Jāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān, by Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī (d. 310 AH / 923 CE). The earliest of the great commentaries to survive whole. Al-Ṭabarī sets out every opinion he knows on a verse with its chain of transmission, then rules between them. His reports on 4:157 are the oldest record of how the substitution at the cross was understood.
The complete commentary on The son of Mary as an example (43:57-65), covering 43:57 to 43:65.
On 43:57
On the interpretation of His words: So We made them a precedent and an example for those who came after. (56) And when the son of Mary is cited as an example, behold, your people cry out at it (57) (43:56–57)
The reciters differed in reading this. The generality of the Kūfan reciters other than ʿĀṣim read it fa-jaʿalnāhum sulufan, with ḍammah on the sīn and the lām, construing it as the plural of salīf among people, which is the one who goes ahead in front of the people. Al-Farrāʾ related that he heard al-Qāsim ibn Maʿn mention that he had heard the Arabs say: “a salīf of the people has passed”. The generality of the reciters of Medina and Baṣrah, and ʿĀṣim, read it So We made them a precedent (salafan), with fatḥah on the sīn and the lām.
When it is read thus, it may be intended for the group and the individual, the masculine and the feminine, because one says to a people “you are a salaf (predecessor) for us”, and it may be pluralised, so that one says “they are aslāf“; from this is the report related from the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: “The righteous depart as predecessors (aslāfan).”
Ḥumayd al-Aʿraj used to read it fa-jaʿalnāhum sulafan, with ḍammah on the sīn and fatḥah on the lām, construing it as the plural of sulfah among people, like “a community (ummah) of them” and “a portion (qiṭʿah)”.
The most correct of the readings in this is the reading of those who read it with fatḥah on the sīn and the lām, because it is the choicest dialect and the speech familiar among the Arabs, and the dialects of the Arabs most entitled to have the Book of God read in them are the most eloquent and the most widely known among them. The interpretation of the passage, then, is: So We made these whom We drowned in the sea, of the people of Pharaoh, a vanguard going ahead into the Fire before the disbelievers of your people, O Muḥammad, of Quraysh; and the disbelievers of your people follow upon their track.
The people of interpretation said the like of what we have said about this.
Those who said this
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me: al-Ḥasan related to us: Warqāʾ related to us; both from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, His words So We made them a precedent and an example for those who came after, he said: the people of Pharaoh — their disbelievers — are a precedent for the disbelievers of the community of Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: So We made them a precedent: in the Fire.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar: So We made them a precedent, he said: a precedent to the Fire.
As for His words and an example for those who came after: He says, and a lesson and an admonition by which the nations after them might be admonished, so that they desist from disbelief in God. The people of interpretation said the like of what we have said about this.
Those who said this
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me: al-Ḥasan related to us: Warqāʾ related to us; both from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid: and an example for those who came after, he said: a lesson for those after them.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Abū Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah: and an example for those who came after: that is, an admonition for those who came after.
Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: and an example for those who came after: that is, an admonition for those after them.
Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: So We made them a precedent and an example, he said: a lesson.
As for His words And when the son of Mary is cited as an example: God, Exalted be His mention, says: And when God likened Jesus, in His bringing him into existence and creating him without a male, to Adam, and compared him to him in that He created him from dust without a male — behold, your people, O Muḥammad, clamour at that and say: Muḥammad wants nothing from us but that we take him as a god whom we worship, as the Christians worshipped the Messiah.
The people of interpretation differed about the interpretation of this. Some of them said the like of what we have said about it.
Those who said this
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me: al-Ḥasan related to us: Warqāʾ related to us; both from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, concerning the words of God, Mighty and Majestic, behold, your people cry out at it, he said: they clamour. He said: Quraysh said: Muḥammad only wants us to worship him as the people of Jesus worshipped Jesus.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, who said: When Jesus son of Mary was mentioned, Quraysh were dismayed at it and said: O Muḥammad, why have you mentioned Jesus son of Mary? And they said: Muḥammad wants nothing but that we should do with him as the Christians did with Jesus son of Mary. So God, Mighty and Majestic, said: They cite it to you only for argument (43:58).
Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah, who said: When Jesus was mentioned in the Qurʾān, the polytheists of Quraysh said: O Muḥammad, what do you intend by mentioning Jesus? He said: And they said: He only wants us to love him as the Christians loved Jesus.
