Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   فَمَا تَنْفَعُهُمْ شَفَاعَةُ الشَّافِعِينَ (Then the intercession of the intercessors will not avail them). He says: then those to whom Allah has granted permission to intercede on behalf of the sinners among the people of pure monotheism (ahl al-tawḥīd) will not be able to intercede for them in such a way that their intercession would avail them. And in this verse lies a clear indication that Allah, the Exalted whose praise is sublime, allows some of His creatures to intercede for others.

   And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the interpreters of the Qurʾān (ahl al-taʾwīl) have expressed themselves.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Salama ibn Kuhayl, who said: Abū al-Zaʿrāʾ related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, in an account that he mentioned concerning the intercession (shafāʿa), he said: thereupon the angels, the prophets, the witnesses (martyrs), the righteous, and the believers intercede, and Allah makes their intercession valid and says: I am the Most Merciful of those who show mercy. Then He brings out of the Fire more people than all that has been brought out of the Fire from the whole of creation. Then He says: I am the Most Merciful of those who show mercy. After that ʿAbd Allāh recited: O you disbelievers — مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ * قَالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ * وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ * وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ الْخَائِضِينَ * وَكُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ ("What has brought you into Saqar? They will say: We were not among those who performed the prayer, and we did not feed the needy, and we engaged in vain talk with those who engaged in it, and we used to deny the Day of Judgement"), and he counted off four of them on his hand. Then he said: do you see any good in these? Indeed, no one in whom there is still good is left behind therein.

   Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard my paternal uncle and Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Salama ibn Kuhayl, on the authority of Abū al-Zaʿrāʾ, who said: ʿAbd Allāh said: only four remain behind in the Fire, or: the possessor of the four — the doubt comes from Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭabarī — then he recites: مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ * قَالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ * وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ * وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ الْخَائِضِينَ * وَكُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ ("What has brought you into Saqar? They will say: We were not among those who performed the prayer, and we did not feed the needy, and we engaged in vain talk with those who engaged in it, and we used to deny the Day of Judgement").

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, فَمَا تَنْفَعُهُمْ شَفَاعَةُ الشَّافِعِينَ (Then the intercession of the intercessors will not avail them): know that Allah will make intercession valid for the believers on the Day of Resurrection. It has been related to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ used to say: "Verily, among my community there is a man through whose intercession Allah will admit into the Garden (janna) more than the Banū Tamīm."

   Al-Ḥasan said: more than Rabīʿa and Muḍar. It was related to us that the martyr (al-shahīd) intercedes for seventy members of his household.

   Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, فَمَا تَنْفَعُهُمْ شَفَاعَةُ الشَّافِعِينَ (Then the intercession of the intercessors will not avail them), he said: know that Allah lets some of them intercede for others.

   He said: Abū Thawr related to us, Maʿmar said: and someone who heard Anas ibn Mālik informed me that he said: verily, a man intercedes for two men, for three, and for one man.

   He said: Abū Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Abū Qilāba, who said: through the intercession of one man from this community Allah admits into the Garden as many as the Banū Tamīm — or he said: more than the Banū Tamīm. And al-Ḥasan said: as many as Rabīʿa and Muḍar.

   Show original Arabic

   ( فَمَا تَنْفَعُهُمْ شَفَاعَةُ الشَّافِعِينَ ) يقول: فما يشفع لهم الذين شفعهم الله في أهل الذنوب من أهل التوحيد، فتنفعهم شفاعتهم، وفي هذه الآية دلالة واضحة على أن الله تعالى ذكره مشفع بعض خلقه في بعض. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا ابن بشار، قال: ثنا عبد الرحمن، قال: ثنا سفيان، عن سلمة بن كهيل، قال: ثنا أبو الزعراء، عن عبد الله في قصة ذكرها في الشفاعة، قال: ثم تشفع الملائكة والنبيون والشهداء والصالحون والمؤمنون، ويشفعهم الله فيقول: أنا أرحم الراحمين، فيخرج من النار أكثر مما أخرج من جميع الخلق من النار، ثم يقول: أنا أرحم الراحمين، ثم قرأ عبد الله يأيها الكفار مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ * قَالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ * وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ * وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ الْخَائِضِينَ * وَكُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ وعقد بيده أربعا، ثم قال: هل ترون في هؤلاء من خير، ألا ما يُترك فيها أحد فيه خير. حدثنا أبو كُرَيب، قال: ثنا ابن إدريس، قال: سمعت عمي وإسماعيل بن أبي خالد، عن سلمة بن كهيل، عن أبي الزعراء، قال: قال عبد الله: لا يبقى في النار إلا أربعة، أو ذو الأربعة - الشك من أبي جعفر الطبري - ثم يتلو: مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ * قَالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ * وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ * وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ الْخَائِضِينَ * وَكُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ . حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة ( فَمَا تَنْفَعُهُمْ شَفَاعَةُ الشَّافِعِينَ ) تعلمن أن الله يشفع المومنين يوم القيامة. ذُكر لنا أن نبيّ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يقول: " إنَّ مِنْ أُمَّتِي رَجُلا يُدْخِلُ اللهُ بِشَفاعَتِهِ الجَنَّةَ أكْثَرَ مِنْ بَنِي تَمِيمٍ " . قال الحسن: أكثر من ربيعة ومضر، كنا نحدَّث أن الشهيد يشفع في سبعين من أهل بيته. حدثنا ابن عبد الأعلى، قال: ثنا ابن ثور عن معمر، عن قتادة ( فَمَا تَنْفَعُهُمْ شَفَاعَةُ الشَّافِعِينَ ) قال: تعلمن أن الله يشفع بعضهم في بعض. قال: ثنا أبو ثور، قال معمر: وأخبرني من سمع أنس بن مالك يقول: إن الرجل ليشفع للرجلين والثلاثة والرجل. قال: ثنا أبو ثور، عن معمر، عن أيوب، عن أبي قلابة، قال: يدخل الله بشفاعة رجل من هذه الأمة الجنة مثل بني تميم، أو قال: أكثر من بني تميم، وقال الحسن: مثل ربيعة ومضر.