Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The discourse on the explanation of His statement: وَأَوْرَثْنَا الْقَوْمَ الَّذِينَ كَانُوا يُسْتَضْعَفُونَ مَشَارِقَ الأَرْضِ وَمَغَارِبَهَا الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ الْحُسْنَى عَلَى بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ بِمَا صَبَرُوا وَدَمَّرْنَا مَا كَانَ يَصْنَعُ فِرْعَوْنُ وَقَوْمُهُ وَمَا كَانُوا يَعْرِشُونَ (137) ("And We made the people who were oppressed inherit the eastern parts of the land and its western parts, which We had blessed; and the fair word of your Lord was fulfilled toward the Children of Israel, because of their patience; and We destroyed what Pharaoh and his people had made and what they had been erecting." (7:137))

   Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: And We made the people who were oppressed by Pharaoh and his people inherit — those who slaughtered their sons, kept their women alive, and set them to labor in servitude and as slaves, namely the Children of Israel — the eastern part of the land, [that is] al-Shām (Syria), and that is what lies on its eastern side; "and its western part which We had blessed," He says: for whose inhabitants We made the good lasting and enduring.

   The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, said only "and We made inherit" (wa-awrathnā), because He made the Children of Israel inherit that through the destruction of the ʿAmālīq (Amalekites) who were there.

   * * *

   And in accordance with what we have said concerning His statement "the eastern part of the land and its western part," so have the scholars of interpretation spoken.

   * Mention of who said that:

   15043 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Furāt al-Qazzāz, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement "and We made the people who were oppressed inherit the eastern part of the land and its western part which We had blessed," he said: al-Shām.

   15044 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Isrāʾīl informed us, on the authority of Furāt al-Qazzāz, saying: I heard al-Ḥasan say — and he mentioned something similar.

   15045 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Qabīṣa related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Furāt al-Qazzāz, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, "the land which We had blessed," he said: al-Shām.

   15046 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement "and We made the people who were oppressed inherit the eastern part of the land and its western part which We had blessed," it is the land of al-Shām.

   15047 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement "the eastern part of the land and its western part which We had blessed," he said: that which He blessed, [is] al-Shām.

   * * *

   Some of the scholars of Arabic claimed that "the eastern part of the land and its western part" stands in the accusative as an adverbial of place, with the meaning: and We made the people who were oppressed inherit in the eastern part of the land and its western part; and that His statement "and We made inherit" actually relates to His statement "which We had blessed."

   That, however, is a statement without meaning, for the Children of Israel in the days of Pharaoh were oppressed by none other than Pharaoh and his people, and he had no dominion except in Egypt. Since the matter stands thus, it is not permissible to say: those who are oppressed in the eastern part of the land and its western part.

   * * *

   And if a speaker says: Its meaning is then "in the eastern part of the land of Egypt and its western part" — then that is far removed from what is understood by the expression, in addition to the fact that it diverges from the statements of the scholars of interpretation and the experts of tafsīr.

   * * *

   As for His statement "and the fair word of your Lord was fulfilled," He says: and the promise of Allah, which He made to the Children of Israel, was fully fulfilled as He had promised them: their settlement in the land and His help to them against their enemy Pharaoh. And His fair word is His statement, the Exalted whose praise is exalted: وَنُرِيدُ أَنْ نَمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِي الأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِينَ * وَنُمَكِّنَ لَهُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ وَنُرِيَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَهَامَانَ وَجُنُودَهُمَا مِنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَحْذَرُونَ [al-Qaṣaṣ: 5-6] ("And We wished to bestow favor upon those who were oppressed in the land, and to make them leaders and to make them the inheritors, and to give them a firm footing in the land, and to show Pharaoh and Hāmān and their armies from them that which they had been dreading." [28:5-6]).

   * * *

   And in conformity with what we have said about that, the scholars of interpretation have spoken.

   * Mention of who said that:

   15048 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah "and the fair word of your Lord was fulfilled toward the Children of Israel," he said: the victory of the people of Mūsā over Pharaoh, and Allah's establishment of them in the land and what He made them inherit thereof.

   15049 - 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, something similar.

   * * *

   As for His statement "and We destroyed what Pharaoh and his people had made," He says: and We annihilated what Pharaoh and his people had made of buildings and tilled fields; "and what they had been erecting" (yaʿrishūn), He says: and what they erected of edifices and palaces — We swept them away from all of that and destroyed all of it.

