Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: وَمَا لَكُمْ لا تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ ("And what is the matter with you that you do not believe in Allah") — and what is the matter with you, O people, that you do not acknowledge the Oneness of Allah, while His Messenger Muḥammad ﷺ calls you to the acknowledgment of His Oneness, and there has already come to you of the proofs of its truth that which has cut off your excuse and removed the doubt from your hearts, وَقَدْ أَخَذَ مِيثَاقَكُمْ ("while He has already taken your covenant"). It has been said: by this is meant: and your Lord has already taken your covenant from you in the loins of Ādam, namely that Allah is your Lord and that there is for you no god besides Him.

   * 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: وَقَدْ أَخَذَ مِيثَاقَكُمْ , he said: in the back of Ādam.

   The reciters differed over the reading of it. Most of the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Iraq, except Abū ʿAmr, read it وَقَدْ أَخَذَ مِيثَاقَكُمْ with a fatḥa on the alif of "akhadha" and a naṣb (accusative) on "al-mīthāq," with the meaning: and your Lord has already taken your covenant. And Abū ʿAmr read it: وَقَدْ أُخِذَ مِيثَاقُكُمْ with a ḍamma on the alif and a rafʿ (nominative) on "al-mīthāq," in the form of the passive whose agent is not named.

   And the correct view concerning that is that they are two readings close to one another in meaning; with whichever of the two the reciter reads, he is correct, although the fatḥa on the alif of "akhadha" and the naṣb on "al-mīthāq" is the more pleasing of the two readings to me therein, because of the frequency of its recitation and the rarity of the recitation according to the other reading.

   And His word: إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ ("if you are believers") — He says: if you wish to believe in Allah on any day, then now is the most fitting time that you should believe, because of the succession of the proofs upon you through the Messenger and his proclamation, and his calling to that whose correctness has already been established for you through the proclamation, the indications, and the covenant taken from you.

   Show original Arabic

   يقول تعالى ذكره: (وما لكم لا تؤمنون بالله)، وما شأنكم أيها الناس لا تقرّون بوحدانية الله، ورسوله محمد صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم يدعوكم إلى الإقرار بوحدانيته، وقد أتاكم من الحجج على حقيقة ذلك، ما قطع عذركم، وأزال الشكّ من قلوبكم، (وقد أخذ ميثاقكم)، قيل: عني بذلك؛ وقد أخذ منكم ربكم ميثاقكم في صُلب آدم، بأن الله ربكم لا إله لكم سواه. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد بن عمرو، قال: ثنا أبو عاصم، قال: ثنا عيسى؛ وحدثني الحارث، قال: ثنا الحسن، قال: ثنا ورقاء جميعا، عن ابن أبي نجيح، عن مجاهد، قوله: (وَقَدْ أَخَذَ مِيثَاقَكُمْ ) قال: في ظهر آدم. واختلفت القرّاء في قراءة ذلك، فقرأته عامة قرّاء الحجاز والعراق غير أبي عمرو (وَقَدْ أَخَذَ مِيثَاقَكُمْ )، بفتح الألف من أخذ ونصب الميثاق، بمعنى: وقد أخذ ربكم ميثاقكم. وقرأ ذلك أبو عمرو: ( وَقَدْ أخَذَ مِيثاقَكُمْ ) بضمّ الألف ورفع الميثاق، على وجه ما لم يسمّ فاعله. والصواب من القول في ذلك أنهما قراءتان متقاربتا المعنى، فبأيتهما قرأ القارئ فمصيب، وإن كان فتح الألف من أخذ ونصب الميثاق أعجب القراءتين إليّ في ذلك، لكثرة القراءة بذلك، وقلة القراءة بالقراءة الأخرى. وقوله: (إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ ) يقول: إن كنتم تريدون أن تؤمنوا بالله يوما من الأيام، فالآن أحرى الأوقات، أن تؤمنوا لتتابع الحجج عليكم بالرسول وإعلامه، ودعائه إياكم إلى ما قد تقرّرت صحته عندكم بالإعلام، والأدلة والميثاق المأخوذ عليكم.