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

Volume 1 · Page 220

Translation · EN

AI translation

Abū Yāsir ibn Aḫṭab passed by the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of God be upon him, while he was reciting the opening of Sūrat al-Baqara: {Alif Lam Mim. That is the Book about which there is no doubt}, so he went to his brother Ḥuyayy ibn Aḫṭab among the Jews and said: "Do you know, by Allah (1), I heard Muḥammad reciting among what Allah, Mighty and Majestic, revealed to him: {Alif Lam Mim. That is the Book}." They said: "Did you hear him?" He said: "Yes!" He said: So Ḥuyayy ibn Aḫṭab walked with those individuals from among the Jews to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of God be upon him, and they said: "O Muḥammad, did it not reach us that you recite among what was revealed to you, 'Alif Lam Mim. That is the Book'?" The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said: "Indeed!" They said: "Did Gabriel bring this to you from Allah? (2)" He said: "Yes!" They said: "Allah, Glorified and Exalted be His praise, has sent prophets before you, and we do not know Him to have clarified for any prophet among them the duration of his reign and the lifespan of his nation other than you! (3)" Ḥuyayy ibn Aḫṭab said, turning to those who were with him, saying to them: "Alif is one, Lām is thirty, and Mīm is forty, so this is seventy-one years. Would you enter the religion of a prophet whose duration of reign and the lifespan of his nation is only seventy-one years? (4)" He said: Then he turned to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of God be upon him, and said: "O Muḥammad, is there anything else alongside this?" He said: "Yes!" He said: "What?" He said: "{Alif Lam Mim Sad}." He said: "This is heavier and longer: Alif is one, Lām is thirty, Mīm is forty, and Ṣād is ninety, so this is one hundred and sixty-one years. Is there anything else alongside this, O Muḥammad?" He said: "Yes!" He said: "What?" He said: "{Alif Lam Ra}." He said: "This, by Allah, is heavier and longer: Alif is one, Lām is thirty, and Rāʾ is two hundred, so this is two hundred and thirty-one years." He said: "Is there anything else alongside this, O Muḥammad?" He said: "Yes, {Alif Lam Mim Ra}." He said: "This, by Allah, is heavier and longer: Alif is one, Lām is thirty, Mīm is forty, and Rāʾ is two hundred, so this is two hundred and seventy-one years." Then he said: "Your matter has become confused to us, O Muḥammad, until we do not know whether you were given a little or a lot!" Then they stood up and left him. Abū Yāsir said to his brother Ḥuyayy ibn Aḫṭab and to the rabbis who were with him: "What makes you know? Perhaps all of this has been combined for Muḥammad: seventy-one, one hundred and sixty-one, two hundred and thirty-one, and two hundred and seventy-one—that totals seven hundred and thirty-four years!" They said: "His matter has become ambiguous to us!" And they claim that these verses were revealed concerning them: {It is He who has sent down to you the Book; in it are verses [that are] precise - they are the foundation of the Book - and others unspecific} (5).

They said: This report explicitly demonstrates the correctness of the interpretation we have stated regarding that, and the invalidity of what our opponents said concerning it.

