Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the exegesis of His statement: بَلْ بَدَا لَهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يُخْفُونَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَلَوْ رُدُّوا لَعَادُوا لِمَا نُهُوا عَنْهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَاذِبُونَ (28) ("But now has become manifest to them what they used to conceal before; and even if they were sent back, they would return to that which was forbidden them; and indeed they are liars.") (6:28)

   Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: As for these people who ascribe equals to their Lord and who deny your prophethood, O Muḥammad — concerning their statement when they are set before the Fire: يَا لَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلا نُكَذِّبَ بِآيَاتِ رَبِّنَا وَنَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ("O would that we were sent back, then we would not deny the signs of our Lord and we would be among the believers") — it is not out of grief and regret over having abandoned faith in Allah and professing belief in you, but rather it is, with them, the fear of that which afflicts them of Allah's punishment and His painful torment (ʿadhāb), on account of their sins which they used to conceal from the eyes of the people and hide from them. Allah then made these manifest from them on the Day of Resurrection and brought them to light before the witnesses, and thus He disgraced them thereby; then He requited them for it with their deserved recompense.

   He says: Rather, there has become manifest to them what they used to conceal of their evil deeds, which they "before" used to conceal in the worldly life, so that these now became visible. "And even if they were sent back" — He says: and even if they were sent back to the worldly life and granted respite — "they would return to that which was forbidden them" — He says: then they would return to the same kind of deeds that they used to perform previously in the worldly life: the denial of the signs of Allah, disbelief in Him, and the doing of that with which their Lord is angered against them. "And indeed they are liars" — in their statement: "Would that we were sent back, then we would not deny the signs of our Lord and we would be among the believers," for they said this, when they said it, out of fear of the punishment, not out of belief in Allah.

   * * *

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

   * Mention of those who said that:

   13181 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "But now has become manifest to them what they used to conceal before" — he says: their deeds, which they used to conceal in the worldly life, became manifest to them in the Hereafter.

   13182 - al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "But now has become manifest to them what they used to conceal before" — he said: of their deeds.

   13183 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "And even if they were sent back, they would return to that which was forbidden them" — he says: and even if Allah provided them with a worldly existence like their worldly existence, they would return to their deeds, the evil deeds.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : بَلْ بَدَا لَهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يُخْفُونَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَلَوْ رُدُّوا لَعَادُوا لِمَا نُهُوا عَنْهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَاذِبُونَ (28) قال أبو جعفر: يقول تعالى ذكره: ما بهؤلاء العادلين بربهم، (1) الجاحدين نبوتك، يا محمد، في قيلهم إذا وقفوا على النار: يَا لَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلا نُكَذِّبَ بِآيَاتِ رَبِّنَا وَنَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ = الأسَى والندمُ على ترك الإيمان بالله والتصديق بك، (2) لكن بهم الإشفاق مما هو نازلٌ بهم من عقاب الله وأليم عذابه، على معاصيهم التي كانوا يخفونها عن أعين الناس ويسترونها منهم, فأبداها الله منهم يوم القيامة وأظهرها على رؤوس الأشهاد, ففضحهم بها، ثم جازاهم بها جزاءَهم . يقول: بل بدا لهم ما كانوا يخفون من أعمالهم السيئة التي كانوا يخفونها " من قبل ذلك في الدنيا, فظهرت " وَلَوْ رُدُّوا " ، يقول: ولو ردّوا إلى الدنيا فأمْهلوا =" لعادوا لما نهوا عنه " ، يقول: لرجعوا إلى مثل العمل الذي كانوا يعملونه في الدنيا قبل ذلك، من جحود آيات الله، والكفر به، والعمل بما يسخط عليهم ربِّهم =" وإنهم لكاذبون " ، في قيلهم: " لو رددنا لم نكذب بآيات ربّنا وكنا من المؤمنين ", لأنهم قالوه حين قالوه خشية العذاب، لا إيمانًا بالله. * * * وبالذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: 13181 - حدثني محمد بن الحسين قال، حدثنا أحمد بن المفضل قال، حدثنا أسباط, عن السدي: " بل بدا لهم ما كانوا يخفون من قبل " ، يقول: بدت لهم أعمالهم في الآخرة، التي أخفوها في الدنيا . 13182 - حدثنا الحسن بن يحيى قال، أخبرنا عبد الرزاق قال، أخبرنا معمر, عن قتادة في قوله: " بل بدا لهم ما كانوا يخفون من قبل " ، قال: من أعمالهم . 13183 - حدثنا بشر بن معاذ قال، حدثنا يزيد قال، حدثنا سعيد, عن قتادة قوله: " ولو ردُّوا لعادُوا لما نهوا عنه " ، يقول: ولو وصل الله لهم دُنيا كدنياهم, لعادوا إلى أعمالهم أعمالِ السوء.