Selections from the Comprehensive Exposition of the Interpretation of the Verses of the Qur'an: Volume I [1] 1911141252, 9781911141259

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R

T. A B A R ! Selections fr om

on T he C om pr eh en si ve E xp os iti of th e In te rp re ta ti on o f th e V er se s o f th e Q E r'a n VO LU ME I

INS TIT UT E TH E RO YA L AA L AL -BA YT FO R ISL AM IC TH OU GH T

and IET Y TH E ISL AM IC TEX TS SOC

Translated by Scott C. Lu ca s

Copyright Cl The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought 2017

This first edition published 2017 by THE ROYAL AAL AL-BAIT INSTITUTE FOR ISLAMIC THOUGHT THE

lsLAM1c Tuxrs Soc1ETY

&

CONTEN TS VII Acknowledgements IX Abbreviations XI Translator's Introduction

MILLER'S HOUSE KINGS MILL LANE GREAT SHELFORD CAMBRIDGE CB22 SEN, UK.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. 9 VOL I ISBN: 978 l91 II41 26 6 VOL JI ISBN : 978 l9II 14I 27 3 SET OF 2 VOLUMES ISBN: 978 l9II 141 25

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Cover design copyright 0 The Islamic Texts Society PaINnd Bv MEGA PRINTING IN Tuakev

Selections from THE COMPREHE NSIVE EXPOSITIO N OF THE INTERPRET ATION OF THE VERSES OF THE Q.!:!R'AN VOLUME I Tabari's Introduction The Opening: Surat al-Fatil;ta (1 :2-'7) The Cow: Surat al-aaqara (2 :255) The Cow: Surat al-Baqara (2 :284-286) The Family of 'Imran: Surat Al ' Imran (3 :7) The Family of ' Imran: Surat Al ' Imran (3: 18) Repentance: Surat al-Tawba (9 :38-40) Repentance: Surat al-Tawba (9 :128- 129) The Cave: Surat al-Kahf (18 :60-82) The Light: Surat al-Nur (24:35-42) Prostration: Surat al-Sajda (32 :1-30) Ya' Sin : Surat Ya' Sin (36:1-83) The Companies: Surat al-Zumar (39 :53-55) Appendix A: The Disconnected Letters (al-Muqa!!a'at) 477 Appendix B: Tabari's Teachers 495 Appendix C: Tabari's ~ran Interpreters 511 Appendix D : Tabari's Poets 527 to Arabic Passages of Tafiir al-Tabari 533 References E: Appendix Bibliography 535 General Index 543

Ill

163 179 216 247

253 262 267

317 348 391 468

ACK NOW LED GEM ENT S /11 rhe Name of God, the Beneficent, the Mercifi,I. All praise belongs to God, Lord ofthe Worlds; may His blessings and mercy be 11po11 our Master and Prophet, Mubammad.

supp ort from nume rous A work of this length and comp lexity requi red Princ e Ghaz i bin HRH ful. individuals , for whic h I am most grate Islamic Thou ght, for ute Instit yt Muhammad and the Royal Aal al-Ba ed this proje ct in ission comm ously An1man, Jorda n, approved and gener . Dr Yusu f Meri letion comp its for ntly 2007, and have waited very patie proje ct's initial the g durin drafts my on provided suppo rt and feedback nued to find revie wers for years, and Mr Aftab Ahm ed subsequently conti ing on it. Amo ng the the later drafts and gentl y ensured I was still work ams provi ded very helpf ul reviewers of the early drafts, Mr Khalid Willi tly, it has been a pleas ure feedback and corrected many error s. More recen Society. I am grate ful, work ing with Ms Fatima Azza m at the Islamic Texts o durin g the final Boos ew too, for the excellent editorial eye of Mr Andr stage of this project. nate to have had colAt the Univ ersity of Arizo na, I have been fortu classical Arab ic. Dr of ledge know leagues and stude nts with excep tiona l the most diffic ult of some with Adel Gama! has graci ously helpe d me ted. My grad uate indeb in rema I h passages of these selections, for whic than half of this more wed revie and stude nt, Dr Samy Ayoub, proof read the appe ndiof one with ance assist rch translation , and provi ded resea l Bada reen and Ahm ed ces. Two addit ional gradu ate stude nts, Dr Naye ns of my early draft s. I am Meilo ud, provi ded helpf ul feedback on sectio s and enco urage ment . A grateful for all of their sugge stion s, corre ction 2010 allow ed me time to sabbatical from the Univ ersity of Arizo na in fall timel y. work on this proje ct, whic h was beneficial and revie wing a few pages of after Kadi, d My Doktermutter, Professor Wada se and literal in my trans laan early draft, encouraged me to be more preci M aha, and our child ren tion, and I remain thank ful for her advice. My wife, , wher e I could escap~ Ali and Salma, provi ded a lovin g and joyfu l space Vil