Notes

(1) Thus it is in the printed edition and the manuscript: "taʿlamūn" [you know]. But the text of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq in Sīrat Ibn Hishām (2/194) is: "taʿallamū" [learn!] with a double accent on the lām (tashdīd), meaning: know. It occurs frequently in Sīrat Ibn Hishām and elsewhere.
(2) What is in Sīrat Ibn Hishām is: "Did Gabriel bring it to you from God?"
(3) In the printed edition, and in all other books that extracted the report from al-Ṭabarī: "mā ajalu" [what is the term].
(4) In the printed edition: "He said, so he said to them: Do you enter..." and "ajalu ummatihi" [the term of his nation], and the correction is from the manuscript and Ibn Hishām. And al-ukl (with a ḍamma then a sukūn) means provision. It is said: "He has a great ukl in this world," meaning abundant provision, which is one's share of worldly life, as if it is consumed. What is meant by it is the lifespan that people live in this world, eating from what God has provided them. Thus it is said of a deceased person: "His ukl has ceased," meaning: his lifespan has ended.
(5) Hadith 246—This is a hadith with a weak chain of transmission, narrated by Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq through this weak chain of transmission, and through other weak chains of transmission:
He narrated it in al-Sīra, which was refined by ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hishām, the grammarian of Basra, who narrated it from Ziyād ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Bakkāʾī, from Ibn Isḥāq, and it became known and famous as "Sīrat Ibn Hishām." This Ibn Hishām is trustworthy; Ibn Yūnus and others declared him trustworthy, and he died in the year 218 AH. His teacher, Ziyād al-Bakkāʾī, is trustworthy, among the teachers of Aḥmad. And "al-Bakkāʾī", with a fatḥa on the bāʾ and a tashdīd on the kāf, is an attribution to "al-Bakkāʾ", which is Rabīʿa ibn ʿĀmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa.
Ibn Hishām said (2/194–195; 2/35–37 in al-Rawḍ al-Unuf, the commentary on al-Sīra): Ibn Isḥāq said: "Among those regarding whom the Qurʾān was specifically revealed from among the rabbis and the disbelievers of the Jews—who used to question him and harass him in order to confound truth with falsehood—according to what was mentioned to me on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās and Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Riʾāb: Abū Yāsir ibn Akhtab passed by the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him..."
So this is a weak chain of transmission; Ibn Isḥāq left it anonymous, presenting it as a suspended narration using the passive voice of uncertainty. In it, the narration is on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās and Jābir together.
Al-Bukhārī narrated it in al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr, in the biography of "Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Riʾāb" (1/2/207–208) with three chains of transmission, following his precise and meticulous habit of brevity and referencing chains of transmission and their hadith defects: The first of them: "ʿAmr ibn Zurāra narrated to me, saying: Ziyād narrated to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq said: A freed slave of Zayd ibn Thābit narrated to me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr and ʿIkrima, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās and Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh: That Abū Yāsir ibn Akhtab passed by the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, while he was reciting {Alif Lām Mīm. That Book}." This is al-Bukhārī's reference to the first chain of transmission among the three. And "Ziyād" in this chain of transmission is al-Bakkāʾī. So this is a Sahih (Authentic) chain of transmission up to Ibn Isḥāq. However, weakness lies within it due to the anonymity of one of its narrators: "a freed slave of Zayd ibn Thābit." It is like the chain of transmission of al-Sīra: on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās and Jābir together. Perhaps ʿAmr ibn Zurāra—the teacher of al-Bukhārī—narrated al-Sīra from al-Bakkāʾī, just as Ibn Hishām narrated it from him. The second of them: "And Salama said: Ibn Isḥāq narrated to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad narrated to me, on the authority of ʿIkrima, or Saʿīd, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: {Alif Lām Mīm. That Book}—in its length." This is al-Bukhārī's reference to the second chain of transmission. He means that Salama—who is Ibn al-Faḍl present in al-Ṭabarī's chain of transmission here—narrated it from Ibn Isḥāq. He did not mention the wording of the hadith, deeming this reference to it sufficient. And Ibn Isḥāq—in this chain of transmission—narrates it from "Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad," who is al-Anṣārī al-Madanī, the freed slave of Zayd ibn Thābit. Al-Dhahabī claimed in al-Mīzān that he is "unknown"! But he is known; al-Bukhārī gave his biography in al-Kabīr (1/1/225) and mentioned no discrediting regarding him, and Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned him in al-Thiqāt. That is sufficient for identification and attestation. Perhaps he is the "freed slave of Zayd ibn Thābit" who was left unnamed in the first chain of transmission. However, this chain of transmission became confused upon Ibn Isḥāq, or upon Salama ibn al-Faḍl—so the narration in it was: on the authority of ʿIkrima, or Saʿīd (meaning Ibn Jubayr), with doubt. Then it was on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, without mentioning "Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Riʾāb." The third of them: "And on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: Among those regarding whom the Qurʾān was revealed from among the rabbis, according to what al-Kalbī narrated to me, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Riʾāb: Abū Yāsir ibn Akhtab passed by the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, while he was reciting {Alif Lām Mīm}, in its length—concerning gematria." This third narration, with the chain of transmission present with al-Ṭabarī here, follows the second narration, from Salama ibn al-Faḍl, connecting it to it by saying "and on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq," and is not a new suspended narration. Al-Bukhārī—by this practice of his—pointed to the confusion in the narration upon Salama ibn al-Faḍl, between this one and that. For that reason, he proceeded to discredit Salama due to this confusion, saying immediately after that: "ʿAlī said [meaning his teacher ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī, the imam of discrediting and attestation]: We did not leave Rayy until we discarded the hadith of Salama." And he said in the biography of Salama (2/2/85): "Salama ibn al-Faḍl Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Abrarsh al-Rāzī al-Anṣārī heard Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Juʿfī narrated from him. He possesses rejected narrations. It is said: their client. He died after ninety. ʿAlī weakened him," meaning his teacher Ibn al-Madīnī. He means that Salama died after the year 190 AH. And he said in al-Tārīkh al-Ṣaghīr (p. 217): "Salama ibn al-Faḍl Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Abrarsh al-Rāzī al-Anṣārī died after one hundred and ninety. ʿAlī said [meaning Ibn al-Madīnī]: We discarded his hadith before we left Rayy. And Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm declared him weak." He also said in his biography in Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafāʾ (p. 16): "He heard Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq; ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn Abān and Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd narrated from him. But he possesses rejected narrations. There is reservation regarding him." As for me, I lean toward declaring Salama ibn al-Faḍl trustworthy, for Ibn Maʿīn declared him trustworthy in what Ibn Abī Ḥātim narrated in his book, where he has a good, comprehensive biography (2/1/168–169). He also narrated from Jarīr, who said: "From Baghdad to Khorasan, there is no one more firm regarding Ibn Isḥāq than Salama ibn al-Faḍl." I also preferred declaring him trustworthy in the commentary on al-Musnad (886). In my view, this confusion stems only from Ibn Isḥāq, or perhaps he narrated it with these chains of transmission as he heard them. All of them are Da'if (Weak) and confused. The weakest among them is the narration here, to which al-Bukhārī referred: from the narration of al-Kalbī, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ. And how excellent is al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr, for he put the truth in its proper place when he said in al-Tafsīr (1/69–70): "As for the one who claims that they indicate knowledge of lifespans, and that from them one can extract the times of events, destruction, and great battles, he has claimed what he has no right to, and has flown in other than his own airspace! A Da'if (Weak) hadith has been transmitted regarding that, and yet it is more indicative of the invalidity of this path than relying on it for its validity." Then he quoted this hadith from this location in al-Ṭabarī, and then said: "This hadith revolves around Muḥammad ibn al-Sāʾib al-Kalbī, and he is among those whose solitary narrations cannot be relied upon as proof. Furthermore, the implication of this approach—were it sound—would be to calculate every single letter among the fourteen letters we mentioned. That would reach a large total. And if calculated with repetition, it would be even more overwhelming and immense!!" And Muḥammad ibn al-Sāʾib al-Kalbī is extremely Da'if (Weak), accused of lying. Rather, Ibn Abī Ḥātim narrated in al-Jarḥ (3/1/270–271) in his biography, on the authority of Abū ʿĀṣim al-Nabīl, who said: "Sufyān al-Thawrī claimed to me, saying: Al-Kalbī said to us: Whatever I narrated to you on my authority, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, is a lie, so do not narrate it." And Abū Ḥātim said: "People are unanimous in abandoning his hadith; it is not to be occupied with, and he is discarded in hadith." Al-Ṭabarī himself declared him extremely weak previously (p. 66), as he pointed to a narration on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "He narrated all of that on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, but the narration from him is not from the narration of someone whose transmission is permissible to use as evidence," then he mentioned that the one who narrated that was "al-Kalbī, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ." And he described the hadith (p. 72) narrated through his route as "a report whose chain of transmission requires scrutiny." So it was astonishing of him after this to use these flimsy narrations as evidence, and to accept this objectionable interpretation by gematria calculation! For he selects in what is to come (this page, line 8 and after) that these letters contain all the meanings he reported except for one view other than this objectionable meaning. Rather, he explicitly states later (p. 222, line 8) that among the meanings he accepted is that they are "among the letters of gematria calculation"!! Al-Suyūṭī quoted this hadith in al-Durr al-Manthūr (1/22 and 2/4–5), describing it in the first place as weak. Likewise, al-Shawkānī quoted it (1/20) and declared it weak. And his statement at its end: "And they claim that these verses..."—is part of the continuation of the narration. It is from the words of Ibn Isḥāq reporting on the authority of those from whom he narrated.

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