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

Volume 1 · Page 487

Translation · EN

AI translation

In these three verses there is a lesson for whoever would take lesson, a reminder for whoever would remember, and a clarification for whoever has a heart or gives ear while he is a witness, concerning the subtle wisdoms that Allah—exalted be His praise—has deposited in the verses of this Qur'an, which tongues are powerless to describe.

That is because Allah—exalted be His praise—argued therein for His Prophet Peace and blessings of God be upon him against those of the Jews of the Children of Israel who were among him, by informing him of the knowledge of the unseen which He—exalted be His praise—had not disclosed to any of His creation except a select few, and the knowledge of which could not be attained except through notification and reporting, so that the authenticity of his prophethood would be established with them, and they would know that what he brought them was from Him. And He demonstrated therein that anyone who relates a report about what has been—or about what will be of that which has not yet occurred—without a report having come to him about it, and without proof of its authenticity having been established for him, is a fabricator who renders himself deserving of punishment from his Lord. Do you not see that Allah—exalted be His remembrance—rejected the statement of His angels: "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we glorify You with Your praise and sanctify You?" He said: "Indeed, I know that which you do not know." And He made them realize that saying such a thing was not permissible for them, through what He made known to them of the shortcoming in their knowledge when He presented to them those whom He presented of the named beings, saying: "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful." Thus they had no recourse except to confess their inability, and to disavow before Him possessing any knowledge except what He had taught them, by saying: "Glory be to You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us." In this was the clearest demonstration and the most explicit proof of the falsehood of the assertion of everyone who claims any knowledge of the unseen among the fortune-tellers, diviners, augurs, and astrologers (1). And through them He reminded those

Notes

(1) Al-huzah is the plural of hazin: and he is like a soothsayer, who estimates things and evaluates them by his conjecture. The one who looks at the stars and divines is called a hazin and a hazza', and in the hadith of Heraclius it is said that he "was a hazza'," and in the hadith: "Pharaoh had a hazin," meaning a soothsayer. And al-kahana is the plural of kahin: and he is the one who deals in information about beings in future times and claims knowledge of secrets. In the printed edition, "and al-qafa" is in place of "and al-'afa," and it is a clear error, for qiyafa is not what al-Tabari intended at all, and it is a true science, not a falsehood like the falsehood of tahazzi, kahana, and tanjim. And al-'afa is the plural of 'a'if: and he is the one who practices 'iyafa on birds, scaring them to fly and taking good or bad omens from their names, sounds, and passage. The name of his craft is: al-'iyafa, and in the hadith: "Al-'iyafa and al-tarq are from al-jibt." It is a type of soothsaying. And al-munajjim and al-mutanajjim: the one who looks at the stars, calculating their times and courses, then connects that with the conditions of the world and people, speaking by conjecture regarding the unseen of their affairs.

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Arabic (Source)

وفي هذه الآيات الثلاث العبرة لمن اعتبرَ، والذكرى لمن ادّكر، والبيان لمن كان له قلبٌ أو ألقَى السمعَ وهو شهيد، عمّا أودع الله جل ثناؤه آيَ هذا القرآن من لطائف الحكم التي تعجز عن أوصافها الألسن.وذلك أن الله جل ثناؤه احتجّ فيها لنبيه ﷺ على من كان بين ظَهْرَانَيْه من يَهود بني إسرائيل، بإطلاعه إياه من علوم الغيب التي لم يكن جل ثناؤه أطلعَ عليها من خلقه إلا خاصًّا، ولم يكن مُدرَكًا علمه إلا بالإنباء والإخبار، لتتقرر عندهم صحة نبوته، ويعلموا أن ما أتاهم به فمن عنده، ودلّ فيها على أنّ كل مخبر خبرًا عما قد كان - أو عما هو كائن مما لم يكنْ، ولم يأته به خبر، ولم يُوضَع له على صحّته برهان، - فمتقوّلٌ ما يستوجبُ به من ربه العقوبة. ألا ترى أنّ الله جل ذكره ردّ على ملائكته قِيلَهم:"أتجعلُ فيها من يُفسدُ فيها ويَسفكُ الدماءَ ونَحنُ نُسبح بحمدك ونقدسُ لك" قال:"إني أعلمُ ما لا تعلمونَ"، وعرفهم أن قِيلَ ذلك لم يكن جائزًا لهم، بما عرّفهم من قصور علمهم عند عرضه ما عرض عليهم من أهل الأسماء، فقال:"أنبئوني بأسماء هؤلاء إن كنتمْ صادقين". فلم يكن لهم مَفزَعٌ إلا الإقرارُ بالعجز، والتبرِّي إليه أن يعلموا إلا ما علّمهم، بقولهم:"سبحانك لا عِلْمَ لنا إلا ما علّمتنا". فكان في ذلك أوضحُ الدلالة وأبينُ الحجة، على كذب مقالة كلّ من ادعى شيئًا من علوم الغيب من الحُزاة والكهنة والعافَةِ والمنجِّمة (١) . وذكَّر بها الذين

Notes

(١) الحزاة جمع حاز: وهو كالكاهن، يحرز الأشياء ويقدرها بظنه. ويقال للذي ينظر في النجوم ويتكهن حاز وحزاء، وفي حديث هرقل أنه"كان حزاء"، وفي الحديث: "كان لفرعون حاز"، أي كاهن. والكهنة جمع كاهن: وهو الذي يتعاطى الخبر عن الكائنات في مستقبل الزمان ويدعى معرفة الأسرار. وفي المطبوعة"والقافة" مكان"والعافة"، وهو خطأ بين، فالقيافة ليست مما أراد الطبري في شيء، وهي حق، لا باطل كباطل التحزي والكهانة والتنجيم. والعافة جمع عائف: وهو الذي يعيف الطير فيزجرها ويتفاءل أو يتشاءم بأسمائها وأصواتها وممرها. واسم حرفته: العيافة، وفي الحديث: "العيافة والطرق من الجبت". وهو ضرب من الكهانة. والمنجم والمتنجم: الذي ينظر في النجوم يحسب مواقيتها وسيرها، ثم يربط بين ذلك وبين أحوال الدنيا والناس، فيقول بالظن في غيب أمورهم.