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

Volume 1 · Page 145

Translation · EN

AI translation

and Allah—may His remembrance be exalted—possesses names that He has forbidden His creation to name themselves with, reserving them exclusively for Himself to their exclusion, such as "Allah", "al-Raḥmān", and "al-Khāliq"; and names that He has made permissible for them to name one another with, such as al-Raḥīm, al-Samīʿ, al-Baṣīr, al-Karīm, and similar names—it was obligatory that His names that belong exclusively to Him, to the exclusion of all His creation, be placed first, so that the listener would know who is being addressed with praise and glorification, and then follow that with His names by which others may be named, after the addressee or listener knows who is being addressed with the meanings that follow. Thus Allah—may His remembrance be exalted—began with His name that is "Allah", because divinity belongs to no one other than Him—may His praise be exalted—in any respect whatsoever, neither in terms of being named by it nor in terms of meaning. That is because we have already explained that the meaning of "Allah"—exalted be His remembrance—is the One worshipped, (1) and there is no one worshipped other than Him—may His majesty be exalted—and naming oneself with it has been forbidden by Allah—may His praise be exalted—even if the person who names himself intends thereby what someone who names himself Saʿīd intends while being wretched, or Ḥasan while being ugly.

Do you not see that Allah—may His majesty be exalted—said in more than one verse of His Book: {Is there a deity alongside Allah?}, considering it monstrous for anyone to affirm that, and He—exalted is He—said concerning His reserving exclusively for Himself "Allah" and "al-Raḥmān": {Call upon Allah or call upon al-Raḥmān; whichever you call upon, to Him belong the best names} [Sūrat al-Isrāʾ: 110]. Then He followed it with His name that is al-Raḥmān, since He had also prohibited His creation from naming themselves with it, even if there are among His creation those who might deserve to be named with some of its meanings. That is because describing many of His creation below Allah with some attributes of mercy may be permissible, whereas it is impermissible for anyone besides Him to deserve any part of divinity. For this reason, al-Raḥmān came second to His name that is "Allah".

As for His name that is "al-Raḥīm", we have mentioned that it is among those names with which describing others is permissible, while mercy is among His attributes—may His remembrance be exalted. Thus—since the matter is as we have described—it occupied the position of descriptions following names after the names precede them. This, then, is the reason for placing the name of Allah that is "Allah" before His name that is "al-Raḥmān", and His name that is "al-Raḥmān" before His name that is "al-Raḥīm". (2)

Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī used to say regarding "al-Raḥmān" the like of what we have said, that it is among the names of Allah with which He prohibited His servants from naming themselves. (3)

150 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār narrated to us, he said: Ḥammād ibn Masʿada narrated to us, from ʿAwf, from al-Ḥasan, he said: "'Al-Raḥmān' is a forbidden name." (4)

Notes

(1) In the printed edition: "that the meaning of Allah is the worshipped one."
(2) This argumentation is among the best of what has been said, and its precision indicates the excellent insight of Abū Jaʿfar into what is presented to him. His entire Tafsir is a witness to that. May Allah have mercy on him.
(3) They changed it in the printed edition to: "for His servants."
(4) Report 150: Ibn Kathīr transmitted it in al-Tafsīr (1/41-42) from this place. Al-Suyūṭī transmitted it in al-Durr al-Manthūr (1/9), and attributed it to al-Ṭabarī alone. And "ʿAwf," its narrator from al-Ḥasan: he is ʿAwf b. Abī Jamīla al-ʿAbdī, known as Ibn al-Aʿrābī, and he is reliable and firm.

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Arabic (Source)

وكانَ لله جلَّ ذكره أسماءٌ قد حرَّم على خلقه أن يتسمَّوا بها، خَصَّ بها نفسه دونهم، وذلك مثلُ "الله" و "الرحمن" و "الخالق"؛ وأسماءٌ أباحَ لهم أن يُسمِّيَ بعضهم بعضًا بها، وذلك: كالرحيم والسميع والبصير والكريم، وما أشبه ذلك من الأسماء - كان الواجب أن تقدَّم أسماؤه التي هي له خاصة دون جميع خلقه، ليعرف السامعُ ذلك مَنْ تَوجَّه إليه الحمد والتمجيدُ، ثم يُتبع ذلك بأسمائه التي قد تسمى بها غيره، بعد علم المخاطب أو السامع من توجَّه إليه ما يتلو ذلك من المعاني. فبدأ الله جل ذكره باسمه الذي هو "الله"، لأن الألوهية ليست لغيره جلّ ثناؤه من وجهٍ من الوجوه، لا من جهة التسمِّي به، ولا من جهة المعنى. وذلك أنا قد بينَّا أن معنى "الله" تعالى ذكره المعبود (١) ، ولا معبودَ غيرُه جل جلاله، وأن التسمِّي به قد حرّمه الله جل ثناؤه، وإن قصد المتسمِّي به ما يقصدُ المتسمِّي بسعيد وهو شقي، وبحسَنٍ وهو قبيح.أوَلا تَرى أنّ الله جل جلاله قال في غير آية من كتابه: (أَإِلَهٌ مَعَ اللهِ) فاستكبر ذلك من المقرِّ به، وقال تعالى في خُصوصه نَفسَه بالله وبالرحمن: (قُلِ ادْعُوا اللَّهَ أَوِ ادْعُوا الرَّحْمَنَ أَيًّا مَا تَدْعُوا فَلَهُ الأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَى) [سورة الإسراء: ١١٠] . ثم ثنَّى باسمه، الذي هو الرحمن، إذ كان قد مَنع أيضًا خلقه التسمي به، وإن كان من خلْقه من قد يستحق تسميته ببعض معانيه. وذلك أنه قد يجوز وصْف كثير ممّن هو دون الله من خلقه، ببعض صفات الرحمة. وغير جائز أن يستحق بعضَ الألوهية أحد دونه. فلذلك جاء الرحمن ثانيًا لاسمه الذي هو "الله".وأما اسمه الذي هو"الرحيم" فقد ذكرنا أنه مما هو جائز وصْف غيره به. والرحمة من صفاته جل ذكره، فكان - إذ كان الأمرُ على ما وصفنا - واقعًا مواقع نعوت الأسماء اللواتي هنّ توابعُها، بعد تقدم الأسماء عليها. فهذا وجه تقديم اسم الله الذي هو "الله"، على اسمه الذي هو "الرحمن"، واسمه الذي هو "الرحمن" على اسمه الذي هو "الرحيم". (٢)وقد كان الحسنُ البصريّ يقول في "الرحمن" مثل ما قلنا، أنه من أسماء الله التي مَنَعَ التسميَ بها العبادَ. (٣)١٥٠ - حدثنا محمد بن بشار، قال: حدثنا حماد بن مسعدة، عن عوف، عن الحسن، قال: "الرحمن" اسمٌ ممنوع. (٤)مع أن في إجماع الأمة من منع التسمِّي به جميعَ الناس، ما يُغني عن الاستشهاد على صحة ما قلنا في ذلك بقول الحسن وغيره.

Notes

(١) في المطبوعة: "أن معنى الله هو المعبود".(٢) هذا الاحتجاج من أجود ما قيل، ودقته تدل على حسن نظر أبي جعفر فيما يعرض له. وتفسيره كله شاهد على ذلك. رحمة الله عليه.