Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   His statement: wa-law alqā maʿādhīrahu (even though he sets forth his excuses). The transmitters differed over its meaning. Some said: the meaning is: Man is rather a witness against himself from his own self, even though he excuses himself with words for the sins he has committed and the transgressions into which he has plunged, and even though he disputes with falsehood.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: wa-law alqā maʿādhīrahu means the excuse. Have you not heard that He said: their excuse will not benefit the wrongdoers , and Allah said: and they will offer submission to Allah on that Day , we did no evil , and their statement: by Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists (mushrikīn) .

   Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Abī ʿĀʾisha, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His statement: bal al-insānu ʿalā nafsihi baṣīratun (rather, man is a witness against himself), he said: a witness against himself, even though he excuses himself.

   Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: ʿalā nafsihi baṣīratun wa-law alqā maʿādhīrahu (against himself a witness, even though he sets forth his excuses): even though he disputes in defense of it (the soul), he is nonetheless a witness against it.

   Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Ḥudayr, saying: I asked ʿIkrima about His statement: bal al-insānu ʿalā nafsihi baṣīratun wa-law alqā maʿādhīrahu ; he was silent. Then I said to him: al-Ḥasan says: O son of Adam, your deed is nearer to you than anyone. He said: he is right.

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: wa-law alqā maʿādhīrahu : they are their excuses with which they excuse themselves on the Day of Resurrection, but they do not benefit them. He said: and it will not be permitted to them, so that they may excuse themselves ; and on the Day when it is permitted to them and they excuse themselves, it does not benefit them, and they excuse themselves with lies.

   Others said: rather its meaning is: Man is a witness against himself from his own self, even though he strips himself bare (to conceal himself).

   * Mention of who said that:

   Naṣr ibn ʿAlī al-Jahḍamī related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Khālid ibn Qays, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Zurāra ibn Awfā, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: wa-law alqā maʿādhīrahu , he said: even though he strips himself bare.

   Others said: rather its meaning is: even though he lets down the curtains and shuts the doors.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-ʿAsqalānī related to me, saying: Rawwād related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥamza, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His statement: wa-law alqā maʿādhīrahu : even though he lets down the curtains and shuts the doors.

   Others said: rather its meaning is: wa-law alqā maʿādhīrahu — they are not accepted.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Naṣr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Khālid ibn Qays, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: wa-law alqā maʿādhīrahu — his excuses are not accepted.

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: wa-law alqā maʿādhīrahu , he said: even though he excuses himself.

   The correct view concerning this, in our judgment, is the statement of the one who said: the meaning is: even though he excuses himself — because that is the meaning most in accord with the apparent sense of the Revelation. For Allah, exalted is His praise, has informed concerning man that there is against him a witness from his own self, with His statement: bal al-insānu ʿalā nafsihi baṣīratun . Therefore, the most fitting thing was that this should be followed by: even though he disputes in defense of it with falsehood and excuses himself with other than the truth — yet the testimony of his soul against him is more correct and more in place than his excusing himself with falsehood.

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   Footnotes:

   (13) In Surah al-Naḥl: then they will offer submission: we did no ... etc. And in another verse thereof: and they will offer submission to Allah on that Day, and what they used to invent will stray away from them ... the verse.

   Show original Arabic

   وقوله: ( وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ ) اختلف أهل الرواية في معنى ذلك، فقال بعضهم: معناه: بل للإنسان على نفسه شهود من نفسه، ولو اعتذر بالقول مما قد أتى من المآثم، وركب من المعاصي، وجادل بالباطل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد بن سعد، قال: ثني أبي، قال: ثني عمي، قال: ثني أبي، عن أبيه، عن ابن عباس: ( وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ ) يعني الاعتذار، ألم تسمع أنه قال: لا يَنْفَعُ الظَّالِمِينَ مَعْذِرَتُهُمْ وقال الله: وَأَلْقَوْا إِلَى اللَّهِ يَوْمَئِذٍ السَّلَمَ ، مَا كُنَّا نَعْمَلُ مِنْ سُوءٍ (13) . وقولهم: وَاللَّهِ رَبِّنَا مَا كُنَّا مُشْرِكِينَ . حدثنا ابن بشار، قال: ثنا أبو أحمد، قال: ثنا سفيان، عن موسى بن أبي عائشة، عن سعيد بن جُبير، في قولة: ( بَلِ الإنْسَانُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ بَصِيرَةٌ ) قال: شاهد على نفسه ولو اعتذر. حدثني محمد بن عمرو، قال: ثنا أبو عاصم، قال: ثنا عيسى، وحدثني الحارث، قال: ثنا الحسن، قال: ثنا ورقاء، جميعا عن ابن أبي نجيح، عن مجاهد، قوله: ( عَلَى نَفْسِهِ بَصِيرَةٌ وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ ) ولو جادل عنها، فهو بصيرة عليها. حدثني يعقوب، قال: ثنا ابن علية، عن عمران بن حدير، قال: سألت عكرِمة، عن قوله: ( بَلِ الإنْسَانُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ بَصِيرَةٌ وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ ) قال: فسكت، فقلت له: إن الحسن يقول: ابن آدم عملك أولى بك، قال: صدق. حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد، في قوله: ( وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ ) قال: معاذيرهم التي يعتذرون بها يوم القيامة فلا ينتفعون بها، قال: وَلا يُؤْذَنُ لَهُمْ فَيَعْتَذِرُونَ ويوم يؤذن لهم فيعتذرون فلا تنفعهم ويعتذرون بالكذب. وقال آخرون: بل معنى ذلك: بل للإنسان على نفسه من نفسه بصيرة ولو تجرّد. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني نصر بن عليّ الجهضمي، قال: ثني أبي، عن خالد بن قيس، عن قتادة، عن زرارة بن أوفى، عن ابن عباس، في قوله: ( وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ ) قال: لو تجرّد. وقال آخرون: بل معنى ذلك: ولو أرخى الستور وأغلق الأبواب. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني محمد بن خلف العسقلاني، قال: ثنا رَوّاد، عن أبي حمزة، عن السديّ في قوله: ( وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ ) ولو أرخى الستور، وأغلق الأبواب. وقال آخرون: بل معنى ذلك: ( وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ ) لم تقبل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا نصر بن عليّ، قال: ثني أ بي، عن خالد بن قيس، عن قتادة، عن الحسن: ( وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ ) لم تُقبل معاذيره. حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله: ( وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ ) قال: ولو اعتذر. وأولى الأقوال في ذلك عندنا بالصواب قول من قال: معناه: ولو اعتذر لأن ذلك أشبه المعاني بظاهر التنـزيل، وذلك أن الله جلّ ثناؤه أخبر عن الإنسان أن عليه شاهدًا من نفسه بقوله: ( بَلِ الإنْسَانُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ بَصِيرَةٌ ) فكان الذي هو أولى أن يتبع ذلك، ولو جادل عنها بالباطل، واعتذر بغير الحقّ، فشهادة نفسه عليه به أحقّ وأولى من اعتذاره بالباطل. ---------------- الهوامش : (13) في سورة النحل: { فألقوا السلم ما كنا ... } إلخ. وفي آية أخرى منها: { وألقوا إلى الله يومئذ السلم وضل عنهم ... } الآية.