Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of His word: قُلْ أَنَدْعُو مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لا يَنْفَعُنَا وَلا يَضُرُّنَا وَنُرَدُّ عَلَى أَعْقَابِنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ كَالَّذِي اسْتَهْوَتْهُ الشَّيَاطِينُ فِي الأَرْضِ حَيْرَانَ لَهُ أَصْحَابٌ يَدْعُونَهُ إِلَى الْهُدَى ائْتِنَا (Say: shall we call upon, apart from Allah, that which neither benefits us nor harms us, and be turned back upon our heels after Allah has guided us, like one whom the devils have enticed in the earth, bewildered, while he has companions who call him to the guidance: come to us?)

   Abū Jaʿfar said: This is an instruction from Allah, exalted is His mention, to His Prophet ﷺ concerning his argumentation against the polytheists (mushrikīn) of his people, the idol-worshippers. Allah, exalted is His mention, says to him: Say, O Muḥammad, to these who equate their Lord with the idols and partners and who command you to follow their religion and to worship the idol-images together with them: Shall we call upon, apart from Allah, a stone or a piece of wood that has no power to benefit us or to harm us, and thus privilege it with worship above Allah, and abandon the worship of Him in whose hand lie harm, benefit, life, and death, if you possess understanding and thus distinguish between good and evil? There is no doubt that you know that serving that from which one hopes for benefit and whose harm one fears is more fitting and more excellent than serving that which gives hope of neither benefit nor fear of harm!

   = "and be turned back upon our heels", that is to say: and be turned back upon our backs, so that we return backwards, without having obtained our need.

   We have already set forth the meaning of "turning back on the heel", and that the Arabs say of every seeker of a need who has not obtained it: "he has turned back upon his two heels", in what preceded, in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it here.

   What is meant by it in this place is: and we are turned back from Islam to unbelief (kufr) = "after Allah has guided us", and has guided us to it, so that our example in that would be like the example of the man whom the devil caused to follow behind him, and who falls upon the earth, bewildered.

   And His word "istahwathu" is an "istafʿalathu" form, from the saying of him who says: "so-and-so desired this and that, he desires it (hawiya ... yahwī)", and from the word of Allah, exalted is His mention: فَاجْعَلْ أَفْئِدَةً مِنَ النَّاسِ تَهْوِي إِلَيْهِمْ [sūra Ibrāhīm: 37] (So make the hearts of people incline toward them), with the meaning: they draw toward them and desire them.

   As for "ḥayrān" (bewildered): this is a "faʿlān" form, from the saying of him who says: "so-and-so went astray on the road, so he wanders upon it, in bewilderment (ḥayra) and wandering (ḥayarān) and bewilderedness (ḥayrūra)" — and "ḥayrūra" is a maṣdar like "ṣayrūra", and the dictionaries do not record it, so this is something that is learned from Abū Jaʿfar and added to the dictionaries — and that is when he loses his way and does not find the right road.

   = "while he has companions who call him to the guidance", that is to say: this bewildered one, whom the devils have enticed in the earth, has companions on the straight path and the right course, who call him to the high road of the way of guidance upon which they are, saying to him: come to us.

   And the non-inflection of "ḥayrān" is because it is a "faʿlān" form, and every noun that has the "faʿlān" form and whose feminine is "faʿlā" is not inflected in the language of the Arabs, neither in the definite nor in the indefinite state.

   Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a parable that Allah, exalted is His mention, sets forth for whoever disbelieved in Allah after his faith, and followed the devils, among the people of ascribing partners to Allah (shirk) = while his companions, who were his companions in the state of his Islam, are steadfast upon the true religion and call him to the guidance upon which they are steadfast and the rightness to which they hold fast, while he abandons it and turns away from it; they say to him: "Come to us and be with us upon steadfastness and guidance!" But he refuses that, and follows the promptings of the devil, and worships the gods and the idol-images.

   And in accordance with what we have said about that, a group of the people of interpretation spoke, while a group differed therein.

