Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The explanation of His word: And when the plague fell upon them, they said: "O Mūsā, call upon your Lord for us, on the basis of what He has entrusted to you: if you remove the plague from us, we will surely believe you and we will surely send the Children of Israel with you" (7:134).

   Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: "And when the plague fell upon them" — and when the punishment of Allah descended upon them and His wrath struck them.

   * * *

   Then the people of interpretation differed concerning that "plague" (al-rijz) which Allah reported fell upon this people.

   Some of them said: it was a pestilence.

   * Mention of who said that:

   15033 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb al-Qummī related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn al-Mughīra, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: Mūsā commanded his people of the Children of Israel — and that was after the five signs had come to the people of Firʿawn: the flood and what Allah mentions in this verse, but they did not believe and did not send the Children of Israel with him — and he said: let each one of you slaughter a ram, then dip his hand in its blood, and strike his door with it! Then the Copts said to the Children of Israel: why do you treat this blood upon your doors? They said: Truly, Allah will send upon you a punishment, so that we remain safe and you perish. The Copts said: does Allah then know you only by these signs? They said: thus our prophet commanded us! Then morning came and of the people of Firʿawn seventy thousand were struck, and evening fell while they could not bury one another. Then Firʿawn said at that moment: call upon your Lord for us, on the basis of what He has entrusted to you: if you remove the plague from us — that is the pestilence — we will surely believe you and we will surely send the Children of Israel with you. Then he called upon his Lord, and He removed it from them. Of them all, Firʿawn was the least to keep his promise, and he said to Mūsā: go with the Children of Israel wherever you wish.

   15034 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥabbūya al-Rāzī and Abū Dāwūd al-Ḥafarī related to us, on the authority of Yaʿqūb, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr — Ḥabbūya said: on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — if you remove the plague from us, he said: the pestilence.

   * * *

   And others said: it is the punishment.

   * Mention of who said that:

   15035 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "al-rijz" is the punishment.

   15036 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of that.

   15037 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: Then when We removed the plague from them, that is to say: the punishment.

   15038 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, saying: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: And when the plague fell upon them, he says: the punishment.

   15039 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: And when the plague fell upon them, he said: "al-rijz" is the punishment which Allah brought upon them of locusts, lice and the like, and with all of that they made a promise and then broke it.

   * * *

   And we have already expounded the meaning of "al-rijz" in what preceded in this book of ours, with its evidences, in a manner that makes repetition unnecessary.

   * * *

   Abū Jaʿfar said: And the more correct of the two statements in this place is that one says: Allah, the Exalted whose praise is mentioned, reported concerning Firʿawn and his people that, when the plague fell upon them — and that is the punishment and the wrath of Allah upon them — they took refuge in Mūsā, requesting of him that he ask his Lord to remove that from them. It is possible that this "plague" was the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs and the blood, because all of that was a punishment for them — and it is possible that this "plague" was a pestilence. Allah has not informed us which of these it was, and there is not correctly transmitted from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, any narration concerning which of these it was, that we might submit to it. The correct thing, then, is that we say concerning it as the Exalted, whose praise is extolled, said: And when the plague fell upon them, and we do not go beyond that except with an explanation in which there is no disagreement among the people of interpretation, namely: when the punishment of Allah and His wrath struck them.

   * * *

   = They said: "O Mūsā, call upon your Lord for us, on the basis of what He has entrusted to you", he says: on the basis of what He has charged and commanded you. And we have already expounded the meaning of "al-ʿahd" (the covenant/the entrustment) before.

   * * *

   = if you remove the plague from us, he says: if you lift from us the punishment in which we are, we will surely believe you, he says: we will surely believe in that with which you have come and to which you have called, and we will surely acknowledge it toward you — and we will surely send the Children of Israel with you, he says: and we will surely release the Children of Israel with you and not prevent them from going wherever they wish.

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   Footnotes:

   (58) In the printed edition it reads "lima tajʿalūna", and in the manuscript as I have recorded it. It is poorly written, but its meaning comes close to the correct one, if Allah wills.

   (59) See the explanation of "al-rijz" earlier 2:116-118 / 12:521.

   (60) See the explanation of "al-ʿahd" earlier, p. 10, note 2, and the references mentioned there.