TABARI

from the unanticipated administrative burdens that delayed this project for several years. They have provided the inspiration for me to complete this book. Finally, I wish to dedicate this translation to my parents, Ellen and Hank Lucas, who inculcated a love of learning in me and supported, both financially and compassionately, my journey from French to Arabic, to Yale and Yemen, and, ultimately, to Islam and Islamic Studies. Their love and support have made this project possible. As the ~r'an says: rabbi'rbamhuma kama rabbayani $aghirat1 (0 Lord, have mercy o n them,just as they cared for me when I was young). One request: I trust that the reader will recognize that all of the opinio ns expressed in this translation, regarding the meaning of the ~r'an, are solely those of its author, Abii Ja' far al-Tabari, or of the men and women whom be cites, and must not be assumed to reflect the opinions of the translator or publisher. April 2017 Tucson, Arizona

ABBREV IATIONS Co111111e111ary:

Al-Durr al-11u111tl1fir:

Dar Hajar:

EI2:

Guillarmre:

Hava :

n., ,_ by Abii Tabari. The Co111111e11tary 011 I he ' renwrung in Suyuri's al-Durr af-rna11 rh,,r. 3 wo rk which provides o nly one versio n o cac rcr.'rr _t l:lt 1s found, usually with unpn:d.ictable variations. in multiple} ourccs; sec Mchmct K~, Ismu/s and Rijal Expertise in the Exegesis of lbn Ab, l:latim (327/ 939) , Der Islam, 82 (2005): 146-cu ~r anrc Herm eneu tics·· The Per, I, , A" fr" Karl, lbn View s ofal -Tab ari and · r'P't>a·•• Dhahabi sec 3): (632ll A 12 )' earl or 100 8 c "" pl.cc 111 11 • • .4 7 '1> Tab.,1 • 1 d>ted 1110 11 ; 632_ _ • Sec also W. Mo m gomcr)' Wa11. " Mus>yhm a," £1 • 3 I

,ere, ~'.

·••tt or

had hidden, became mani fest, as did the weakne ss of his to ngue, which not was which that been g uarded. [This igno rant person] brough t fort h saying, impossible for a weak foo l or an igno rant idiot [to compo se], bak"The grinder s grin ding: the kneade rs kneadin g; the bread-bakers There ' " ng! slici licers bread-s the ; ing crumbl s ing: che bread-c rumblcr Ito arc oc her stupidities like th is that resemb le [Musaylima's] fa lse claim prophct hood]. and distincJ( the differing levels of excellen ce of clear exposit io n nd God sly-a previou them ove ranks of speech arc as we have described Wi sc most the is (Exalted is H is rememb rance and hol y are His Names) forof ors among the sages and the m ost Forbea ring amo ng the possess ion, exposit His bearanc e-t hen it is obvio u s that die clearest expositio n is e and that the most excellen t speech is His speech ; and that the measur brance) of the excellen ce of His clear expositio n (Majest ic is H is remem of His ] [degree the like is es creatur His of all of position ex ahove the clear s. servant His rxccllrnce over all of If chat is how it is-and conside ring that it would not be a case of could clear speech for us to address someon e in a way that the address ee it that s obviou is it then himto said being was not understand what to rance) rememb His is ic (Majest is not possible (gl1ayr jii'iz) for God ee can address any o ne of His creatures save by that which the address message a with ger Messen a send understa nd. [Likewise], H e does not ion to anyone, save that it was [phrased! in a languag e and clear exposit because is This and. underst chat the person to whom it was sent could do the addressee and the person to whom someon e was sent, if they on conditi their , hem t not understa nd w hat was addressed or sent to it, after and , message the Iboth] prior to the address and the arrival of them d benefite e messag is identical, because neither the address nor the God at all, concern ing that of which they were previou sly ignoran t. or address an ing {Majesti c is His rememb rance) is exalted above address ho w person the for sending a message that does not bring about a benefit is addressed or to whom someone was sent, because that is for us among God the aces of someon e who is deficien t and purpose less ('abatli) , and remem His is exalted fa r above that. For that purpose , God (Majest ic is never We And brance) said in the clear verse (11111bka111) of His revelati on,

sent a Messenge r save ivitli the language of /1isfolk, rliat lie miglit make (rlie mes-

