Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   And His word: كَلَّا بَل لا تُكْرِمُونَ الْيَتِيمَ ("Nay, but rather you do not honor the orphan").

   The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed over what is meant by His word كَلَّا ("nay") in this place, and what is thereby rejected. Some of them said: He, whose praise is exalted, rejected that the cause of the honorable treatment of whom He treats honorably should be his abundant wealth, and that the cause of the humiliation of whom He humiliates should be his scant wealth.

   * Mention of who said that:

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: وَأَمَّا إِذَا مَا ابْتَلاهُ فَقَدَرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَهَانَنِ ("but when He tries him and restricts his provision for him, then he says: my Lord has humiliated me") — how swift the son of Adam is to ingratitude! Allah, whose praise is exalted, says: nay, I do not honor whom I treat honorably with abundance in this world, nor do I humiliate whom I humiliate with the scantness of it; rather, I honor whom I treat honorably with obedience to Me, and I humiliate whom I humiliate with disobedience to Me.

   And others said: nay, He, whose praise is exalted, rejected that man should praise his Lord for His favors but not in his poverty, and his complaining of need. And they said: the meaning of the statement is: nay — that is to say: it ought not to have been so, but rather it was fitting that he should praise Him for both matters together, for wealth and for poverty.

   And the correct of the two statements concerning this is the statement which we have mentioned on the authority of Qatāda, because of the indication of His word بَل لا تُكْرِمُونَ الْيَتِيمَ ("but rather you do not honor the orphan") and the verses that come after it, that He humiliated whom He humiliated only because he does not honor the orphan and does not urge the feeding of the poor, and the remaining meanings which He enumerated. And in His clarification of the cause for which He humiliated whom He humiliated lies the clear indication of the cause of His honorable treatment of whom He honors. And in His exposition of that, immediately following His word: فَأَمَّا الإِنْسَانُ إِذَا مَا ابْتَلاهُ رَبُّهُ فَأَكْرَمَهُ وَنَعَّمَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَكْرَمَنِ * وَأَمَّا إِذَا مَا ابْتَلاهُ فَقَدَرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَهَانَنِ ("as for man, when his Lord tries him and treats him honorably and bestows favors upon him, then he says: my Lord has honored me; but when He tries him and restricts his provision for him, then he says: my Lord has humiliated me"), lies a clear exposition of what He rejected of his statement, as we have described.

   And His word: بَل لا تُكْرِمُونَ الْيَتِيمَ — the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: nay, I humiliated whom I humiliated only because he does not honor the orphan. He framed the statement as a direct address and said: nay, you do not honor the orphan, and therefore I have humiliated you.

   Show original Arabic

   وقوله: ( كَلا بَل لا تُكْرِمُونَ الْيَتِيمَ ) اختلف أهل التأويل في المعنيّ بقوله: ( كَلا ) في هذا الموضع، وما الذي أنكر بذلك، فقال بعضهم: أنكر جلّ ثناؤه أن يكون سبب كرامته من أكرم كثرة ماله، وسبب إهانته من أهان قلة ماله. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله: ( وَأَمَّا إِذَا مَا ابْتَلاهُ فَقَدَرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَهَانَنِ ) ما أسرع ما كفر ابن آدم، يقول الله جلّ ثناؤه: كلا إني لا أكرم من أكرمت بكثرة الدنيا، ولا أهين من أهنت بقلتها، ولكن إنما أكرم من أكرمت بطاعتي، وأُهينُ من أهنت بمعصيتي. وقال آخرون: بل أنكر جلّ ثناؤه حمد الإنسان ربه على نِعمه دون فقره، وشكواه الفاقة، وقالوا: معنى الكلام، كلا أي: لم يكن ينبغي أن يكون هكذا، ولكن كان ينبغي أن يحمده على الأمرين جميعا، على الغنى والفقر. وأولى القولين في ذلك بالصواب القول الذي ذكرناه عن قتادة لدلالة قوله: ( بَل لا تُكْرِمُونَ الْيَتِيمَ ) والآيات التي بعدها، على أنه إنما أهان من أهان بأنه لا يكرم اليتيم، ولا يَحُضّ على طعام المسكين، وسائر المعاني التي عدّد، وفي إبانته عن السبب الذي من أجله أهان من أهان، الدلالة الواضحة على سبب تكريمه من أكرم، وفي تبيينه ذلك عَقيب قوله: فَأَمَّا الإِنْسَانُ إِذَا مَا ابْتَلاهُ رَبُّهُ فَأَكْرَمَهُ وَنَعَّمَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَكْرَمَنِ * وَأَمَّا إِذَا مَا ابْتَلاهُ فَقَدَرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَهَانَنِ بيان واضح عن الذي أنكر من قوله ما وصفنا. وقوله: ( بَل لا تُكْرِمُونَ الْيَتِيمَ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: بل إنما أهنت من أهَنت من أجل أنه لا يكرم اليتيم، فأخرج الكلام على الخطاب، فقال: بل لستم تكرمون اليتيم، فلذلك أهنتكم .