Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: كَلا إِنَّهَا لَظَى (15) ("But no! Verily, it is a blazing flame (15)")

   He, exalted be His mention, says: but no, it is not so; nothing will save him from the punishment of Allah. Then He, exalted be His praise, began the report about that which He has prepared there for him, and said: إِنَّهَا لَظَى ("Verily, it is Laẓā"). And "Laẓā" is one of the names of Hell (jahannam), and that is why it was not declined (not given tanwīn).

   The Arabic philologists differed concerning its grammatical position. Some of the grammarians of Basra said: its position is the accusative (naṣb) as badal (substitution) for the hāʾ, and the predicate of "inna" is نـزاعَةً ("rending"). He said: and if you wish, you may make "Laẓā" nominative (rafʿ) as the predicate of "inna," and make نـزاعَةً nominative as an inception (ibtidāʾ). And some of those who rejected that said: it is not fitting that the manifest (al-ẓāhir) should follow the implied pronoun (al-mukannā), except in an anomalous case; he said: what is preferred is إِنَّهَا لَظَى * نـزاعَةً لِلشَّوَى ("Verily, it is a blazing flame, rending away the extremities"), whereby "Laẓā" is the predicate and "nazzāʿa" is a circumstantial qualifier (ḥāl). He said: and whoever reads it in the nominative begins anew (yastaʾnif), because it is praise or blame; he said: and it can only be an inception in that manner.

   And the correct view concerning that, according to us, is that لَظَى is the predicate, and نـزاعَةً is an inception, and so it is nominative; and the accusative is not permissible in the reading, because of the consensus of the reciters of the cities upon its nominative, and no reciter has read it thus with the accusative — even though the accusative in Arabic has a possible basis. And it is possible that the hāʾ in His word "innahā" is a support (ʿimād), and that "Laẓā" is nominative by "nazzāʿa," and "nazzāʿa" is nominative by "Laẓā," just as one says: "innahā Hind qāʾima" and "innahu Hind qāʾima," whereby the hāʾ in both cases is a support (ʿimād).

   Show original Arabic

   القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : كَلا إِنَّهَا لَظَى (15) يقول تعالى ذكره: كلا ليس ذلك كذلك، ليس ينجيه من عذاب الله شيء. ثم ابتدأ الخبر عما أعدّه له هنالك جلّ ثناؤه، فقال: (إِنَّهَا لَظَى ) ولظى: اسم من أسماء جهنم، ولذلك لم يجر. واختلف أهل العربية في موضعها، فقال بعض نحويي البصرة: موضعها نصب على البدل من الهاء، وخبر إن: (نـزاعَةً ) ؛ قال: وان شئت جعلت لظَى رفعا على خبر إن، ورفعت (نـزاعَةً ) على الابتداء، وقال بعض من أنكر ذلك: لا ينبغي أن يتبع الظاهر المكنى إلا في الشذوذ؛ قال: والاختيار (إِنَّهَا لَظَى * نـزاعَةً لِلشَّوَى ) لظى الخبر، ونـزاعة حال، قال: ومن رفع استأنف، لأنه مدح أو ذمّ، قال: ولا تكون ابتداء إلا كذلك. والصواب من القول في ذلك عندنا، أن (لَظَى ) الخبر، و (نـزاعَةً ) ابتداء، فذلك رفع، ولا يجوز النصب في القراءة لإجماع قرّاء الأمصار على رفعها، ولا قارئ قرأ كذلك بالنصب؛ وإن كان للنصب في العربية وجه؛ وقد يجوز أن تكون الهاء من قوله: " إنها " عمادا، ولظى مرفوعة بنـزاعة، ونـزاعة بلظَى، كما يقال: إنها هند قائمة، وإنه هند قائمة، والهاء عماد في الوجهين.