Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَارَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ ("And We turn their hearts and their eyes away, just as they did not believe in it the first time")

   Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes differ concerning the explanation of this.

   Some of them said: The meaning of this is: If We were to bring them a sign such as they requested, they would not believe, just as they did not believe the first time in that which preceded it, because Allah has set up a barrier between them and that belief.

   * Mention of who said that:

   13751 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my paternal 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: "And We turn their hearts and their eyes away, just as they did not believe in it the first time" — the verse. He said: When the polytheists (mushrikīn) rejected what Allah had sent down, their hearts remained steadfast upon nothing and they were turned away from every matter.

   13752 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word "And We turn their hearts and their eyes away": He said: We prevent them from that, just as We did with them the first time. And he recited: "just as they did not believe in it the first time".

   13753 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: "And We turn their hearts and their eyes away": He said: We set up a barrier between them and belief, and even if every sign came to them, they would not believe, just as We set up a barrier the first time between them and belief.

   * * *

   And others said: The meaning of this is: And We turn their hearts and their eyes away — if they were brought back from the Hereafter to this world — so that they would not believe, just as We did with them so that they did not believe in this world. They said: And this is equivalent to His word وَلَوْ رُدُّوا لَعَادُوا لِمَا نُهُوا عَنْهُ [Surah Al-Anʿām 6:28] ("And even if they were brought back, they would surely return to that which was forbidden to them").

   * Mention of who said that:

   13754 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: Allah — sanctified is He — informed of what the servants would say before they said it, and of their deeds before they performed them. He said: وَلا يُنَبِّئُكَ مِثْلُ خَبِيرٍ ("And none informs you like One who is All-Aware"): أَنْ تَقُولَ نَفْسٌ يَا حَسْرَتَا عَلَى مَا فَرَّطْتُ فِي جَنْبِ اللَّهِ وَإِنْ كُنْتُ لَمِنَ السَّاخِرِينَ ("lest a soul should say: 'O what regret over what I neglected in regard to Allah, and indeed I was among the mockers'"). أَوْ تَقُولَ لَوْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ هَدَانِي لَكُنْتُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ * أَوْ تَقُولَ حِينَ تَرَى الْعَذَابَ لَوْ أَنَّ لِي كَرَّةً فَأَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ [Surah Az-Zumar 39:56-58] ("Or that it should say: 'If Allah had guided me, I would have been among the God-fearing' * Or that it should say, when it sees the punishment: 'If only I had a return, then I would be among the doers of good'"), He says: among the rightly guided. Allah — sanctified is He — thus informed that they, if they were brought back [to this world], would [not] persevere upon the guidance, and He [said]: وَلَوْ رُدُّوا لَعَادُوا لِمَا نُهُوا عَنْهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَاذِبُونَ ("And even if they were brought back, they would surely return to that which was forbidden to them, and indeed they are liars"). And He said: "And We turn their hearts and their eyes away, just as they did not believe in it the first time." He said: If they were brought back to this world, a barrier would be set up between them and the guidance, just as We set up a barrier between them and it the first time when they were in this world.

   * * *

   Abū Jaʿfar said: And the explanation which, in my view, is the most correct concerning this, is that one says: Allah — exalted is His praise — informed concerning those who swore by Allah their strongest oaths that they would surely believe if a sign were to come to them: that He turns their hearts and their eyes and directs them as He wills, and that this lies in His hand — He keeps them straight when He wills and makes them deviate when He chooses. And His word "just as they did not believe in it the first time" is an indication of something omitted in the expression, and His word "just as (kamā)" is a comparison of what comes after it with something before it.

   And since it is so, it is necessary that the meaning of the expression be: And We turn their hearts away and make them deviate from belief, and their eyes from beholding the truth and recognizing the location of the proof, even if the sign which they requested came to them, so that they do not believe in Allah and His messenger and that which he has brought from Allah, just as they did not believe through Our turning them away from that before its coming, on one prior occasion.

   * * *

   And when that is its explanation, the "hā" (the pronoun) in His word "just as they did not believe in it" refers back to the "turning away".

   * * *

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَنَذَرُهُمْ فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ (110) ("And We leave them in their transgression, wandering blindly" (6:110))

   Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted says — praised be His mention —: And We leave these polytheists (mushrikīn), who swore by Allah their strongest oaths that they would surely believe if a sign were to come to them upon its coming, [behind] in their rebellion against Allah and their transgression of His bounds, wandering blindly without being guided to the truth, nor perceiving what is right. Abandonment has overwhelmed them, and Satan has taken mastery over them.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَارَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ قال أبو جعفر: اختلف أهل التأويل في تأويل ذلك. فقال بعضهم: معنى ذلك: لو أنَّا جئناهم بآية كما سألوا، ما آمنوا، كما لم يؤمنوا بما قبلَها أول مرة, لأن الله حال بينهم وبين ذلك : * ذكر من قال ذلك: 13751- حدثني محمد بن سعد قال، حدثني أبي قال، حدثني عمي قال، حدثني أبي, عن أبيه, عن ابن عباس قوله: (ونقلب أفئدتهم وأبصارهم كما لم يؤمنوا به أول مرة) الآية, قال: لما جحد المشركون ما أنـزل الله، لم تثبت قلوبهم على شيء، ورُدَّتْ عن كل أمر . 13752- حدثني يونس قال، أخبرنا ابن وهب قال، قال ابن زيد في قوله: (ونقلب أفئدتهم وأبصارهم)، قال: نمنعهم من ذلك، كما فعلنا بهم أول مرة . وقرأ: (كما لم يؤمنوا به أول مرة) . 13753- حدثنا القاسم قال، حدثنا الحسين قال، حدثني حجاج, عن ابن جريج, عن مجاهد: (ونقلب أفئدتهم وأبصارهم)، قال: نحول بينهم وبين الإيمان ولو جاءتهم كل آية فلا يؤمنون, كما حلنا بينهم وبين الإيمان أول مرة . * * * وقال آخرون: معنى ذلك: ونقلب أفئدتهم وأبصارهم لو رُدُّوا من الآخرة إلى الدنيا فلا يؤمنون، كما فعلنا بهم ذلك, فلم يؤمنوا في الدنيا . قالوا: وذلك نظير قوله وَلَوْ رُدُّوا لَعَادُوا لِمَا نُهُوا عَنْهُ ، [سورة الأنعام: 28] . * ذكر من قال قال ذلك: 13754- حدثني المثنى قال، حدثنا عبد الله بن صالح قال، حدثني معاوية بن صالح, عن علي بن أبي طلحة, عن ابن عباس قال: أخبر الله سبحانه ما العبادُ قائلون قبل أن يقولوه، وعملهم قبل أن يعملوه. قال: وَلا يُنَبِّئُكَ مِثْلُ خَبِيرٍ : أَنْ تَقُولَ نَفْسٌ يَا حَسْرَتَا عَلَى مَا فَرَّطْتُ فِي جَنْبِ اللَّهِ وَإِنْ كُنْتُ لَمِنَ السَّاخِرِينَ . أَوْ تَقُولَ لَوْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ هَدَانِي لَكُنْتُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ * أَوْ تَقُولَ حِينَ تَرَى الْعَذَابَ لَوْ أَنَّ لِي كَرَّةً فَأَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ ، [سورة الزمر: 56-58]، يقول: من المهتدين . فأخبر الله سبحانه أنهم لو رُدُّوا [إلى الدنيا، لما استقاموا] على الهدى، و[قال]: وَلَوْ رُدُّوا لَعَادُوا لِمَا نُهُوا عَنْهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَاذِبُونَ , (68) وقال: " ونقلب أفئدتهم وأبصارهم كما لم يؤمنوا به أول مرة " ، قال: لو ردوا إلى الدنيا لحيل بينهم وبين الهدى, كما حلنا بينهم وبينه أول مرة وهم في الدنيا . * * * قال أبو جعفر: وأولى التأويلات في ذلك عندي بالصواب أن يقال: إن الله جل ثناؤه، أخبر عن هؤلاء الذين أقسموا بالله جهدَ أيمانهم لئن جاءتهم آية ليؤمنن بها: أنَّه يقلب أفئدتهم وأبصارهم ويصرِّفها كيف شاء, وأنّ ذلك بيده يقيمه إذا شاء، ويزيغه إذا أراد= وأنّ قوله: (كما لم يؤمنوا به أول مرة)، دليل على محذوف من الكلام= وأنّ قوله: " كما " تشبيه ما بعده بشيء قبله . وإذْ كان ذلك كذلك, فالواجب أن يكون معنى الكلام: ونقلب أفئدتَهم، فنـزيغها عن الإيمان, وأبصارَهم عن رؤية الحق ومعرفة موضع الحجة, وإن جاءتهم الآية التي سألوها، فلا يؤمنوا بالله ورسوله وما جاء به من عند الله، كما لم يؤمنوا بتقليبنا إياها قبلَ مجيئها مرَّة قبل ذلك . * * * وإذا كان ذلك تأويله، كانت " الهاء " من قوله: (كما لم يؤمنوا به)، كناية ذكر " التقليب " . * * * القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَنَذَرُهُمْ فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ (110) قال أبو جعفر: يقول تعالى ذكره: ونذر هؤلاء المشركين الذين أقسموا بالله جهد أيمانهم: لئن جاءتهم آية ليؤمنن بها عند مجيئها (69) = في تمرُّدهم على الله واعتدائهم في حدوده, (70) يتردَّدون، لا يهتدون لحق، ولا يبصرون صوابًا, (71) قد غلب عليهم الخِذْلان، واستحوذ عليهم الشيطانُ . ------------------------- الهوامش : (68) في المطبوعة : (( فأخبر الله سبحانه أنهم لو ردوا لعادوا لما نهوا عنه ... )) حذف بعض ما في المخطوطة . وفي المخطوطة : (( فأخبر الله سبحانه أنهم لو ردوا على الهدى وقال : ولو ردوا لعادوا لما نهوا عنه ... )) فأثبت نص المخطوطة ، وزدت ما زدته بين القوسين حتى ستقيم الكلام . (69) انظر تفسير (( يذر )) فيما سلف 11 : 529 ، تعليق : 2 والمراجع هناك . (70) انظر تفسير (( الطغيان )) فيما سلف 10 : 475 ، تعليق : 2 ، والمراجع هناك . (71) انظر تفسير (( العمه )) فيما سلف 1 : 309 - 311 .