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

Volume 1 · Page 37524

Translation · EN

AI translation

like it, and let some of you seek the help of others in that if you are truthful in your claim, so that you may know that since you are incapable of that — that Muḥammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him, is not able to bring it, nor is anyone from mankind, and it becomes established with you that it is My revelation and My revelation to My servant.

The statement regarding the interpretation of His statement, majestic is His praise: {But if you do not - and you will never be able to}

Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His mention, means by His statement: "But if you do not", if you do not bring a sūrah like it, and you and your partners and your aides have supported each other in it (1), then your inability and the inability of all My creation regarding it has become clear to you through your trial and your testing, and you have known that it is from Me, yet you persisted in denying it.

And His statement: "and you will never be able to", meaning you will never bring a sūrah like it, ever.

501- As Bishr b. Muʿādh narrated to us, he said: Yazīd narrated to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatādah: "But if you do not - and you will never be able to", meaning you are not capable of that and you cannot bear it (2).

502- Ibn Ḥumayd narrated to us, he said: Salamah narrated to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad b. Abī Muḥammad, on the authority of ʿIkrimah, or on the authority of Saʿīd b. Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "But if you do not - and you will never be able to", then the truth has become clear to you (3).

Notes

(1) In the printed edition: "and you backed one another" (wa-qad taẓāhartum); what is in the manuscript is better, and the explanation of that will follow shortly.
(2) Report 501: Al-Suyūṭī mentioned it in 1:35 in a similar wording and attributed it to ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn Jarīr. A typographical error occurred in it writing "Ibn Jurayj".
(3) Reports 501, 502: In al-Durr al-Manthūr 1:35 and al-Shawkānī 1:40. The wording of al-Ṭabarī in the Tafsir of this verse and the one following it, as well as the evidence he cited from the last report, indicates that he considers the apodosis of the conditional clause to be omitted because it is known from the context. The apodosis is: "then the truth has been made clear to you, yet you persisted in disbelieving in it and in My Messenger." Then he said, resuming: "So beware of entering the Hellfire by disbelieving My Messenger, for he has come to you with My revelation and My sending down, after it has become clear to you that it is My Book and from Me." And I found no one who paid attention to this except al-Zamakhsharī, for he said in the Tafsir of the verse in his book al-Kashshāf, textually: "If you say: What is the meaning of making their avoidance of the Hellfire conditional upon their inability to bring a surah like it? I say: When they fail to bring it and their inability to counter it becomes clear, the truthfulness of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of God be upon him, is established for them. Once his truthfulness is established for them, yet they persist in stubbornness and do not submit or follow, they deserve punishment in the Hellfire. So it was said to them: If your inability becomes clear, then abandon stubbornness. So 'fear the Hellfire' was placed in its position because avoiding the Hellfire is intrinsically linked to abandoning stubbornness, as it is one of its consequences—for whoever fears the Hellfire abandons stubbornness. An equivalent example is a king saying to his retinue: 'If you want honor with me, beware of my wrath.' He means: obey me, follow my command, and do that which is the result of fearing wrath. This belongs to the realm of allusion (kināya), which is a branch of rhetoric (balāgha). Its benefit is conciseness, which is the ornament of the Qurʾān, and terrifying the matter of stubbornness by substituting the fear of the Hellfire in its place and depicting it in its image, accompanied by terrifying the description of the Hellfire and magnifying its gravity." Thus al-Ṭabarī's intent has become clear, and that he intended to explain that avoiding the Hellfire is not included in the condition, nor is it part of its answer, so as to avoid the meaning of the statement being restricted to their inability to bring its like. The commentary that follows fully demonstrates this meaning. It is among the profound insights of al-Ṭabarī, may Allah have mercy on him, and may Allah forgive al-Zamakhsharī.