Others said: rather, what was meant by this was the words of God, Mighty and Majestic, Indeed you and what you worship besides God are the fuel of Hell; you will come to it (21:98). The polytheists said, when it was sent down: We are content that our gods should be together with Jesus, ʿUzayr and the angels, for all of these are among what is worshipped besides God. So God, Mighty and Majestic, said: And when the son of Mary is cited as an example, behold, your people cry out at it, and they said: Are our gods better, or he? (43:58).
Those who said this
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me: my father related to me: my paternal uncle related to me: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās: And when the son of Mary is cited as an example, behold, your people cry out at it, he said: He means Quraysh, when it was said to them Indeed you and what you worship besides God are the fuel of Hell; you will come to it (21:98). Quraysh said to him: Then what of the son of Mary? He said: That one is the servant of God and His messenger. They said: By God, this man wants nothing but that we take him as a lord, as the Christians took Jesus son of Mary as a lord. So God, Mighty and Majestic, said: They cite it to you only for argument; rather they are a contentious people (43:58).
The reciters differed in reading His words cry out (yaṣiddūn). The generality of the reciters of Medina, and a group of the reciters of Kūfah, read it yaṣuddūn, with ḍammah on the ṣād; and some of the reciters of Kūfah and Baṣrah read it yaṣiddūn, with kasrah on the ṣād.
The scholars of the speech of the Arabs differed as to the difference between it when it is read with ḍammah on the ṣād and when it is read with kasrah. Some of the grammarians of Baṣrah said — and some of the Kūfans agreed with them on it — that they are two dialectal forms with one meaning, like yashuddu and yashiddu, and yanummu and yanimmu from namīmah (tale-bearing). Another of them said: whoever reads it with kasrah on the ṣād, its sense is “they clamour”, and whoever reads it with ḍammah, its sense is “they turn aside”. And some of those who read it with kasrah said: he intended “they clamour”, whereas whoever read it with ḍammah intended turning away (ṣudūd) from the truth.
And I was told on the authority of al-Farrāʾ, who said: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh related to me that ʿĀṣim abandoned yaṣuddūn from the reading of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān1 and read yaṣiddūn. He said: Abū Bakr said: ʿĀṣim related to me, from Abū Razīn, from Abū Yaḥyā, that Ibn ʿAbbās met the nephew of ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr and said: Your uncle is indeed an Arab, so how is it that he commits a solecism in His words “idhā qawmuka minhu yaṣuddūn“, when it is only yaṣiddūn?
The correct opinion on this is that they are two well-known readings and two famous dialectal forms with one meaning. We have not found the people of interpretation distinguishing between the meaning of this when it is read with ḍammah and with kasrah; and had its meaning been different, disagreement about its interpretation among its people would have existed, as the disagreement over its reading according to the two dialectal forms exists. But since its meaning is not different, they did not disagree that its interpretation is: “they clamour and are dismayed”. So with whichever of the two readings the reciter reads, he is correct.
Mention of what we have said in the interpretation of this
ʿAlī related to me: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us: Muʿāwiyah related to me, from ʿAlī, from Ibn ʿAbbās, His words behold, your people cry out at it, he said: they clamour.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me: my father related to me: my paternal uncle related to me: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās: behold, your people cry out at it: He says, they clamour.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us: Abū Ḥamzah related to us, from al-Mughīrah al-Ḍabbī, from al-Ṣaʿb ibn ʿUthmān, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās used to read behold, your people cry out at it (yaṣiddūn), and he used to explain it, saying: they clamour.
Ibn Bashshār related to us: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us: Sufyān related to us, from ʿĀṣim, from Abū Razīn, from Ibn ʿAbbās: behold, your people cry out at it, he said: they clamour.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, from Shuʿbah, from ʿĀṣim, from Abū Razīn, from Ibn ʿAbbās, the like of it.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me: al-Ḥasan related to us: Warqāʾ related to us; both from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, concerning the words of God, Mighty and Majestic, behold, your people cry out at it, he said: they clamour.
Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: behold, your people cry out at it: that is, they are dismayed and clamour.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Najūd, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, that he read it yaṣiddūn: that is, they clamour; and ʿAlī (may God be pleased with him) read yaṣuddūn.
I was told on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words behold, your people cry out at it, he said: they clamour.
Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: behold, your people cry out at it, he said: they clamour.