   * Mention of who said that as we have said:

   13422 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "Say: shall we call upon, apart from Allah, that which neither benefits us nor harms us, and be turned back upon our heels after Allah has guided us, like one whom the devils have enticed in the earth, bewildered, while he has companions who call him to the guidance: come to us", he said: The polytheists said to the believers: Follow our way, and abandon the religion of Muḥammad ﷺ. Then Allah, exalted is His mention, said: "Say: shall we call upon, apart from Allah, that which neither benefits us nor harms us", these gods = "and be turned back upon our heels after Allah has guided us", so that our example would be like the example of him whom the devils have enticed in the earth; He says: your example, if you disbelieve after faith, is like the example of a man who was with a people on the road, and lost the road, whereupon the devils brought him into bewilderment and enticed him in the earth, while his companions were on the road, and they began to call him to themselves, saying: "Come to us, for we are on the road", but he refused to come to them. That is the example of whoever follows you after the knowledge of Muḥammad, while Muḥammad is the one who calls to the road, and the road is Islam.

   13423 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "shall we call upon, apart from Allah, that which neither benefits us nor harms us, and be turned back upon our heels", he said: This is a parable that Allah sets forth for the gods and whoever calls to them, and for the callers who call to Allah, as the example of a man who strayed from the road, bewildered and lost, when a caller called him: "O so-and-so, son of so-and-so, come to the road", while he has companions who call him: "O so-and-so, come to the road!" If he follows the first caller, this one carries him off until he casts him into destruction, and if he answers the one who calls him to the guidance, he is guided to the road. And this caller is the one who calls in the wilderness, among the ghīlān (desert demons). He says: the example of whoever worships these gods apart from Allah is that he supposes he is upon something, until death comes to him, and he meets destruction and regret. And His word: "like one whom the devils have enticed in the earth", and these are the "ghīlān", they call him by his name and the name of his father and the name of his grandfather, and he follows her, and he supposes that he is upon something, and he awakens while she has cast him into destruction, and sometimes she has eaten him = or she throws him into a place of straying in the earth where he perishes of thirst. This is the example of whoever answers the gods that are worshipped apart from Allah, mighty and exalted is He.

   13424 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, he said: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "the devils have enticed him in the earth", he said: they have caused him to go astray in the earth, bewildered.

   13425 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: "that which neither benefits us nor harms us", he said: the idol-images.

   13426 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us = and al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us = on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah, exalted is His mention: "the devils have enticed him in the earth, bewildered", he said: a bewildered man who is called to the road by his companions; that is the example of whoever goes astray after he has been guided.

   13427 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, he said: A man related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: "bewildered", this is a parable that Allah sets forth for the unbeliever; he says: the unbeliever is bewildered, the Muslim calls him to the guidance, but he gives no response.

   13428 — Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "Say: shall we call upon, apart from Allah, that which neither benefits us nor harms us", until he reached "to submit ourselves to the Lord of the worlds": Allah taught it to Muḥammad and his companions, so that they might combat with it the people of error in disputation.

   And others said in the interpretation of it, as:

   13429 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: My father related to me, he said: My uncle related to me, he said: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "like one whom the devils have enticed in the earth, bewildered, while he has companions who call him to the guidance", he said: that is the man who gives no response to the guidance of Allah, and he is a man who obeyed the devil, and acted in the earth in disobedience, and strayed from the truth and went astray from it, and he has companions who call him to the guidance and claim that that to which they command him is guidance. Allah says that to their allies among the people: that the guidance is the guidance of Allah, and the error is that to which the jinn call.

   It is thus as though Ibn ʿAbbās — according to this narration — holds that the companions of this bewildered one, who call him, in reality call him to error and claim that it is guidance, and that Allah declared them liars by His word: قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى اللَّهِ هُوَ الْهُدَى (Say: indeed, the guidance of Allah is the guidance), not that to which his companions call him.

   This is an interpretation that would have a valid sense, had Allah not named that to which the companions called the bewildered one "guidance", and had the report about it from his companions who called him to that to which they called him implied that it was they who so named it; but Allah named it "guidance" and reported about the companions of the bewildered one that they call him to it. And it is not permissible that Allah should name "error" guidance, for that would be a lie, and it is not permissible to describe Allah with lying, for that would be to describe Him with what is not among His attributes. It would only be permissible to direct that interpretation toward correctness, were that a report from Allah about the bewildered callers, that they said to him: "Come to the guidance", but now that He says: "they call him to the guidance", it is not permissible that this be so, while they would be calling him to error.