   * * *

   We have already earlier expounded the meaning of al-taʿrīsh (erecting) with its evidences. And in accordance with what we have said about that, the scholars of interpretation have spoken.

   * Mention of who said that:

   15050 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement "and what they had been erecting," he says: built.

   15051 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "yaʿrishūn," they built the houses and dwellings as high as they could, while their grapevines were not trained on trellises.

   15052 - 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 same.

   * * *

   The reciters differed concerning its reading.

   The general reciters of the Ḥijāz and Iraq read it "yaʿrishūn," with a kasra on the rāʾ — with the exception of ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Najūd, for he read it with a ḍamma upon it.

   * * *

   Abū Jaʿfar said: They are two well-known dialectal forms among the Arabs; one says that it is ʿarasha, yaʿrishu and yaʿrushu. Since it stands thus, whichever of the two the reciter recites, he is within his right, owing to the agreement of the two meanings thereof, and because both are well known in the speech of the Arabs. Likewise the Arabs do in the case of faʿala: when they bring it into the future tense, they sometimes give the second radical a ḍamma and sometimes a kasra. But the more beloved of the two readings to me is the kasra of the rāʾ, owing to its familiarity among the multitude, the frequent reciting with it, and because it is the more correct of the two dialectal forms.

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله : وَأَوْرَثْنَا الْقَوْمَ الَّذِينَ كَانُوا يُسْتَضْعَفُونَ مَشَارِقَ الأَرْضِ وَمَغَارِبَهَا الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ الْحُسْنَى عَلَى بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ بِمَا صَبَرُوا وَدَمَّرْنَا مَا كَانَ يَصْنَعُ فِرْعَوْنُ وَقَوْمُهُ وَمَا كَانُوا يَعْرِشُونَ (137) قال أبو جعفر: يقول تعالى ذكره: وأورثنا القوم الذين كان فرعون وقومه يستضعفونهم, فيذبحون أبناءهم، ويستحيون نساءهم, ويستخدمونهم تسخيرًا واستعبادًا من بني إسرائيل (69) = مشارق الأرض الشأم, وذلك ما يلي الشرق منها = " ومغاربها التي باركنا فيها ", يقول: التي جعلنا فيها الخير ثابتًا دائمًا لأهلها. (70) وإنما قال جل ثناؤه: (وأورثنا)، لأنه أورث ذلك بني إسرائيل بمهلك من كان فيها من العمالقة. * * * وبمثل الذي قلنا في قوله: (مشارق الأرض ومغاربها)، قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: 15043 - حدثنا ابن وكيع قال، حدثنا يحيى بن يمان, عن إسرائيل , عن فرات القزاز, عن الحسن في قوله: (وأورثنا القوم الذين كانوا يستضعفون مشارق الأرض ومغاربها التي باركنا فيها)، قال: الشأم. 15044 - حدثنا الحسن بن يحيى قال، أخبرنا عبد الرزاق قال، أخبرنا إسرائيل, عن فرات القزاز قال: سمعت الحسن يقول, فذكر نحوه. 15045 - حدثنا ابن وكيع قال، حدثنا قبيصة, عن سفيان, عن فرات القزاز, عن الحسن، الأَرْضِ الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا ، قال: الشأم. 15046 - حدثنا بشر بن معاذ قال، حدثنا يزيد بن زريع قال، حدثنا سعيد, عن قتادة قوله: (وأورثنا القوم الذين كانوا يستضعفون مشارق الأرض ومغاربها التي باركنا فيها)، هي أرض الشأم. 