On 43:58-60
On the interpretation of His words, Exalted: And they said, “Are our gods better, or is he?” They did not put it to you except for argument; rather, they are a contentious people. (58) He was only a servant upon whom We bestowed favour, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel. (59) And had We willed, We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding. (60) (43:58–60)
He says, Exalted be His remembrance: And the polytheists of your people said, O Muḥammad: Are our gods which we worship better, or Muḥammad — so that we should worship Muḥammad and abandon our gods?
It was mentioned that in the reading of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb this is: “Are our gods better, or this one?”
The report concerning this
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, that in the codex (ḥarf) of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb it is: “And they said, Are our gods better, or this one?” — meaning by it Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
Others said: Rather, what is meant by it is: Are our gods better, or Jesus?
Those who said this
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī, concerning His words And they said, “Are our gods better, or is he?” They did not put it to you except for argument; rather, they are a contentious people (43:58): he said: They disputed with him and said: He claims that everyone who is worshipped besides God is in the Fire; well then, we are content that our gods should be together with Jesus, Ezra and the angels — these have all been worshipped besides God. He said: So God sent down the exoneration of Jesus.
Yūnus related to me: Ibn Wahb informed us: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His words Are our gods better (43:58): he said: These people worshipped Jesus, and we worship the angels.
On His words: They did not put it to you except for argument; rather, they are a contentious people (43:58), up to upon the earth, succeeding (43:60)
As for His words, Exalted be His remembrance, They did not put it to you except for argument, He says, Exalted be His remembrance: They did not set forth this parable to you, O Muḥammad, nor did they say this saying to you, except out of argument and contention with which they contend against you. rather, they are a contentious people: He says, Majestic is His praise: There is not in these polytheists of your people, O Muḥammad, in their disputing with you by that with which they dispute with you, any seeking of the truth; rather, they are a contentious people, who seek out contention by means of falsehood.
It is mentioned from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: “No people ever strayed from the truth except that they were given to argument.”
The report concerning this
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us: Yaʿlā related to us: al-Ḥajjāj ibn Dīnār related to us, from Abū Ghālib, from Abū Umāmah, who said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “No people ever strayed after guidance which they had been upon, except that they were given to argument,” and he recited: They did not put it to you except for argument … to the end of the verse (43:58).
Mūsā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Kindī and Abū Kurayb related to me, both saying: Muḥammad ibn Bishr related to us: Ḥajjāj ibn Dīnār related to us, from Abū Umāmah, that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to the people while they were disputing about the Qurʾān, and he grew exceedingly angry, until it was as though vinegar had been poured over his face; then he said (peace and blessings be upon him): “Do not strike one part of the Book of God against another, for no people have ever strayed except that they were given to argument.” Then he recited: They did not put it to you except for argument; rather, they are a contentious people (43:58).
On His words: He was only a servant upon whom We bestowed favour (43:59)
He says, Exalted be His remembrance: Jesus is nothing but a servant from among Our servants, upon whom We bestowed favour by granting him success and faith, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel; He says: and We made him a sign for the Children of Israel, and a proof for Us against them by Our sending him to them to call them to Us. And he is not as the Christians say, that he is the son of God, Exalted — exalted is God above that.
The people of interpretation said the like of what we have said concerning that.
Those who said this
Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: He was only a servant upon whom We bestowed favour (43:59): by that He means Jesus son of Mary; Jesus son of Mary was nothing beyond that — he was nothing but a servant upon whom God bestowed favour.
They also said the like of what we have said concerning His words and We made him an example for the Children of Israel (43:59).
Those who said this
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Qatādah: an example for the Children of Israel (43:59) — I think he said: a sign for the Children of Israel.
Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: and We made him an example for the Children of Israel (43:59), that is, a sign.
On His words: And had We willed, We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60)
He says, Exalted be His remembrance: And had We willed, O company of the children of Adam, We would have destroyed you and annihilated you all, and set in your place upon the earth angels who would succeed you in it and worship Me. That is like His words, Exalted be His remembrance: If He wills, He can remove you, O people, and bring others; and God is ever Able to do that (4:133), and as He said: If He wills, He can remove you and cause to succeed after you whomever He wills (6:133).
The people of interpretation said the like of what we have said concerning that, except that some of them said: its meaning is: succeeding one another.
Those who said this
ʿAlī related to me: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us: Muʿāwiyah related to me, from ʿAlī, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words And had We willed, We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60): He says: succeeding one another.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me: al-Ḥasan related to us: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, concerning His words We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60): he said: populating the earth in your place.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, concerning His words angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60): he said: succeeding one another, in the place of the children of Adam.
Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: And had We willed, We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60): had God willed, He would have set upon the earth angels succeeding one another.
Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: And had We willed, We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60): he said: as successors in your place.
On 43:61-62
On the interpretation of His words, Exalted: And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour, so do not doubt it, but follow Me; this is a straight path. (61) And let not Satan avert you; indeed, he is to you a manifest enemy. (62) (43:61–62)
The people of interpretation differed concerning the pronoun (hāʾ) in His words And indeed, he, as to what is meant by it and to whom or what it refers.
- Some of them said: It refers to Jesus, and it goes back to him. They said: The meaning of the words is: And indeed Jesus — his appearance is a knowledge by which the coming of the Hour is known, because his appearance is one of its signs, and his descent to the earth is an indication of the passing away of this world and the approach of the Hereafter.
Those who said this
Ibn Bashshār related to us: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us: Sufyān related to us, from ʿĀṣim, from Abū Razīn, from Yaḥyā, from Ibn ʿAbbās: And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61): he said: the coming forth of Jesus son of Mary.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, from Shuʿbah, from ʿĀṣim, from Abū Razīn, from Ibn ʿAbbās, the like of it, except that he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary.
Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Aḥmasī related to me: Ghālib ibn Qāʾid related to us: Qays related to us, from ʿĀṣim, from Abū Razīn, from Ibn ʿAbbās, that he used to read “And indeed, he is a sign (ʿalam) of the Hour”2; he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary.
Abū Kurayb related to us: Ibn ʿAṭiyyah related to us, from Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq, from Jābir, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās used to say: I do not know whether the people have learnt the interpretation of this verse, or whether they have not grasped it: “And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour”; he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me: my father related to me: my paternal uncle related to me: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās: “And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour”: he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary.
Yaʿqūb related to me: Hushaym related to us: Ḥuṣayn informed us, from Abū Mālik, and from ʿAwf, from al-Ḥasan, that the two of them said concerning His words And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61): they both said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary; and one of the two read it “And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour”.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me: al-Ḥasan related to us: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, concerning His words And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61): he said: a sign of the Hour is the coming forth of Jesus son of Mary before the Day of Resurrection.
Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: “And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour”: he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary is a sign of the Hour — the Resurrection.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, concerning His words “And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour”: he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary is a sign of the Hour.
Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61): he said: the coming forth of Jesus son of Mary before the Day of Resurrection.
I was told, from al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61): meaning the coming forth of Jesus son of Mary and his descent from heaven before the Day of Resurrection.
Yūnus related to me: Ibn Wahb informed us: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His words And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61): he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary is a knowledge of the Hour, when he descends.
- Others said: The pronoun in His words And indeed, he refers to the Qurʾān. They said: The meaning of the words is: And indeed this Qurʾān is a knowledge of the Hour: it teaches you of its coming to pass, and informs you about it and about its terrors.
Those who said this
Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah, who said: al-Ḥasan used to say: “And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour” — this Qurʾān.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, who said: People used to say: The Qurʾān is a knowledge of the Hour.
The reciters of the garrison cities were agreed, in the reading of His words And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61), upon a kasrah on the ʿayn of ʿilm; and there has been related from Ibn ʿAbbās what I have mentioned from him concerning a fatḥah upon it, and likewise from Qatādah and al-Ḍaḥḥāk.
The correct reading in this is the kasrah on the ʿayn, because of the consensus of the authoritative body of reciters upon it.
It has been mentioned that in the reading of Ubayy this is “And indeed, he is a reminder (dhikr) of the Hour”, and that confirms the reading of those who read with a kasrah on the ʿayn in His words knowledge.
On His words: so do not doubt it (43:61)
He says: So be in no doubt about it or about its coming, O people.
As:
Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: so do not doubt it (43:61): he said: do not be in doubt about it.
On His words: but follow Me (43:61)
He says, Exalted be His remembrance: and obey Me — so act upon what I have commanded you, and desist from what I have forbidden you. this is a straight path: He says: your following Me, O people, in My command and My prohibition is a straight path; He says: a road in which there is no crookedness; rather, it is upright.
On His words: And let not Satan avert you (43:62)
He says, Majestic is His praise: And let not Satan turn you aside from obedience to Me in what I command you and forbid you, so that you forsake it for something else and swerve from the straight path and go astray. indeed, he is to you a manifest enemy: He says: Satan is to you an enemy who calls you to that in which lies your destruction and turns you away from the right course of the way, in order to bring you down into the places of ruin; manifest — he has made his enmity to you manifest by his refusal to prostrate to your father Adam, and by his beguiling him with delusion until he brought him out of the Garden, out of envy and insolence.
