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

Volume 1 · Page 374

Translation · EN

AI translation

it, such that Muḥammad would be able to bring all of it from himself as a fabrication?

As for what Mujāhid and Ibn Jurayj said in the interpretation of that, it has no basis. Because the people during the time of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, were of three categories: people of true faith, people of true disbelief, and people of hypocrisy between that. The people of faith were believers in God and His Messenger, so it would be impossible for the disbelievers to claim that they had witnesses — to the reality of what they would bring, if they brought a fabrication of the message, then claimed that it was a match for the Qurʾān — from among the believers (1). As for the people of hypocrisy and disbelief, there is no doubt that if they were called to verify falsehood and invalidate the truth, they would hasten to it with their disbelief and misguidance (2), so from which of the two groups would their witnesses be if they claimed that they had brought a sūrah like the Qurʾān (3)?

Rather, that is as He, majestic is His praise, said: {Say, "If mankind and the jinn gathered in order to produce the like of this Qurʾān, they could not produce the like of it, even if they were to each other assistants."} [Sūrat al-Isrāʾ: 88]. So He, majestic is His praise, informed in this verse that the like of the Qurʾān cannot be brought by the jinn and mankind even if they supported each other and cooperated to bring it, and He challenged them in the sense of rebuking them in Sūrat al-Baqarah, so God Almighty said: "And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our servant, then produce a sūrah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than God, if you should be truthful." He means by that: If you are in doubt about the truthfulness of Muḥammad in what he brought to you from Me, that it is from Me, then bring a sūrah

Notes

(1) His statement "from among the believers" is connected to his earlier statement "that they have witnesses...", meaning witnesses from among the believers. Then he separated them because his statement "to the reality of what they used to bring..." is also connected to "witnesses".
(2) In the printed edition: "they would have hastened to it despite their disbelief and misguidance." And "tatarraʿa" to a thing means to hasten to it; it is used for hastening to evil and that which is improper. What is in the manuscript, "tatāraʿū", is correct in Arabic derivation, even if the lexicons did not mention it, and it is identical to "tasārraʿū" and "tasāraʿū".
(3) In the printed edition: "So from which of the groups...". Al-Ṭabarī's statement is a rhetorical question of disapproval. Because it is impossible for the believers to testify to this falsehood, while the disbelievers and the people of hypocrisy hasten to testify to falsehood in order to invalidate the truth, so it was impossible that the meaning of "witnesses" here is: those who testify for them that what they brought is comparable to what the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of God be upon him, brought from Allah Almighty. Thus it became definitive that the meaning of "witnesses" is: those who back them and assist them, as stated in the following verse.

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Arabic (Source)

مثله، فيقدرَ محمد على أن يأتي بجميعه من قِبَل نَفسه اختلاقًا؟وأما ما قاله مجاهد وابن جُريج في تأويل ذلك، فلا وجه له. لأن القوم كانوا على عهد رسول الله ﷺ أصنافًا ثلاثة: أهل إيمان صحيح، وأهل كفر صحيح، وأهلَ نفاق بين ذلك. فأهل الإيمان كانوا بالله وبرسوله مؤمنين، فكان من المحال أن يدّعي الكفار أن لهم شُهداء - على حقيقة ما كانوا يأتون به، لو أتوا باختلاق من الرسالة، ثم ادَّعوا أنه للقرآن نَظير - من المؤمنين (١) . فأما أهلُ النفاق والكفر، فلا شكّ أنهم لو دُعُوا إلى تَحقيق الباطل وإبطال الحق لتتارعوا إليه مع كفرهم وضَلالهم (٢) ، فمن أي الفريقين كانت تكون شُهداؤهم لو ادعوْا أنهم قد أتوْا بسورة من مثل القرآن (٣) ؟ولكنْ ذلك كما قال جل ثناؤه: (قُلْ لَئِنِ اجْتَمَعَتِ الإنْسُ وَالْجِنُّ عَلَى أَنْ يَأْتُوا بِمِثْلِ هَذَا الْقُرْآنِ لا يَأْتُونَ بِمِثْلِهِ وَلَوْ كَانَ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ ظَهِيرًا) [سورة الإسراء: ٨٨] ، فأخبر جل ثناؤه في هذه الآية، أنّ مثل القرآن لا يأتي به الجنّ والإنس ولو تظاهروا وتعاونوا على الإتيان به، وتحدَّاهم بمعنى التوبيخ لهم في سورة البقرة فقال تعالى:"وإنْ كنتم في ريب مما نزلنا على عبدنا فأتوا بسورة من مثله وادعوا شهداءكم من دون الله إنْ كنتمْ صَادقين". يعني بذلك: إن كنتم في شَكّ في صدق محمد فيما جاءكم به من عندي أنه من عندي، فأتوا بسورة

Notes

(١) قوله"من المؤمنين" متعلق بقوله آنفًا "أن لهم شهداء. . "، يعني شهداء من المؤمنين. ثم فصل، لأن قوله"على حقيقة ما كانوا يأتون به. . " متعلق أيضًا، بشهداء.(٢) في المطبوعة: "لسارعوا إليه مع كفرهم وضلالهم". وتترع إلى الشيء: تسرع إليه، يقال في التسرع إلى الشر وما لا ينبغي. وما في المخطوطة"تتارعوا" صحيح في اشتقاق العربية، وإن لم تذكره المعاجم، وهو مثل تسرع وتسارع، سواء.(٣) في المطبوعة"فمن أي الفرق. . "، وكلام الطبري استفهام واستنكار. لأن من المحال أن يشهد المؤمنون على هذا الباطل، والكفار وأهل النفاق يتسرعون إلى الشهادة بالباطل لإبطال الحق، فكان محالا أن يكون معنى"الشهداء" هنا: الذين يشهدون لهم، أن ما جاءوا به نظير ما جاء به رسول الله ﷺ من عند الله تعالى. وصار حتما أن يكون معنى"الشهداء": الذين يظاهرونهم ويعاونونهم، كما جاء في الآية التالية.