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

500- Al-Qāsim narrated to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn narrated to us, he said: Ḥajjāj narrated to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: "And call upon your witnesses", he said: People who bear witness. Ibn Jurayj said: "Your witnesses" to it when you bring it — that it is like it, like the Qurʾān (1).

And that is the statement of God to those among the disbelievers who doubted what Muḥammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him, brought. And His statement "So call upon", means: seek help and seek aid (2), as the poet said:

And when our horsemen and their footmen met ... They called out: O Kaʿb! And we affiliated ourselves to ʿĀmir (3)

He means by his statement: "They called out: O Kaʿb", they sought the help of Kaʿb and sought their aid (4).

As for the witnesses (shuhadāʾ), it is the plural of witness (shahīd), just as partners (shurakāʾ) is the plural of partner (sharīk) (5), and orators (khuṭabāʾ) is the plural of orator (khaṭīb). And a shahīd is what one who bears witness to a thing for another is called, by which he verifies his claim. And it may also be used to call one who observes a thing, just as it is said: so-and-so is the sitting companion (jalīs) of so-and-so — meaning by it his sitting companion (mujālis), and his drinking companion (nadīm) — meaning by it his drinking companion (munādim), and likewise it is said: his witness (shahīd) — meaning by it his observer (mushāhid).

So if "witnesses" (al-shuhadāʾ) can possibly be the plural of "witness" (al-shahīd), which is applicable to the two meanings that I have described, then the more appropriate of its two aspects for the interpretation of the verse is what Ibn ʿAbbās said, which is that its meaning is: And seek the help, to bring a sūrah like it, of your aides and your witnesses who observe you and assist you in your denial of God and His Messenger, and who support you in your disbelief and hypocrisy, if you are truthful in your denial that what Muḥammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him, brought to you is a fabrication and a forgery, so that you may test yourselves and others: are you able to bring a sūrah like

(1) Reports 496–500: Some of them are in Ibn Kathīr 1:108, al-Durr al-Manthūr 1:35, and al-Shawkānī 1:40. In some places in the manuscript, it has "unās" instead of "nās", and they are equivalent.
(2) In the printed edition: "and seek help" (wa-staʿīnū), and they are close in meaning, though the former is better; it is also thus in Maʿānī al-Qurʾān by al-Farrāʾ 1:19.
(3) The verse of poetry is by al-Rāʿī al-Numayrī, Lisān al-ʿArab (ʿ-z-w). "Iʿtazā": affiliated oneself, or called out in war such as saying: "O so-and-so!" or "O Emigrants (Muhajirien)!" or "O Helpers (Ansar)!" The noun is al-ʿazāʾ and al-ʿizwa, which is the call of one seeking help.
(4) In the printed edition: "and they sought help" (wa-staʿānū), as preceded in its sister entry earlier.
(5) In the printed edition: "like partners" (ka-l-shurakāʾ).

Translation · EN

Notes