   As for His word "come to us", its meaning is: they say: come to us, come hither to us = and the "saying" has been omitted, because the utterance indicates it.

   And it is related of Ibn Masʿūd that he read it: (yadʿūnahu ilā al-hudā bayyinan) (they call him to the guidance, clearly).

   13430 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us about that, he said: Ghundar related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, he said: in the recitation of ʿAbd Allāh: (yadʿūnahu ilā al-hudā bayyinan).

   13431 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr informed me, that he heard Mujāhid saying: in the recitation of Ibn Masʿūd: (lahu aṣḥābun yadʿūnahu ilā al-hudā bayyinan), he said: "the guidance" is the road, that it is clear.

   And when that is read so, "the clear (al-bayyin)" is a description of "the guidance", and the accusative of "al-bayyin" is a detachment (qaṭʿ) from "the guidance", as though it were said: they call him to the clear guidance, and then "al-bayyin" was put in the accusative when the "alif and the lām" were dropped and it became an indefinite description of the definite.

   And this recitation that we have mentioned from Ibn Masʿūd supports the statement of him who said: "the guidance" in this place is the guidance in reality.

   The explanation of His word: قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى اللَّهِ هُوَ الْهُدَى وَأُمِرْنَا لِنُسْلِمَ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (71) (Say: indeed, the guidance of Allah is the guidance, and we have been commanded to submit ourselves to the Lord of the worlds.) (71)

   Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted is His mention, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Say, O Muḥammad, to these who equate their Lord with the idols, who say to your companions: "Follow our way, and we shall bear your sins, for we are upon guidance" =: The matter is not as you have claimed = "indeed, the guidance of Allah is the guidance", that is to say: indeed, the way of Allah that He has set forth and made clear to us, and our way that He has commanded us to hold fast to, and His religion that He has prescribed for us and set forth, that is the guidance and the steadfastness in which there is no doubt, not the worship of the idol-images and the idols that neither harm nor benefit; we shall therefore not abandon the truth and not follow falsehood = "and we have been commanded to submit ourselves to the Lord of the worlds", that is to say: and our Lord and the Lord of every thing, exalted is His face, has commanded us to submit ourselves to Him, to subject ourselves to Him in humility, obedience, and servitude, and to make that pure for Him, to the exclusion of what is apart from Him of partners and gods.

   We have already set forth the meaning of "Islam" with its proofs in what preceded of our book, in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it.

