Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of His word: إِنِّي وَجَّهْتُ وَجْهِيَ لِلَّذِي فَطَرَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ حَنِيفًا وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ (Verily, I have directed my face toward Him who created the heavens and the earth, as a ḥanīf, and I am not one of the polytheists (mushrikīn)) (6:79).

   Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a report from Allah, the Exalted, concerning His intimate friend Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him: that when the truth became clear to him and he knew it, he bore witness to the truth, and openly took his stand against his people — the people of falsehood and the people of ascribing partners to Allah (shirk) — and that no reproach of any reproacher reached him in the matter of Allah, and that he did not shrink from uttering the truth and standing firm upon it, even though his entire people opposed his word and rejected it from him. He said to them: "O my people, verily, I am free of that which you ascribe as partners" alongside Allah who created me and you, in the worship of your deities and your idols. Verily, I have directed my face, in my worship, toward Him who created the heavens and the earth, the Everlasting who endures and does not perish, who gives life and causes death — not toward that which perishes and does not endure, which vanishes and does not last, which brings about neither harm nor benefit.

   Then the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, informed them: that his directing of his face toward His worship took place by devoting worship purely to Him and being steadfast therein for his Lord, in the manner that He loves, namely the profession of the Oneness (tawḥīd) — not in the manner in which one who is not a ḥanīf directs his face, but who, precisely by that directing, is a polytheist (mushrik). For directing the face in a manner other than pure monotheistic devotion (taḥannuf) does not benefit the one who directs his face, but rather harms him and casts him into ruin. "And I am not one of the polytheists (mushrikīn)," and I am not one of you, that is to say: I am not one of those who adhere to your religion and follow your creed, O you polytheists.

   * * *

   And in the spirit of what we have said about this, Ibn Zayd used to say:

   13465m — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the word of the people of Ibrāhīm to Ibrāhīm: "Have you abandoned the worship of these?" Whereupon he said: "Verily, I have directed my face toward Him who created the heavens and the earth." They said: "You have come with nothing new! We too worship Him and direct ourselves toward Him!" Whereupon he said: "But not as a ḥanīf!" He (Ibn Zayd) said: that means: purely devoted, without ascribing partners to Him as you ascribe partners.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : إِنِّي وَجَّهْتُ وَجْهِيَ لِلَّذِي فَطَرَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ حَنِيفًا وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ (79) قال أبو جعفر: وهذا خبر من الله تعالى ذكره عن خليله إبراهيم عليه السلام: أنه لما تبيّن له الحق وعرَفه, شهد شهادةَ الحقّ, وأظهر خلاف قومِه أهلِ الباطل وأهلِ الشرك بالله، ولم يأخذه في الله لومة لائم, ولم يستوحش من قِيل الحقِّ والثبات عليه, مع خلاف جميع قومه لقوله، وإنكارهم إياه عليه, وقال لهم: " يا قوم إنّي بريء مما تشركون " مع الله الذي خلقني وخلقكم في عبادته من آلهتكم وأصنامكم, (69) إني وجهت وجهي في عبادتي إلى الذي خلق السماوات والأرض, الدائم الذي يبقى ولا يفنى، ويُحْيي ويميت = لا إلى الذي يفنى ولا يبقى، ويزول ولا يدوم، ولا يضر ولا ينفع. ثم أخبرهم تعالى ذكره: أن توجيهه وجهه لعبادته، بإخلاص العبادة له، والاستقامة في ذلك لربه على ما يحبُّ من التوحيد, لا على الوجه الذي يوجَّه له وَجْهه من ليس بحنيف, ولكنه به مشرك, (70) إذ كان توجيه الوجه على غير التحنُّف غير نافع موجِّهه، (71) بل ضارّه ومهلكه =" وما أنا من المشركين "، ولست منكم ، أي : لست ممن يدين دينكم، ويتّبع ملّتكم أيُّها المشركون. * * * وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك كان ابن زيد يقول: 13465م - حدثني يونس قال، أخبرنا ابن وهب قال، قال ابن زيد في قول قوم إبراهيم لإبراهيم: تركت عبادة هذه؟ فقال: " إني وجّهت وجهي للذي فطر السماوات والأرض "، فقالوا: ما جئت بشيء! ونحن نعبده ونتوجّهه! فقال : لا حنيفًا!! قال: مخلصًا, لا أشركه كما تُشْركون. ------------------- الهوامش : (69) انظر تفسير"فطر" فيما سلف ص: 283 ، 284. (70) انظر تفسير"الحنيف" فيما سلف 3: 104 - 108 ، 6 494 ، 9 : 250. (71) في المطبوعة: "إذا كان توجيه الوجه لا على التحنيف" ، وفي المخطوطة: " . . . توجيه الوجه على التحنف" ، والصواب ما أثبت.