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

Volume 1 · Page 29

Translation · EN

AI translation

their language before the revelation of the Qur'ān, nor were the Arabs acquainted with them before the coming of the Criterion"—such that it would be a statement contrary to our statement (1). Rather, some of them merely said: Such a word in the language of Abyssinia means such-and-such, and such a word in the language of the non-Arabs means such-and-such. And we have not denied that there may be speech in which the words of all the races of nations of different languages agree with one identical meaning, so how much more so for two of their races? Just as we have found agreement in much of it among what we know of the different languages, such as the dirham, the dinar, the inkwell, the pen, the paper, and other such things—the enumeration of which would be exhausting and tedious to count, so we disliked making the Book overly long by mentioning them—among that in which Persian and Arabic agree in both wording and meaning. And perhaps that is likewise in all other languages whose speech we are ignorant of and whose language we do not know.

So if someone were to say—regarding the things we have mentioned, enumerated, and reported as agreeing in wording and meaning in Persian and Arabic, and similar things about which we have remained silent: "All of that is Persian, not Arabic," or "All of that is Arabic, not Persian," or if he said: "Some of it is Arabic and some of it is Persian," or if he said: "The origin of its source came from the Arabs and reached the non-Arabs, who then spoke it," or if he said: "The origin of its source came from the Persians and reached the Arabs, who then Arabized it"—he would be deemed ignorant (2), because the Arabs are no more entitled to have been the original source that passed to the non-Arabs, nor are the non-Arabs more entitled to have been the original source that passed to the Arabs, since the use of that in a single wording and a single meaning is found in both races.

And since that is found, as we have described, in both races, neither of the two races is more entitled to have been the original source of that than the other race. And whoever claims that the origin of that merely came from one of the two races to the other is claiming something whose true correctness cannot be reached except by a report that yields certainty, removes doubt, and whose authenticity cuts off all excuse.

Notes

(1) Khilāf: meaning mukhālif (contrary), and its occurrence will be frequent in al-Ṭabarī's speech.
(2) His statement: "he would be deemed ignorant", is the apodosis of his statement: "If a speaker were to say...". The separation in al-Ṭabarī's phrasing can be longer than this, as will come before you. Istajhala fulānan: deemed so-and-so ignorant, or found him ignorant. Ignorance here means corruption of opinion and instability of judgment, because it is built upon pure arbitrariness, as you see in al-Ṭabarī's rebuttal.

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Arabic (Source)

لها منطقًا قبل نزول القرآن، ولا كانت بها العرب عارفةً قبل مجيء الفرقان- فيكون ذلك قولا لقولنا خِلافًا (١) . وإنما قال بعضهم: حرف كذا بلسان الحبشة معناهُ كذا، وحرفُ كذا بلسان العجم معناه كذا. ولم نستنكر أن يكون من الكلام ما يتفق فيه ألفاظ جميع أجناس الأمم المختلفة الألسن بمعنى واحد، فكيف بجنسين منها؟ كما وجدنا اتفاق كثير منه فيما قد علمناه من الألسن المختلفة، وذلك كالدرهم والدينار والدواة والقلم والقرْطاس، وغير ذلك -مما يتعب إحصاؤه وُيمِلّ تعداده، كرهنا إطالة الكتاب بذكره- مما اتفقت فيه الفارسية والعربية باللفظ والمعنى. ولعلّ ذلك كذلك في سائر الألسن التي نجهل منطقها ولا نعرف كلامها.فلو أن قائلا قال -فيما ذكرنا من الأشياء التي عددْنا وأخبِرْنا اتفاقَه في اللفظ والمعنى بالفارسية والعربية، وما أشبهَ ذلك مما سكتنا عن ذكره-: ذلك كله فارسي لا عربي، أو ذلك كله عربي لا فارسي، أو قال: بعضه عربي وبعضه فارسي، أو قال: كان مخرج أصله من عند العرب فوقع إلى العجم فنطقوا به، أو قال: كان مخرج أصله من عند الفرس فوقع إلى العرب فأعربته - كان مستجهَلا (٢) لأن العربَ ليست بأولى أن تكون كان مخرجُ أصل ذلك منها إلى العجم، ولا العجم أحقَّ أن تكون كان مخرج أصل ذلك منها إلى العرب، إذ كان استعمال ذلك بلفظ واحد ومعنى واحد موجودًا في الجنسين.وإذْ كان ذلك موجودًا على ما وصفنا في الجنسين، فليس أحدُ الجنسين أولى بأن يكون أصلُ ذلك كان من عنده من الجنس الآخر. والمدّعي أن مخرج صل ذلك إنما كان من أحد الجنسين إلى الآخر، مدّعٍ أمرًا لا يوصَل إلى حقيقة صحّته إلا بخبر يوجب العلم، ويزيل الشكّ، ويقطع العذرَ صحتُه.

Notes

(١) خلاف: مخالف، وسيكثر مجيئها في كلام الطبري.(٢) قوله: "كان مستجهلا"، جواب قوله: "لو أن قائلا قال..". والفصل في عبارة الطبري يكون أطول من هذا، كما سيمر بك. واستجهل فلانًا: عده جاهلا، أو وجده جاهلا. والجهل هنا: فساد الرأي واضطرابه، لأنه مبني على التحكم المحض، كما ترى في رد الطبري.