   And one says: "and we have been commanded to submit ourselves (li-nuslima)", with the meaning: and we have been commanded that we submit ourselves, and that we submit ourselves to the Lord of the worlds = because the Arabs put "kay" and "the lām" that has the meaning of "kay" in the place of "an", and "an" in its place.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : قُلْ أَنَدْعُو مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لا يَنْفَعُنَا وَلا يَضُرُّنَا وَنُرَدُّ عَلَى أَعْقَابِنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ كَالَّذِي اسْتَهْوَتْهُ الشَّيَاطِينُ فِي الأَرْضِ حَيْرَانَ لَهُ أَصْحَابٌ يَدْعُونَهُ إِلَى الْهُدَى ائْتِنَا قال أبو جعفر: وهذا تنبيه من الله تعالى ذكره نبيه صلى الله عليه وسلم على حجته على مشركي قومه من عبدة الأوثان. يقول له تعالى ذكره: قل، يا محمد، لهؤلاء العادلين بربهم الأوثانَ والأنداد، والآمرين لك باتباع دينهم وعبادة الأصنام معهم: أندعو من دون الله حجرًا أو خشبًا لا يقدر على نفعنا أو ضرنا, فنخصه بالعبادة دون الله, وندع عبادة الذي بيده الضر والنفع والحياة والموت, إن كنتم تعقلون فتميزون بين الخير والشر؟ فلا شك أنكم تعلمون أن خدمة ما يرتجى نفعه ويرهب ضره، أحق وأولى من خدمة من لا يرجى نفعه ولا يخشى ضره! * * * =" ونرد على أعقابنا "، يقول: ونرد إلى أدبارنا، فنرجع القهقري خلفنا، لم نظفر بحاجتنا. * * * وقد بينا معنى: " الرد على العقب ", وأن العرب تقول لكل طالب حاجة لم يظفر بها: " رد على عقبيه "، فيما مضى، بما أغنى عن إعادته في هذا الموضع. (24) * * * وإنما يراد به في هذا الموضع: ونرد من الإسلام إلى الكفر =" بعد إذ هدانا الله، فوفقنا له, فيكون مثلنا في ذلك مثل الرجل الذي استتبعه الشيطان، يهوي في الأرض حيران. * * * وقوله: " استهوته "،" استفعلته ", من قول القائل: " هوى فلان إلى كذا يهوي إليه ", ومن قول الله تعالى ذكره: فَاجْعَلْ أَفْئِدَةً مِنَ النَّاسِ تَهْوِي إِلَيْهِمْ ، [سورة إبراهيم: 37] ، بمعنى: تنـزع إليهم وتريدهم. * * * وأما " حيران "، فإنه " فعلان " من قول القائل: " قد حار فلان في الطريق، فهو يَحَار فيه حَيرة وحَيَرَانًا وَحيرُورة ", (25) وذلك إذ ضل فلم يهتد للمحجَّة. =" له أصحاب يدعونه إلى الهدى ", يقول: لهذا الحيران الذي قد استهوته الشياطين في الأرض، أصحابٌ على المحجة واستقامة السبيل, يدعونه إلى المحجة لطريق الهدى الذي هم عليه, يقولون له : ائتنا. * * * وترك إجراء " حيران ", لأنه " فعلان ", وكل اسم كان على " فعلان " مما أنثاه " فعلى " فإنه لا يجري في كلام العرب في معرفة ولا نكرة. * * * قال أبو جعفر: وهذا مثل ضربه الله تعالى ذكره لمن كفَر بالله بعد إيمانه، فاتبع الشياطين، من أهل الشرك بالله = وأصحابه الذين كانوا أصحابه في حال إسلامه، المقيمون على الدين الحق، يدعونه إلى الهدى الذي هم عليه مقيمون، والصواب الذي هم به متمسكون, وهو له مفارق وعنه زائل, يقولون له: " ائتنا فكن معنا على استقامة وهدى "! وهو يأبى ذلك, ويتبع دواعي الشيطان، ويعبد الآلهة والأوثان. * * * وبمثل الذي قلنا في ذلك قال جماعة من أهل التأويل, وخالف في ذلك جماعة. * ذكر من قال ذلك مثل ما قلنا: 13422 - حدثني محمد بن الحسين قال، حدثنا أحمد بن المفضل قال، حدثنا أسباط, عن السدي: " قل أندعو من دون الله ما لا ينفعنا ولا يضرنا ونردّ على أعقابنا بعد إذ هدانا الله كالذي استهوته الشياطين في الأرض حيران له أصحاب يدعونه إلى الهدى ائتنا "، قال: قال المشركون للمؤمنين: اتبعوا سبيلنا, واتركوا دين