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتَاكُمْ ("and not rejoice over what He has given you") thereof.

   The meaning of His statement: بِمَا آتَاكُمْ ("over what He has given you"), when the alif therein is pronounced long, is: over that which your Lord has given you, has placed in your possession, and has allotted to you; and when the alif is pronounced short, its meaning is: over that which has come to you thereof.

   And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.

   * Mention of who said that:

   ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: لِكَيْ لا تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فاتكم ("so that you should not grieve over what has escaped you") of the worldly life, وَلا تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتَاكُمْ ("and not rejoice over what He has given you") thereof.

   It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn Yazīd al-Ṭaḥḥān, saying: Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr related to us, on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: لِكَيْ لا تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فاتكم ("so that you should not grieve over what has escaped you"), he said: patience at the calamity, and gratitude at the blessing.

   Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Simāk al-Bakrī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: لِكَيْ لا تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فاتكم ("so that you should not grieve over what has escaped you"), he said: there is none but that he grieves and rejoices, but rather whoever a calamity befalls, let him turn it into patience, and whoever good befalls, let him turn it into gratitude.

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the statement of Allah, Mighty and Exalted: لِكَيْ لا تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلا تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتاكم ("so that you should not grieve over what has escaped you and not rejoice over what He has given you"), he said: do not mourn over what has escaped you of the worldly life, and do not rejoice over what has come to you thereof.

   The reciters differed over the reading of His statement: بِمَا آتَاكُمْ ("over what He has given you"). Most of the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Kufa read it: بِمَا آتَاكُمْ ("over what He has given you") with a long alif, and some of the reciters of Basra read it: بِما أتاكُمْ ("over what has come to you") with a short alif. It is as though whoever read it with a short alif preferred his reading thereof because that which precedes it is "over what has escaped you (fātakum)," and not "what He has caused to escape you (afātakum)," whereby the action would be traced back to Allah; therefore he aligned His statement: بِمَا أتاكُمْ ("over what has come to you") with it and did not trace it back to a report about Allah.

   The correct view concerning this is that they are two readings whose meaning is sound, so with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he has attained the correct course, even though I prefer the long alif, on account of the large number of those who recite it so. And that by which those who recite it with a short alif reasoned out their choice has no great significance, for both that which of this has been made into a report about Allah, and that which of it has been derived into a report about other than Him — both do not escape the listeners among the scholars as being part of the act of Allah, the Exalted. For the worldly life that escapes a person, escapes him, and the portion of it that he attains is what he has attained by the foreordainment of Allah, Mighty and Exalted, and His decree. That He, whose praise is exalted, made clear for whoever understands it from Him, with His statement: مَا أَصَابَ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فِي الأَرْضِ وَلا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ إِلا فِي كِتَابٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَبْرَأَهَا ("No calamity befalls on the earth or in your souls except that it is in a book before We created it"). Thus He informed that that which escapes them thereof, escapes them because He caused it to escape them, and that which is attained thereof, they attain because He gave it to them, and that this is preserved for them in a book before He created them.

   And His statement: وَاللَّهُ لا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخْتَالٍ فَخُورٍ ("And Allah does not love every self-conceited boaster"), He says: and Allah does not love every one made arrogant by what he has been given of the worldly life, who boasts thereof before the people.

   Show original Arabic

   يعني تعالى ذكره: ما أصابكم أيها الناس من مصيبة في أموالكم ولا في أنفسكم، إلا في كتاب قد كتب ذلك فيه، من قبل أن نخلق نفوسكم (لِكَيْلا تَأْسَوا ) يقول: لكيلا تحزنوا، (عَلَى مَا فَاتَكُمْ ) من الدنيا، فلم تدركوه منها، (وَلا تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتَاكُمْ ) منها. ومعنى قوله: (بِمَا آتَاكُمْ ) إذا مدّت الألف منها: بالذي أعطاكم منها ربكم وملَّككم وخوَّلكم؛ وإذا قُصرت الألف، فمعناها: بالذي جاءكم منها. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني عليّ، قال: ثنا أبو صالح، قال: ثني معاوية، عن عليّ، عن ابن عباس (لِكَيْ لا تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فاتكم ) من الدنيا، (وَلا تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتَاكُمْ ) منها. حُدثت عن الحسين بن يزيد الطحان، قال: ثنا إسحاق بن منصور، عن قيس، عن سماك، عن عكرِمة، عن ابن عباس (لِكَيْ لا تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فاتكم ) قال: الصبر عند المصيبة، والشكر عند النعمة. حدثنا ابن حُميد، قال: ثنا مهران، عن سفيان، عن سماك البكري، عن عكرمة، عن ابن عباس (لِكَيْ لا تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فاتكم ) قال: ليس أحد إلا يحزن ويفرح، ولكن من أصابته مصيبة فجعلها صبرا، ومن أصابه خير فجعله شكرا. حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال، قال ابن زيد، في قول الله عزّ وجلّ(لِكَيْ لا تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلا تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتاكم ) قال: لا تأسوا على ما فاتكم من الدنيا، ولا تفرحوا بما أتاكم منها. واختلفت القرّاء في قراءة قوله: (بِمَا آتَاكُمْ )، فقرأ ذلك عامة قرّاء الحجاز والكوفة (بِمَا آتَاكُمْ ) بمدّ الألف، وقرأه بعض قرّاء البصرة ( بِما أتاكُمْ ) بقصر الألف؛ وكأن من قرأ ذلك بقصر الألف اختار قراءته كذلك، إذ كان الذي قبله على ما فاتكم، ولم يكن على ما أفاتكم، فيردّ الفعل إلى الله، فألحق قوله: ( بِمَا أتاكُمْ ) به، ولم يردّه إلى أنه خبر عن الله. والصواب من القول في ذلك أنهما قراءتان صحيح معناهما، فبأيتهما قرأ القارئ فمصيب، وإن كنت أختار مدّ الألف، لكثرة قارئي ذلك كذلك، وليس للذي اعتلّ به منه معتلو قارئيه بقصر الألف كبير معنى، لأن ما جعل من ذلك خبرا عن الله، وما صرف منه إلى الخبر عن غيره، فغير خارج جميعه عند سامعيه من أهل العلم أنه من فعل الله تعالى، فالفائت من الدنيا من فاته منها شيء، والمدرك منها ما أدرك عن تقدّم الله عزّ وجلّ وقضائه، وقد بين ذلك جلّ ثناؤه لمن عقل عنه بقوله: مَا أَصَابَ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فِي الأَرْضِ وَلا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ إِلا فِي كِتَابٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَبْرَأَهَا ، فأخبر أن الفائت منها بإفاتته إياهم فاتهم، والمدرك منها بإعطائه إياهم أدركوا، وأن ذلك محفوظ لهم في كتاب من قبل أن يخلقهم. وقوله: (وَاللَّهُ لا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخْتَالٍ فَخُورٍ ) يقول: والله لا يحبّ كلّ متكبر بما أوتي من الدنيا، فخور به على الناس.