History; Tafsir

Shj ktr 1dcn111i I Iu1 It " "b» l,adirl, IS found 1n the Tafi ;, al-T ba . m. the S 11na11 of AbO Dawild . and the MuJnad , o( lbn l:lanbal and T•yalo,i ; a r,, I :40· Literall y, "recited tlus 10 you. ,,

Tabari's flltrod11ctio11

. t that my face redden ed, and the Messe nger . d Imy situation I and struck my chest to the pom h ·d "O God • cast this satan out l1ze recogn ($) of God d . I I . h nd T ien e sa1 ' me from my L~~ wit ~ i;sO~ b .yy a messe nger ' came to . · ti e ~ran d a ' ofh11n . , d .1id 'Truly God com man s you to recite 1 . nit according to a single wordm g. I an s ' he came to_ y~i; ~:';~ml~gh(e n this load for me!' Then you to ands comm God 'Truly s:ud. . . . d ·d ' d ' ' I ·d a second nme an sa1 sa1 , . ch ~ f""lur'a n according to a single wor· mg. !' Th he recite , ~ _edn he 'O Lord, lighten this load for my co~m un1t y I sa1 t and thmg, same the saying me · c1 d . d ·d 'T I came a t Iur T hen he came a fourth time•-an sa1 d' " rutoy I. ' same t 11ng. to recite the ~ran accorfi mg I God comm and s You ·11gs, and you are entitle d to a reques · eac J d fi t or seven wordl time I went back [to God] .' I said, 'O Lo~ •,,org~~~ ~~ ie comm unity! 0 Lord, forgive my commu_mty. an of behalf on s1on ~ interc~ back my third request, which is _ _ _ , my comm unity on R esurre ction Day. man tarrur b. Sulay d b 'Abd 1-A'la al-San ' ani-a l-Mu b AbT _, 1-I:Iakam-'Abd a1- Rahm a · . an . mma Mul,ia Abu ar -Sayy , ba ·d Allah b ' Umar that t~o_me~ L~yli who ele~ated this to the Proph et(~). H e menti oned) on~ c a1me_ 1 eac and , ~r'an the of verse d;s Ju;ed the !readi ng] of a rech1t~d the~ :ey So,dthf ~. readin ir] [the thalt the Proph et($) had taugh t him t eirs, anof rom d1ffere g readin 's Ubayy Ub y b . Ka' b , but het d. ·d "O p ay rea mgs to rop f h • sat J y [Ubay ($). 50 they [went] to recite to the Proph et and eac one o us God we differ in our readin g of a verse of the ~ r'an to on,~ of them, said ophet] ~ P. (The cla~s that you taugh t us our reading." t. Then he correc are You said, et] "R.ecite!" He recited and [the Proph ent differ hing I somet Th what "than recited l" He sa1·d tot he other one, "Reci· te · . 1e en t. correc are "You , ·d ai s t] e · d an d [t h e p rop h his companion recite pre:1 1 the m fro ent differ hing said to Ubayy, " Recite!" He recite d somet • said y · Ubay " ect corr are iou ous two readings, and [the Prop het] sat"d , " v Some doubt arose in me regard ing the matter of the Messen ger of God (~). strong er than any dou?t I _h~d prior to Islam, and the Messe nger of God recogm zed '.t 111 my face. He raised his hand and stru ck my chest, saymg , "Seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan. " I began to Contras t this vague express ion wirh • Literally. ·•someo ne who comes came to me (ararti dtill)." who came to the Prophe t. Gabriel was ir char specify which reports us the numero

28 29

TABAR!

sweat profusely, as if I were seeing God in terror. Then !the Prophet] said, "A messenger came to me' from m lord and said, 'Truly your Lord comman ds you to reci? the ~r'an according to a single wording .' I said, •~ Lor~, lighten the l?ad on my commun ity.' Then he came Iagam ] and said, Truly your Lord comman ds you ro . I (")., , ~ec1te t 1e '1ill111g hope jtliat one will rnior tho Gard good deeds]." L11crall }, "11mill111 g t1111t Musaylima in ca1tcrn Arabia .

