Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   The scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the meaning of His word: نَذِيرًا لِلْبَشَرِ ("a warning to mankind"), and concerning what is being described by it. Some of them said: by this the Fire (al-nār) is meant, and they said: it is an attribute of the "hā" (the suffix) in His word إنها ("verily, it"); and they said: it is the warning (al-nadhīr). According to the view of these, "nadhīran" ("a warning") is placed in the accusative as a detachment (qaṭʿ) from "one of the greatest [calamities]" (iḥdā al-kubar); because "iḥdā al-kubar" is definite (maʿrifa), whereas His word نَذِيرًا is indefinite (nakira), and it is permissible linguistically to let the sentence rest before it, without that word.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Al-Ḥasan said: "By Allah, the people have been warned with nothing more terrible than it, nor with any calamity more terrible than it."

   And others said: No, that belongs to the attributes of Allah, the Exalted, and it is an announcement by Allah about Himself, that He is a warner (nadhīr) to His creation. According to this view, the accusative of His word نَذِيرًا must be regarded as an exit (khurūj) from the preceding sentence in its entirety, so that the meaning of the sentence is: "And We have made the keepers of the Fire only angels as a warning to mankind," that is to say: as a warning to them. Thus His word نَذِيرًا is in the meaning of "a warning to them," just as He said: فَسَتَعْلَمُونَ كَيْفَ نَذِيرِ ("then you will know how My warning is") in the meaning of "My warning." And it also bears the meaning: "verily, it is one of the greatest [calamities]; We have made that so as a warning," so that His word إِنَّهَا لإحْدَى الْكُبَرِ ("verily, it is one of the greatest [calamities]") conveys the meaning of "We have made that so." This is the meaning intended by the one who said that, if Allah wills.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Abū Razīn, [concerning] إِنَّهَا لإحْدَى الْكُبَرِ , he said: it is jahannam (Hell); نَذِيرًا لِلْبَشَرِ — Allah says: "I am for you a warner against it, so fear it."

   And others said: No, that belongs to the attributes of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and they said: "nadhīran" is placed in the accusative as a circumstantial qualifier (ḥāl) of what is implied in His word "qum" ("stand up"), and they said: the meaning of the sentence is: "Stand up as a warning to mankind and warn."

   * Mention of who said that:

   Show original Arabic

   واختلف أهل التأويل في معنى قوله: ( نَذِيرًا لِلْبَشَرِ )، وما الموصوف بذلك، فقال بعضهم: عُنِيَ بذلك النار، وقالوا: هي صفة للهاء التي في قوله ( إنها ) وقالوا: هي النذير، فعلى قول هؤلاء النذير نصب على القطع من إحدى الكبر؛ لأن إحدى &; 24-34 &; الكبر معرفة، وقوله: ( نَذِيرًا ) نكرة، والكلام قد يحسُن الوقوف عليه دونه. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة قال: قال الحسن: والله ما أُنذر الناسُ بشيء أدهى منها، أو بداهية هي أدهى منها. وقال آخرون: بل ذلك من صفة الله تعالى، وهو خبر من الله عن نفسه، أنه نذير لخلقه، وعلى هذا القول يجب أن يكون نصب قوله ( نَذِيرًا ) على الخروج من جملة الكلام المتقدم، فيكون معنى الكلام: وما جعلنا أصحاب النار إلا ملائكة نذيرا للبشر، يعني: إنذارا لهم؛ فيكون قوله ( نَذِيرًا ) بمعنى إنذارا لهم؛ كما قال: فَسَتَعْلَمُونَ كَيْفَ نَذِيرِ بمعنى إنذاري؛ ويكون أيضا بمعنى: إنها لإحدى الكُبَرِ؛ صيرنا ذلك كذلك نذيرا، فيكون قوله: ( إِنَّهَا لإحْدَى الْكُبَرِ ) مؤدّيا عن معنى صيرنا ذلك كذلك، وهذا المعنى قصد من قال ذلك إن شاء الله. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني أبو السائب، قال: ثنا أبو معاوية، عن إسماعيل، عن أبي رزين ( إِنَّهَا لإحْدَى الْكُبَرِ ) قال: جهنم ( نَذِيرًا لِلْبَشَرِ ) يقول الله: أنا لكم منها نذير فاتقوها. وقال آخرون: بل ذلك من صفة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، وقالوا: نصب نذيرا على الحال مما في قوله " قم "، وقالوا: معنى الكلام: قم نذيرا للبشر فأنذر. * ذكر من قال ذلك: