Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   His statement: فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ("yet he has not scaled the steep pass"). The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: he has not climbed the steep pass (al-ʿaqaba) so as to traverse and overcome it.

   And it has been mentioned that the steep pass is a mountain in Hell (jahannam).

   * Mention of those who said that:

   Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Kathīr related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning the statement of Allah: فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ("yet he has not scaled the steep pass"), he said: a steep pass in Hell.

   ʿUmar ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Mujālid related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allah ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, concerning His statement: فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ("yet he has not scaled the steep pass"): a mountain of Hell.

   Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement: فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ("yet he has not scaled the steep pass"), he said: Hell.

   Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ("yet he has not scaled the steep pass"): indeed it is a hard ascent, so climb it through obedience to Allah.

   Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ("yet he has not scaled the steep pass"), he said: the Fire has a steep pass before the bridge (al-jisr).

   Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Wahb ibn Jarīr related to us, saying: my father related to us, saying: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb relate on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb, on the authority of Shuʿayb ibn Zurʿa, on the authority of Ḥanash, on the authority of Kaʿb, that he said: فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ("yet he has not scaled the steep pass"), he said: it is seventy steps in Hell.

   And He mentioned His statement فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ("yet he has not scaled the steep pass") on its own, with the mention of "lā" a single time. The Arabs, however, rarely use it in isolation in a statement in a place like this, until they repeat it together with another statement, as He said: فَلا صَدَّقَ وَلا صَلَّى ("for he neither held true nor prayed") and وَلا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ("and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve"). He did so here in this manner because the indication at the end of the statement as to its meaning made it unnecessary to repeat it once more, and that is His statement where He explained the scaling of the steep pass, for He said: فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ * أَوْ إِطْعَامٌ فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ * يَتِيمًا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ * أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ * ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ("the freeing of a slave, or feeding, on a day of hunger, a related orphan, or a poor person in the dust; and then to be among those who believe"). He thus explained it with three matters, so that it was as if He had said at the beginning of the statement: he did neither this, nor that, nor that. Ibn Zayd interpreted that with the meaning: "why has he not?" (a-fa-lā). Whoever interprets it thus has no need to claim that something has been omitted in the statement.

   * Mention of the report about that on the authority of Ibn Zayd:

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, and he recited the statement of Allah فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ("yet he has not scaled the steep pass"), he said: why has he not walked the path along which lie salvation and good? Then He said: وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْعَقَبَةُ ("and what will make you know what the steep pass is?").

   Show original Arabic

   وقوله: ( فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: فلم يركب العقبة فيقطعها ويحوزها. وذُكر أن العقبة: جبل في جهنم. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا محمد بن المثنى، قال: ثنا يحيى بن كثير، قال: ثنا شعبة، عن أبي رجاء، عن الحسن، في قول الله: ( فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ) قال: عَقَبةٌ في جهنم. حدثني عمر بن إسماعيل بن مجالد، قال: ثنا عبد الله بن إدريس، عن أبيه، عن عطية، عن ابن عمر، في قوله: ( فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ) جبل من جهنم. حدثني يعقوب، قال: ثنا ابن عُلَيَّة، عن أبي رجاء، عن الحسن، في قوله: ( فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ) قال: جهنم. حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله: ( فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ) إنها قحمة شديدة، فاقتحموها بطاعة الله. حدثنا ابن عبد الأعلى، قال: ثنا ابن ثور، عن معمر، عن قتادة ( فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ) قال: للنار عقبة دون الجسر. حدثنا ابن بشار، قال: ثنا وهب بن جرير، قال: ثنا أبي، قال: سمعت يحيى بن أيوب يحدّث عن يزيد بن أبى حبيب، عن شعيب بن زُرْعة، عن حنش، عن كعب، أنه قال: ( فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ) قال: هو سبعون درجة في جهنم. وأفرد قوله: ( فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ) بذكر " لا " مرّة واحدة، والعرب لا تكاد تفردها في كلام في مثل هذا الموضع، حتى يكرّرها مع كلام آخر، كما قال: فَلا صَدَّقَ وَلا صَلَّى وَلا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ وإنما فعل ذلك كذلك في هذا الموضع، استغناء بدلالة آخر الكلام على معناه، من إعادتها مرّة أخرى، وذلك قوله إذ فسَّر اقتحام العقبة، فقال: فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ * أَوْ إِطْعَامٌ فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ * يَتِيمًا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ * أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ * ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ، ففسر ذلك بأشياء ثلاثة، فكان كأنه في أوّل الكلام، قال: فلا فَعَل ذا وَلا ذا ولا ذا. وتأوّل ذلك ابن زيد، بمعنى: أفلا ومن تأوّله كذلك، لم يكن به حاجة إلى أن يزعم أن في الكلام متروكا. * ذكر الخبر بذلك عن ابن زيد: حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد، وقرأ قول الله: ( فَلا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ) قال: أفلا سلك الطريق التي منها النجاة والخير، ثم قال: ( وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْعَقَبَةُ ) .