Tafsir at-Tabari: Jami' al-Bayan - Dar al-Tarbiyah wa al-Turath Edition

Volume 1 · Page 124

Translation · EN

AI translation

the saying of the speaker: "My house was far (shaṭanat) from your house"—meaning by that: was distant. From that is the saying of al-Nābigha of Banū Dhubyān:

A distant destination drove Suʿād far from you, ... so she departed, while the heart is pledged to her (1)

And al-navā is the direction she intended and headed toward, and al-shaṭūn means distant. Thus, according to this interpretation, the Devil is of the form fayʿāl from shaṭana. And among what points to that being so is the statement of Umayya ibn Abī al-Ṣalt:

Whichever rebellious devil (shāṭin) disobeyed him, he bound him, ... then he is thrown into prison and shackles (2)

If it were of the pattern faʿlān from shāṭa yashīṭu, he would have said: "whichever shāʾiṭ", but he said: "whichever shāṭin", because it is from shaṭana yashṭunu, so he is shāṭin.

Interpretation of His statement: (al-Rajīm).

As for al-rajīm, it is faʿīl with the meaning of mafʿūl, like the saying: a dyed hand (kaffun khaḍīb), an oiled beard (liḥyatun dahīn), and a cursed man (rajulun laʿīn), meaning: dyed, oiled, and cursed. The interpretation of al-rajīm is: the cursed, reviled one. Everyone reviled with bad speech or insult is marjūm. The root of al-rajm is pelting, whether by word or action. An example of pelting by word is the statement of Abū Ibrāhīm to Ibrāhīm, may Allah's blessings be upon him: ﴿If you do not desist, I will surely stone you﴾ [Surah Maryam: 46].

And it may be permissible that the Devil was called rajīm because Allah, exalted be His praise, expelled him from His heavens and pelted him with piercing meteorites (3)

Notes

(1) Additions to his Dīwān: 20.
(2) His Dīwān: 51, and al-Lisān (sh-ṭ-n) and (ʿ-k-ā). "ʿAkāhu" in iron and fetters: bound him securely. "Al-akbāl" is the plural of "kibl": which is an iron shackle. I think he meant here the house in the iron-studded prison, from their saying: "kabalahu kablan": he imprisoned him in a prison. This is what I gather from the context of the poetry.
(3) "Al-shuhub" is the plural of "shihāb": which is a flame of fire, then borrowed metaphorically for a star that shoots down at night. "Al-thawāqib" is the plural of "thāqib": which is bright and burning.

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Arabic (Source)

قول القائل: شَطَنَتْ دَاري من دارك - يريد بذلك: بَعُدت. ومن ذلك قول نابغة بني ذبيان:نأتْ بِسُعَادَ عَنْك نَوًى شَطُونُ ... فبانَت، والفؤادُ بها رَهِينُ (١)والنوى: الوجه الذي نَوَتْه وقصَدتْه. والشَّطونُ: البعيد. فكأن الشيطان - على هذا التأويل - فَيعَال من شَطَن. ومما يدلّ على أن ذلك كذلك، قولُ أميّة ابن أبي الصّلت:أَيُّمَا شاطِن عَصَاه عَكاهُ ... ثُم يُلْقَى في السِّجْن والأكْبَالِ (٢)ولو كان فَعلان، من شاطَ يشيط، لقال أيُّما شائط، ولكنه قال: أيما شاطنٍ، لأنه من "شَطَن يَشْطُنُ، فهو شاطن".تأويل قوله: (الرَّجِيمِ) .وأما الرجيم فهو: فَعيل بمعنى مفعول، كقول القائل: كفٌّ خضيبٌ، ولحيةٌ دهين، ورجل لَعينٌ، يريد بذلك: مخضوبة ومدهونة وملعون. وتأويل الرجيم: الملعون المشتوم. وكل مشتوم بقولٍ رديء أو سبٍّ فهو مَرْجُوم. وأصل الرجم الرَّميُ، بقول كان أو بفعل. ومن الرجم بالقول قول أبي إبراهيم لإبراهيم صلوات الله عليه: ﴿لَئِنْ لَمْ تَنْتَهِ لأرْجُمَنَّكَ﴾ [سورة مريم: ٤٦] .وقد يجوز أن يكون قِيل للشيطان رجيمٌ، لأن الله جل ثناؤه طرَده من سَمواته، ورجمه بالشُّهب الثَّواقِب (٣)

Notes

(١) زيادات ديوانه: ٢٠.(٢) ديوانه: ٥١، واللسان (شطن) و (عكا) . وعكاه في الحديد والوثاق: شده شدًّا وثيقًا. والأكبال جمع كبل: وهو القيد من الحديد. وأظنه أراد هنا البيت في السجن المضبب بالحديد، من قولهم: كبله كبلا: حبسه في سجن. هذا ما أستظهره من سياق الشعر.(٣) الشهب، جمع شهاب: وهو الشعلة من النار، ثم استعير للكوكب الذي ينقض بالليل. والثواقب، جمع ثاقب: وهو المضيء المشتعل.