God, exalted be His praise, addressed with His statement "O Children of Israel" only the rabbis of the Jews among the Children of Israel who were living in the place of migration of the Messenger of God, Peace and blessings of God be upon him. Thus, He traced their lineage to Jacob, just as He traced the descendants of Adam to Adam, saying: {O Children of Adam, take your adornment at every mosque} [Sūrat al-Aʿrāf: 31], and the like. He singled them out for the address in this verse and the subsequent verses in which He reminded them of His favors — even though what was revealed regarding them and others in the beginning of this Sūra has already preceded — because the proofs and signs He adduced, which contain news of their predecessors, reports of their ancestors, and accounts of matters whose knowledge was exclusive to them to the exclusion of all other nations, no other nation possesses knowledge of their authenticity and reality equal to what they possess of it, except for those who derived that knowledge from them. Thus, He made them realize through Muhammad’s acquaintance with that knowledge — despite his people and clan being far from knowing it, and Muhammad’s, Peace and blessings of God be upon him, minimal engagement with studying the books containing such reports (1) — that Muhammad, Peace and blessings of God be upon him,
Notes
- (1) His statement: "And Muhammad's—peace and blessings of God be upon him—infrequent engagement with studying books...", is just as we say today in our modern phrasing: "And Muhammad's non-engagement...". Al-Jāḥiẓ said in al-Bayān wa-l-Tabyīn 1: 285: "ʿAwn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtba ibn Masʿūd sought refuge with Muḥammad ibn Marwān in Naṣībīn, and married a woman there. Muḥammad said: 'How do you find Naṣībīn?' He said: 'Abundant in scorpions, scarce in relatives.' He means by his word 'scarce', the same as when one says: 'So-and-so has little modesty', not meaning that there is some modesty, however small; rather, they place 'little' in the place of 'not'." End quote.
I say: Of this usage is the statement of Durayd ibn al-Ṣimma regarding his brother: "Little given to complaining about calamities, mindful / today of the consequences of accounts for tomorrow."
And there will come the statement of al-Ṭabarī in the exegesis of God Almighty's saying from (Sūrat al-Baqara: 88) "so little is that which they believe": (1: 324, Būlāq): "It was only said: 'so little is that which they believe', while they disbelieve in all of it, just as the Arabs say: 'Seldom have I seen the likes of this at all.' And it has been narrated from them by direct audition: 'I passed through lands that seldom grow anything except leeks and onions', meaning they grow nothing other than leeks and onions, and similar speech spoken describing a thing as 'little', while the meaning in it is total negation." End quote.
And in the hadith: "He used to minimize idle talk," meaning he did not engage in idle talk at all. Ibn al-Athīr said: "This expression is used to negate the fundamental existence of a thing" (al-Lisān: q-l-l).
Were it not for a time in which the language has become corrupt, faith has diminished, and the audacious have grown bold in interpreting words and hunting for doubts—and were it not that someone might say and slander al-Ṭabarī by claiming that he said the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of God be upon him, used to study the books of the People of the Book—I would have had no need for such lengthiness.
This translation was produced with AI assistance and is part of an ongoing human-review process. Found a mistake? Use the feedback option in the reader menu.