محمد = صلى الله عليه وسلم. فقال الله تعالى ذكره: " قل أندعو من دون الله ما لا ينفعنا ولا يضرنا "، هذه الآلهة =" ونردّ على أعقابنا بعد إذ هدانا الله ", فيكون مثلنا كمثل الذي استهوته الشياطين في الأرض، يقول: مثلكم إن كفرتم بعد الإيمان، كمثل رجل كان مع قوم على الطريق, فضلّ الطريق, فحيرته الشياطين، واستهوته في الأرض, وأصحابه على الطريق، فجعلوا يدعونه إليهم, يقولون: " ائتنا، فإنا على الطريق ", فأبى أن يأتيهم. فذلك مثل من يتبعكم بعد المعرفة بمحمد, ومحمد الذي يدعو إلى الطريق, والطريق هو الإسلام. 13423 - حدثني المثنى قال، حدثنا أبو صالح قال، حدثني معاوية, عن علي بن أبي طلحة, عن ابن عباس قوله: " أندعو من دون الله ما لا ينفعنا ولا يضرنا ونرد على أعقابنا "، قال: هذا مثل ضربه الله للآلهة ومن يدعو إليها، وللدعاة الذين يدعونَ إلى الله, كمثل رجل ضل عن الطريق تائهًا ضالا (26) إذ ناداه مناد: " يا فلان بن فلان، هلمّ إلى الطريق "، وله أصحاب يدعونه: " يا فلان، هلم إلى الطريق " ! فإن اتبع الداعي الأول انطلق به حتى يلقيه في الهلكة, وإن أجاب من يدعوه إلى الهدى اهتدى إلى الطريق. وهذه الداعية التي تدعو في البرية من الغيلان. يقول: مثل من يعبد هؤلاء الآلهة من دون الله, فإنه يرى أنه في شيء حتى يأتيه الموت، فيستقبل الهلكة والندامة. وقوله: " كالذي استهوته الشياطين في الأرض "، وهم " الغيلان " يدعونه باسمه واسم أبيه واسم جده, فيتبعها، فيرى أنه في شيء، فيصبح وقد ألقته في الهلكة، وربما أكلته = أو تلقيه في مضلّة من الأرض يهلك فيها عطشًا. فهذا مثل من أجاب الآلهة التي تُعبد من دون الله عز وجل. 13424 - حدثنا محمد بن عبد الأعلى قال، حدثنا محمد بن ثور قال، حدثنا معمر, عن قتادة: " استهوته الشياطين في الأرض "، قال: أضلته في الأرض حيران. 13425 - حدثني محمد بن عمرو قال، حدثنا أبو عاصم قال، حدثنا عيسى, عن ابن أبي نجيح, عن مجاهد في قوله: " ما لا ينفعنا ولا يضرنا "، قال: الأوثان . 13426 - حدثني محمد بن عمرو قال، حدثنا أبو عاصم قال، حدثنا عيسى = وحدثني المثنى قال، حدثنا أبو حذيفة قال، حدثنا شبل = عن ابن أبي نجيح, عن مجاهد في قول الله تعالى ذكره: " استهوته الشياطين في الأرض حيران "، قال: رجل حيران يدعوه أصحابه إلى الطريق, فذلك مثل من يضلّ بعد إذ هدي. (27) 13427- حدثنا محمد بن عبد الأعلى قال، حدثنا محمد بن ثور, عن معمر قال، حدثنا رجل, عن مجاهد قال،" حيران "، هذا مثل ضربه الله للكافر, يقول: الكافر حيران، يدعوه المسلم إلى الهدى فلا يجيب. 13428 - حدثنا بشر قال، حدثنا يزيد قال، حدثنا سعيد, عن قتادة قوله: " قل أندعو من دون الله ما لا ينفعنا ولا يضرنا "، حتى بلغ لِنُسْلِمَ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ، علمها الله محمدًا وأصحابه، يخاصمون بها أهلَ الضلالة. * * * وقال آخرون في تأويل ذلك، بما:- 13429 - حدثني به محمد بن سعد قال، حدثني أبي قال، حدثني عمي قال، حدثني أبي, عن أبيه, عن ابن عباس قوله: " كالذي استهوته الشياطين في الأرض حيران له أصحاب يدعونه إلى الهدى "، فهو الرجل الذي لا يستجيب لهدى الله, وهو رجل أطاعَ الشيطان، وعمل في الأرض بالمعصية، وحار عن الحقّ وضل عنه, وله أصحاب يدعونه إلى الهدى، ويزعمون أن الذي يأمرونه هدًى. يقول الله ذلك لأوليائهم من الإنس: إن الهدى هدى الله, والضلالة ما تدعو إليه الجنّ. * * * فكأنّ ابن عباس = على هذه الرواية = يرى أن أصحاب هذا الحيران الذين يدعونه إنما يدعونه إلى الضلال، ويزعمون أنّ ذلك هدى, وأنّ الله أكذبهم بقوله: قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى اللَّهِ هُوَ الْهُدَى ، لا ما