   (61) See the explanation of "al-kashf" earlier 11:354.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : وَلَمَّا وَقَعَ عَلَيْهِمُ الرِّجْزُ قَالُوا يَا مُوسَى ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ بِمَا عَهِدَ عِنْدَكَ لَئِنْ كَشَفْتَ عَنَّا الرِّجْزَ لَنُؤْمِنَنَّ لَكَ وَلَنُرْسِلَنَّ مَعَكَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ (134) قال أبو جعفر: يقول تعالى ذكره: " ولما وقع عليهم الرجز ", ولما نـزل بهم عذاب الله, وحَلّ بهم سخطه. * * * ثم اختلف أهل التأويل في ذلك " الرجز " الذي أحبر الله أنه وقع بهؤلاء القوم. فقال بعضهم: كان ذلك طاعونًا. * ذكر من قال ذلك: 15033 - حدثنا ابن حميد قال، حدثنا يعقوب القمي, عن جعفر بن المغيرة, عن سعيد بن جبير قال: وأمر موسى قومه من بني إسرائيل = وذلك بعد ما جاء قوم فرعونَ بالآيات الخمس: الطوفان وما ذكر الله في هذه الآية, فلم يؤمنوا ولم يرسلوا معه بني إسرائيل = فقال: ليذبح كل رجل منكم كبشًا, ثم ليخضب كفّه في دمه, ثم ليضرب به على بابه! فقالت القبط لبني إسرائيل = لم تعالجُون هذا الدمَ على أبوابكم؟ (58) فقالوا: إن الله يرسل عليكم عذابًا، فنسلم وتهلكون. فقالت القبط: فما يعرفكم الله إلا بهذه العلامات؟ فقالوا: هكذا أمرنا به نبيّنا! فأصبحوا وقد طُعِنَ من قوم فرعون سبعون ألفًا, فأمسوا وهم لا يتدَافنون. فقال فرعون عند ذلك: (ادع لنا ربك بما عهد عندك لئن كشفتَ عنا الرجز)، وهو الطاعون,(لنؤمنن لك ولنرسلن معك بني إسرائيل)، فدعا ربه، فكشفه عنهم, فكان أوفاهم كلّهم فرعون, فقال لموسى: اذهب ببني إسرائيل حيث شئت. 15034 - حدثنا ابن وكيع قال، حدثنا حبويه الرازي وأبو داود الحفري, عن يعقوب, عن جعفر, عن سعيد بن جبير = قال حبويه، عن ابن عباس =(لئن كشفت عنا الرجز) قال: الطاعون. * * * وقال آخرون: هو العذاب. * ذكر من قال ذلك: 15035 - حدثني محمد بن عمرو قال، حدثنا أبو عاصم قال، حدثنا عيسى, عن ابن أبي نجيح, عن مجاهد: " الرجز " العذاب. 15036 - حدثني المثنى قال، حدثنا أبو حذيفة قال، حدثنا شبل, عن ابن أبي نجيح, عن مجاهد, مثله. 15037 - حدثنا بشر بن معاذ قال، حدثنا يزيد قال، حدثنا سعيد, عن قتادة قوله: فَلَمَّا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمُ الرِّجْزَ ، أي العذاب. 15038 - حدثنا محمد بن عبد الأعلى قال، حدثنا محمد بن ثور قال، حدثنا معمر, عن قتادة: (ولما وقع عليهم الرجز)، يقول: العذاب. 15039 - حدثني يونس قال، أخبرنا ابن وهب قال، قال ابن زيد في قوله: (ولما وقع عليهم الرجز)، قال، " الرجز "، العذاب الذي سلط الله عليهم من الجراد والقمل وغير ذلك, وكلّ ذلك يعاهدونه ثم ينكثون. * * * وقد بينا معنى " الرجز " فيما مضى من كتابنا هذا بشواهده المغنية عن إعادتها. (59) * * * قال أبو جعفر: وأولى القولين بالصواب في هذا الموضع أن يقال: إن الله تعالى ذكره أخبر عن فرعون وقومه أنهم لما وقع عليهم الرجز = وهو العذاب والسخط من الله عليهم = فزعوا إلى موسى بمسألته ربَّه كشفَ ذلك عنهم. وجائز أن يكون ذلك " الرجز " كان الطوفان والجراد والقمل والضفادع والدم, لأن كل ذلك كان عذابًا عليهم = وجائز أن يكون ذلك " الرجز " كان طاعونًا، ولم يخبرنا الله أيّ ذلك كان, ولا صحَّ عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بأيِّ ذلك كان خبرٌ، فنسلم له. فالصواب أن نقول فيه كما قال جل ثناؤه: (ولما وقع عليهم الرجز)، ولا نتعداه إلا بالبيان الذي لا تمانع فيه بين أهل التأويل, وهو لمّا حل بهم عذاب الله وسخطه. * * * =(قالوا يا موسى ادع لنا ربك بما عهد عندك)، يقول: بما أوصاك وأمرك به. (60) وقد بينا معنى: " العهد "، فيما مضى. * * * =(لئن كشفت عنا الرجز)، يقول: لئن رفعت عنا العذاب الذي نحن فيه (61) (لنؤمننّ لك)، يقول: لنصدقن بما جئت به ودعوت إليه ولنقرَّنّ به لك =( ولنرسلن معك بني إسرائيل)، يقول: ولنخلِّين معك بني إسرائيل فلا نمنعهم أن يذهبوا حيث شاؤوا. ----------------- الهوامش : (58) في المطبوعة : (( لم تجعلون )) ، وفي المخطوطة كما أثبتها . سيئة الكتابة ، ومعناها قريب من الصواب إن شاء الله . (59) انظر تفسير (( الرجز )) فيما سلف 2: 116 - 118/12 : 521 . (60) انظر تفسير (( العهد )) فيما سلف ص : 10 ، تعليق : 2 ، والمراجع هناك . (61) انظر تفسير (( الكشف )) فيما سلف 11 : 354 .