1 T,h,,; 11 alluding

.p

43

TAl3ARI

Tabari's fotrod11ctio11

"Shall I do what the M essenger of God($) did not do?" and they argued back and forth o n this matter. The n Abu Bakr sen t for Zayd b. Thabit, who said, I entered h is presence and found ' Umar looking read y to pounce (11111/iza'il~. Abu Bakr said , "Trul y thi s [ man J h as call ed o n me to do something that I have refused , a nd y ou are one of the scribes of the revelation . If yo u are with him on this, I will follow bo th o f you ; but if you agree with me, I w ill not do it. " So Abu Bakr n arrated ' Umar's opinion w hile Urnar was sil ent. I' d isliked what I heard and said, "Are we going to do w hat the M essen ger of God (~) did not do?'' Th en ' Umar said, "What w ill be hel~ against you two were you to do that?" We (meaning Abu Bakr and Zayd) began to think abo ut this and said "Norh~ng, by God! N othing w ill be held against u s.': So Abu Bakr commanded me to write [ t he ~r'an] on pieces of animal skins, shoulder blades and leafless palm branches. W~1en Abu Bakr passed away and ' Umar isuc_cee~cd h1111j , all this was w ritten in a single book (sal1ifa), which he kept to himself. Then he died and the book passed to [his daughter] 1:laf~a. wife of the Proph et (~). Then l:ludhayfa b. al-Yam iin returned [to Medina[ from a campaign he had led in A . H d'd h rmema. e J • not enc er _is home until he [ first J cam e to [ the Cali b. Affan and sa1·d , "O C omman d er f hph I Uthman . o" H r e Fa1thfu l, attend ro the people!'' - sat'd , ,. I • ' Utl1man ow' so? . I:Judhayfaj said, "A group of us from Iraq and S) n a raided ihe fronti er of Arme ma, . an d w h en t h e I .

[die Syrians] to be disbelievers . ~-nd , w h en the Ir~qis recited the reading o f Ibn M as ud and the Syrians beard something they had nor heard prev iously, the Syrians would declare them to be disbeli~vers." ~ayd said: Uthman b. 'Affan o rdered me to w rite fo r him a codex (11111, /Ulj}, saying " I w ill send t o you a man w ho is intelligent and elo quent, so that whatever you two a rec upon, write it dow n , and whatever yo u disagree o~·er, bring it to m e." [' Uthman I appointed A ban b. Sa id b. al-'A~ to work w ith him. When they reached the verse, Lo! t/re sig11 of /ris ki11gclo111 is tl,at t/rere s/ra/1 come to you ,he ark (tiibiit ; Q .2 :248), Zayd said ta_b,,h ~ hile A~a~ b. Sa id said 1iil111t. So, we brought tlus to Uthman s atten tion and he wrote tiib111. [Zayd said: ] When I fi nished it, .I read thro ugh it once, bur d id uor come across this verse: Of the

beliet1ers are men who are true to that 1vhicl1 they compacted with God. Some of them have paid their vow by death (in battle), 1111d some of them still are wailing; and they /rave 1101 altered i11 the least (Q.33 :23). So, I inquired among the Emigrants' and asked them about it, but I did not fi nd [chis verse) among any o f them. Then I inquired among the Helpers' and asked them about it, ~nd_ I did nor fmd it among any of them until I found tt [111 rhe reading] of Khuzayma b. Thabit and then w rote it down. Then I read through [ my codex] another time and I did not find these two verses: Now there

lras c;me to yo11 a Messenger Jrorn amo11g yourselves; grievous

tyna,

ro l1i111 is /,o,v you suffer, a11xio11s is he over yo11; ge11tle tot/re

~?0bea o~ recited rhe [~r'anicj reading (qirii'a) I d )') 1· Ka band rhe Iraqi s heard something rhey Ia never ieard previously, th e Iraqis wo uld declare 1 In 01her words. Za"d b Th·b ' . a u, w l'° is nur.iung• ti > T I111 repon >nd the foll 11, rrpon. owmg ones make I - · r 1al1ifa and chw 1uh11J Coon, I • iern,ung rfiiu u•a-ruml1ii You ~;r.w your husband in war, Hanging upon him a sword ;ind [wielding] a spear. '

r:i :~,;;~:::~:; , th them co ~:;s,: •His statement menr All . be/ ey offer Him. and th. . pply It m rlie " pra ue ongs to God L d ' is IS connec ted to His Seate Say this and sai• that"• , or of the 1-Vorlds. Ir is as 1"f H e were saymg . • ?BJECTIO N: Where is ti

context su fti ciencly md1cated It. Likc \\'ise, the re is another ve rse:

.

m~m brance) praises Himself in thpnist). recit ation of it incumb en teac es tlm to Hi s serva nts a . d most said to them: Say, All ;;:~uk,n th em, in order to test and~:• es Hth , alo11e we worsh. , e o11gs to God Lord ~r I cm. e }'; I ip; \ ou alone we ask for I I '-?.I t ie Worlds and say You 1

The inl'nded ca ning of the poet is "Their in.~ormants will,;cpl y-'The 111 J