يدعوه إليه أصحابه. وهذا تأويل له وجه، لو لم يكن الله سمى الذي دعا الحيرانَ إليه أصحابه " هدى ", وكان الخبر بذلك عن أصحابه الدعاة له إلى ما دعوه إليه: أنهم هم الذين سموه, ولكن الله سماه " هدى ", وأخبر عن أصحاب الحيران أنهم يدعونه إليه. وغير جائز أن يسمي الله " الضلال " هدى، لأن ذلك كذب, وغير جائز وصف الله بالكذب، لأن ذلك وصفه بما ليس من صفته. وإنما كان يجوز توجيه ذلك إلى الصواب، لو كان ذلك خبرًا من الله عن الداعي الحيران أنهم قالوا له: " تعال إلى الهدى "، فأما وهو قائل: " يدعونه إلى الهدى ", فغير جائز أن يكون ذلك، وهم كانوا يدعونه إلى الضلال. * * * وأما قوله: " ائتنا "، فإن معناه: يقولون: ائتنا، هلم إلينا = فحذف " القول "، لدلالة الكلام عليه. * * * وذكر عن ابن مسعود أنه كان يقرأ ذلك: (يَدْعُونَهُ إلَى الهُدَى بَيِّنًا) . 13430 - حدثنا بذلك ابن وكيع قال، حدثنا غندر, عن شعبة, عن أبي إسحاق قال: في قراءة عبد الله: (يَدْعُونَهُ إلَى الهُدَى بَيِّنًا). 13431 - حدثنا القاسم قال، حدثنا الحسين قال، حدثني حجاج, عن ابن جريج قال، أخبرني عبد الله بن كثير، أنه سمع مجاهدًا يقول: في قراءة ابن مسعود: (لَهُ أَصْحَابٌ يَدْعُونَهُ إلَى الهُدَى بَيِّنًا) ، قال: " الهدى " الطريق, أنه بين. * * * وإذا قرئ ذلك كذلك, كان " البين " من صفة " الهدى ", ويكون نصب " البين " على القطع من " الهدى ", (28) كأنه قيل: يدعونه إلى الهدى البين, ثم نصب " البين " لما حذفت " الألف واللام " , وصار نكرة من صفة المعرفة. * * * وهذه القراءة التي ذكرناها عن ابن مسعود تؤيد قول من قال: " الهدى " في هذا الموضع، هو الهدى على الحقيقة. * * * القول في تأويل قوله : قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى اللَّهِ هُوَ الْهُدَى وَأُمِرْنَا لِنُسْلِمَ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (71) قال أبو جعفر: يقول تعالى ذكره لنبيه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم: قل، يا محمد، لهؤلاء العادلين بربهم الأوثان، القائلين لأصحابك: " اتبعوا سبيلنا ولنحمل خطاياكم، فإنا على هدى " =: ليس الأمر كما زعمتم =" إن هدى الله هو الهدى "، يقول: إن طريق الله الذي بينه لنا وأوضحه، وسبيلنا الذي أمرنا بلزومه، ودينه الذي شرعه لنا فبينه, هو الهدى والاستقامة التي لا شك فيها, لا عبادة الأوثان والأصنام التي لا تضر ولا تنفع, فلا نترك الحق ونتبع الباطل =" وأمرنا لنسلم لرب العالمين "، يقول: وأمرَنا ربنا وربّ كل شيء تعالى وجهه, (29) لنسلم له، لنخضع له بالذلة والطاعة والعبودية, فنخلص ذلك له دون ما سواه من الأنداد والآلهة. * * * وقد بينا معنى " الإسلام " بشواهده فيما مضى من كتابنا، بما أغنى عن إعادته. (30) * * * وقيل: " وأمرنا لنسلم "، بمعنى: وأمرنا كي نسلم, وأن نسلم لرب العالمين = لأن العرب تضع " كي" و " اللام " التي بمعنى " كي"، مكان " أن " و " أن " مكانها . -------------------------- الهوامش : (24) انظر تفسير"الرد على الأعقاب" فيما سلف 3: 163 ، ومجاز القرآن لأبي عبيدة 1: 196. (25) "حيرورة" ، مصدر مثل"صيرورة" ، ولم تذكره كتب اللغة ، فهذا مما يستفاد من أبي جعفر ، ويزاد على كتب اللغة. (26) قوله"تائهًا ضالا" ، ساقطة من المطبوعة ، ثابتة في المخطوطة. (27) في المطبوعة: "كذلك مثل" ، وفي المخطوطة: "لذلك مثل . . ." ، والصواب ما أثبت. (28) انظر تفسير"القطع" فيما سلف من فهارس المصطلحات ، وهذا بيان صريح أن"القطع" هو النكرة إذا صار صفة لمعرفة. (29) انظر تفسير"العالمين" فيما سلف من فهارس اللغة (علم). (30) انظر تفسير"الإسلام" فيما سلف من فهارس اللغة (سلم).