Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   His statement: الَّتِي لَمْ يُخْلَقْ مِثْلُهَا فِي الْبِلادِ ("the like of which had not been created in the lands"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with ʿĀd — Iram, the like of which had not been created in the lands — that is to say: like ʿĀd. The hāʾ (the back-referring pronoun) refers back to ʿĀd. It is also permissible that it refers back to Iram, on the basis of what we set forth earlier, namely that this is a tribe. What is meant by His statement is: the like of which had not been created in magnitude, in violence, and in strength.

   And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.

   * Mention of who said this:

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his statement: الَّتِي لَمْ يُخْلَقْ مِثْلُهَا فِي الْبِلادِ ("the like of which had not been created in the lands"). It was mentioned that they were twelve cubits tall, measured heavenward.

   And others have said: No, the meaning of it is rather: "[the city] with the pillars, the like of which had not been created in the lands" — that is to say: the like of whose pillars had not been created in the lands. They said: "the like of which had not been created" is a description of "[the city] with the pillars" (dhāt al-ʿimād), and the hāʾ in "its like" (mithlu-hā) refers back to "[the city] with the pillars."

   * Mention of who said this:

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement — and he mentioned something similar. But this is an opinion that has no basis, for "the pillar" (al-ʿimād) is singular and masculine, whereas "which" (allatī) is feminine, and the masculine is not described with "allatī." Had this been a description of "the pillar," it would have been said: "the like of which (alladhī) had not been created in the lands." And if you relate "allatī" to Iram and let the hāʾ in His statement مِثْلُهَا ("its like") refer back to it, and one says that it is Damascus or Alexandria, then it is to be said: the lands of ʿĀd are precisely those which Allah has described in His Book, where He said: وَاذْكُرْ أَخَا عَادٍ إِذْ أَنْذَرَ قَوْمَهُ بِالأَحْقَافِ ("And mention the brother of ʿĀd, when he warned his people at al-Aḥqāf"). And al-Aḥqāf is the plural of ḥiqf, and that is the sand that curves and bends. Neither Alexandria nor Damascus belongs to the sand-lands; rather that is al-Shiḥr, one of the lands of Ḥaḍramawt and what borders upon it.

   Show original Arabic

   وقوله: ( الَّتِي لَمْ يُخْلَقْ مِثْلُهَا فِي الْبِلادِ ) يقول جلّ ثناؤه: ألم تر كيف فعل ربك بعاد، إرم التي لم يخلق مثلها في البلاد، يعني: مثل عاد، والهاء عائدة على عاد. وجائز أن تكون عائدة على إرم لما قد بينا قبل أنها قبيلة. وإنما عُنِيَ بقوله: لم يُخْلق مثلها في العِظَم والبطش والأيد. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله: ( الَّتِي لَمْ يُخْلَقْ مِثْلُهَا فِي الْبِلادِ ) ذكر أنهم كانوا اثني عشر ذراعا طولا في السماء. وقال آخرون: بل معنى ذلك: ذات العماد التي لم يُخلق مثلها في البلاد، لم يخلق مثل الأعمدة في البلاد، وقالوا: التي لم يخلق مثلها من صفة ذات العماد، والهاء التي في مثلها إنما هي من ذكر ذات العماد. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد في قوله: فذكر نحوه. وهذا قول لا وجه له، لأن العماد واحد مذكر، والتي للأنثى، ولا يوصف المذكر بالتي، ولو كان ذلك من صفة العماد لقيل: الذي لم يخلق مثله في البلاد، وإن جعلت التي لإرم، وجعلت الهاء عائدة في قوله: ( مِثْلُهَا ) عليها، وقيل: هي دمشق أو إسكندرية، فإن بلاد عاد هي التي وصفها الله في كتابه فقال: وَاذْكُرْ أَخَا عَادٍ إِذْ أَنْذَرَ قَوْمَهُ بِالأَحْقَافِ والأحقاف: هي جمع حِقْف، وهو ما انعطف من الرمل وانحنى، وليست الإسكندرية ولا دمشق من بلاد الرمال، بل ذلك الشِّحْرَ من بلاد حضرموت، وما والاها.