15047 - حدثنا محمد بن عبد الأعلى قال، حدثنا محمد بن ثور, عن معمر, عن قتادة قوله: (مشارق الأرض ومغاربها التي باركنا فيها)، قال: التي بارك فيها، الشأم. * * * وكان بعض أهل العربية يزعم " أن مشارق الأرض ومغاربَها نصب على المحلّ, بمعني: وأورثنا القوم الذين كانوا يستضعفون في مشارق في الأرض ومغاربها = وأن قوله: وأورثنا إنما وقع على قوله: (التي باركنا فيها). (71) وذلك قول لا معنى له, لأن بني إسرائيل لم يكن يستضعفهم أيام فرعون غير فرعون وقومه, ولم يكن له سلطان إلا بمصر , فغير جائز والأمر كذلك أن يقال: الذين يستضعفون في مشارق الأرض ومغاربها. * * * فإن قال قائل: فإن معناه: في مشارق أرض مصر ومغاربها = فإن ذلك بعيد من المفهوم في الخطاب، مع خروجه عن أقوال أهل التأويل والعلماء بالتفسير. * * * وأما قوله: (وتمت كلمة ربك الحسنى)، فإنه يقول: وَفَي وعدُ الله الذي وعد بني إسرائيل بتمامه, على ما وعدهم، من تمكينهم في الأرض, ونصره إياهم على عدوّهم فرعون = وأن كلمته الحسنى أن قوله جل ثناؤه: وَنُرِيدُ أَنْ نَمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِي الأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِينَ * وَنُمَكِّنَ لَهُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ وَنُرِيَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَهَامَانَ وَجُنُودَهُمَا مِنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَحْذَرُونَ ، [القصص: 5-6]. * * * وبنحو ما قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: 15048 - حدثنا محمد بن عمرو قال " حدثنا أبو عاصم قال حدثنا عيسى, عن ابن أبي نجيح, عن مجاهد في قول الله: (وتمت كلمة ربك الحسنى على بني إسرائيل)، قال: ظهرَ قوم موسى على فرعون، و تمكين الله لهم في الأرض وما ورَّثهم منها. (72) 15049 - حدثني المثنى قال، حدثنا أبو حذيفة قال، حدثنا شبل, عن ابن أبي نجيح, عن مجاهد بنحوه. * * * وأما قوله: (ودمرنا ما كان يصنع فرعون وقومه)، فإنه يقول: وأهلكنا ما كان فرعون وقومه يصنعونه من العِمارات والمزارع =(وما كانوا يعرشون)، يقول: وما كانوا يبنون من الأبنية والقصور, وأخرجناهم من ذلك كله , وخرَّبنا جميع ذلك. * * * وقد بينا معنى التعريش أن فيما مضى بشواهده. (73) وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: 15050 - حدثني المثنى قال، حدثنا عبد الله بن صالح قال، حدثني معاوية, عن علي بن أبي طلحة, عن ابن عباس, قوله: (وما كانوا يعرشون)، يقول: يبنون. 15051 - حدثني محمد بن عمرو قال، حدثنا أبو عاصم, عن عيسى, عن ابن أبي نجيح, عن مجاهد: ( يعرشون)، يبنون البيوت والمساكن ما بلغت, وكان عنبهم غير معرَّش. (74) 15052 - حدثني المثنى قال، حدثنا أبو حذيفة قال، حدثنا شبل, عن ابن أبي نجيح, عن مجاهد, مثله. * * * واختلفت القرأة في قراءة ذلك. فقرأته عامة قرأة الحجاز والعراق: (يَعْرِشُونَ)، بكسر الراء = سوى عاصم بن أبي النجود, فإنه قرأه بضمّها. * * * قال أبو جعفر: وهما لغتان مشهورتان في العرب, يقال: أن عرَش يعرِش ويعْرُش فإذا كان ذلك كذلك, فبأيتهما قرأ القارئ فمصيب لاتّفاق مَعْنَيي ذلك, (75) وأنهما معروفان من كلام العرب. وكذلك تفعل العرب في أن فعَل إذا ردّته إلى الاستقبال, تضمُّ العين منه أحيانًا , وتكسره أحيانًا. غير أن أحبَّ القراءتين إليّ كسر الراء "، لشهرتها في العامة، وكثرة القرأة بها، وأنها أصحُّ اللغتين. * * * -------------------------------------------------------- الهوامش: (69) انظر تفسير (( الاستضعاف )) فيما سلف 12 : 542 . (70) انظر تفسير (( البركة )) فيما سلف من فهارس اللغة ( برك ) (71) يعني بالوقوع ، أنه تعدي إليه ، فهو له مفعول به . (72) في المطبوعة : (( ظهور قوم موسي 000)) ثم : (( وما ورثهم منها )) بزيادة الواو ، وأثبت ما في المخطوطة ، فهو مستقيم غاية الاستقامة . (73) انظر تفسير (( التعريش )) فيما سلف 12 : 156 . (74) في المطبوعة : (( غير معروش )) ، وأثبت ما في المخطوطة . (75) في المطبوعة : (( معني ذلك )) بالأفراد ، وأثبت ما في المخطوطة بالتثنية .