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Arabic (Source)

من مثله، وليستنصر بعضُكم بعضًا على ذلك إن كنتم صادقين في زعمكم، حتى تعلموا أنكم إذْ عَجزتم عن ذلك - أنّه لا يقدر على أن يأتي به محمد ﷺ، ولا من البشر أحدٌ، ويَصحَّ عندكم أنه تنزيلي وَوحيي إلى عبدي.* * *القول في تأويل قوله جل ثناؤه: ﴿فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلُوا وَلَنْ تَفْعَلُوا﴾قال أبو جعفر: يعني تعالى ذكره بقوله:"فإن لم تفعلوا"، إن لم تأتوا بسورة من مثله، فقد تظاهرتم أنتم وشركاؤكم عليه وأعوانكم (١) ، فتبين لكم بامتحانكم واختباركم عجزكم وعَجزُ جميع خلقي عنه، وعلمتم أنه من عندي، ثم أقمتم على التكذيب به.وقوله:"ولن تفعلوا"، أي لن تأتوا بسورة من مثله أبدًا.٥٠١- كما حدثنا بشر بن معاذ، قال: حدثنا يزيد، عن سعيد، عن قتادة:"فإن لم تفعلوا ولنْ تفعلوا"، أي لا تقدرون على ذلك ولا تطيقونه (٢) .٥٠٢- حدثنا ابن حميد، قال: حدثنا سلمة، عن ابن إسحاق، عن محمد بن أبي محمد، عن عكرمة، أو عن سعيد بن جبير، عن ابن عباس:"فإن لم تفعلوا ولن تفعلوا"، فقد بَين لكم الحق (٣) .* * *

Notes

(١) في المطبوعة: "وقد تظاهرتم"، وما في المخطوطة أجود، وسيأتي بعد قليل بيان ذلك.(٢) الأثر ٥٠١- ذكره السيوطي ١: ٣٥ بنحوه، ونسبه لعبد بن حميد وابن جرير. وكتب فيه خطأ مطبعيًّا"ابن جريج".(٣) الأثران ٥٠١، ٥٠٢- في الدر المنثور ١: ٣٥، والشوكاني ١: ٤٠. ولفظ الطبري في تفسير هذه الآية وفي التي تليها، وما استدل به من الأثر الأخير، يدل على أنه يرى أن جواب الشرط محذوف، لأنه معلوم قد دل عليه السياق؛ وجواب الشرط"فقد بين لكم الحق، وأقمتم على التكذيب به وبرسولي"، ثم قال مستأنفًا: "فاتقوا أن تصلوا النار بتكذيبكم رسولي، أنه جاءكم بوحيي وتنزيلي، بعد أن تبين لكم أنه كتابي ومن عندي".ولم أجد من تنبه لهذا غير الزمخشري، فإنه قال في تفسير الآية من كتابه"الكشاف" ما نصه: "فإن قلت: ما معنى اشتراطه في اتقاء النار، انتفاء إتيانهم بسورة من مثله؟ قلت: إنهم إذا لم يأتوا بها، وتبين عجزهم عن المعارضة، صح عندهم صدق رسول الله ﷺ. وإذا صح عندهم صدقه، ثم لزموا العناد ولم ينقادوا ولم يشايعوا، استوجبوا العقاب بالنار. فقيل لهم: إن استبنتم العجز فاتركوا العناد. فوضع"فاتقوا النار" موضعه، لأن اتقاء النار لصيقه وضميمه ترك العناد، من حيث إنه من نتائجه. لأن من اتقى النار ترك المعاندة. ونظيره أن يقول الملك لحشمه: "إن أردتم الكرامة عندي، فاحذروا سخطي". يريد: فأطيعوني واتبعوا أمري، وافعلوا ما هو نتيجة حذر السخط. وهو من باب الكناية التي هي شعبة من شعب البلاغة. وفائدته: الإيجاز، الذي هو حلية القرآن، وتهويل شأن العناد، بإنابة اتقاء النار منابه، وإبرازه في صورته، مشيعًا ذلك بتهويل صفة النار وتفظيع أمرها".