On 43:63-64
On the interpretation of His words, Exalted: And when Jesus came with the clear proofs, he said: I have come to you with wisdom, and to make clear to you some of that wherein you differ; so fear God and obey me. (63) Indeed, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path. (64) (43:63–64)
He says, Exalted be His remembrance: And when Jesus came to the Children of Israel with the clear proofs, meaning the evident indications. And it was said that what is meant by the clear proofs is the Gospel.
Those who said this
Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: And when Jesus came with the clear proofs (43:63), that is, with the Gospel.
On His words: he said: I have come to you with wisdom (43:63)
It was said that what is meant by wisdom in this place is prophethood.
Those who said this
Muḥammad related to me: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: he said: I have come to you with wisdom (43:63): he said: prophethood.
I have already explained the meaning of wisdom in what has gone before of this book of ours, together with its evidences, and I have mentioned the disagreement of those who differed concerning its interpretation, and that dispenses with repeating it.
On His words: and to make clear to you some of that wherein you differ (43:63)
He says: and to make clear to you, O company of the Children of Israel, some of that wherein you differ of the rulings of the Torah.
As:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me: al-Ḥasan related to us: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, concerning His words and to make clear to you some of that wherein you differ (43:63): he said: of the alteration of the Torah.
It has been said that the meaning of “some” in this place is in the sense of “all”, and they made that analogous to the saying of Labīd3:
One who forsakes places whenever I am not pleased with them,
unless their fated death should lay hold of some of the souls.
They said: Death does not lay hold of “some” of the souls; the meaning is only: unless their fated death should lay hold of the souls. But there is no great sense in what this speaker said, because Jesus said to them and to make clear to you some of that wherein you differ only because there had been among them much disagreement about the affairs of their religion and their worldly life; so he said to them: I shall make clear to you some of that — namely the affair of their religion, apart from the affairs of their worldly life about which they differed; and for that reason he specified what he informed them that he would make clear to them. As for the saying of Labīd, “unless it should lay hold of some of the souls”, he too said that in the same way, because he meant: unless its fated death should lay hold of his own soul; and his soul, from among all souls, is without doubt a part and not the whole.
On His words: so fear God and obey me (43:63)
He says: So fear your Lord, O people, by obeying Him, and dread Him by shunning acts of disobedience to Him; and obey me in what I have commanded you of fearing God and following His command, and of accepting my sincere counsel to you.
On His words: Indeed, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him (43:64)
He says: Indeed God — He who has the right over us that we single Him out alone in divinity and devote obedience sincerely to Him — is my Lord and the Lord of all of you; so worship Him alone, and do not associate anything with Him in worship of Him, for that is not fitting, nor is it proper that anything other than He should be worshipped.
On His words: this is a straight path (43:64)
He says: This which I have commanded you — the fearing of God, obedience to me, and the singling out of God alone in divinity — is the straight road, and it is the religion of God, other than which He accepts nothing from any one of His servants.
On 43:65
On the interpretation of His words, Exalted: But the factions differed among themselves; so woe to those who did wrong, from the punishment of a painful day. (65) Do they await anything but the Hour, that it should come upon them suddenly while they do not perceive? (66) (43:65–66)
The people of interpretation differed concerning those meant by the factions (aḥzāb) whom God mentioned in this place.
- Some of them said: By that He meant the group who debated with one another over the matter of Jesus and differed about him.
Those who said this
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, concerning His words But the factions differed among themselves (43:65): he said: They are the four whom the Children of Israel sent forth, who spoke concerning Jesus.4
- Others said: Rather, they are the Jews and the Christians.
Those who said this
Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī, concerning His words But the factions differed among themselves (43:65): he said: the Jews and the Christians.
The correct opinion on this is to say: Its meaning is: So the sects who differed concerning Jesus son of Mary — from among those whom Jesus called to what he called them to, the fearing of God and acting in obedience to Him — differed among themselves; and they are the Jews and the Christians, and those of the Christians who differed about him; for all of them were factions, scowling in hostility, of divergent desires, despite his making plain to them the matter of his own self and his saying to them: Indeed, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path (43:64).
On His words: so woe to those who did wrong, from the punishment of a painful day (43:65)
He says, Exalted be His remembrance: So the valley (wayl) that flows with pus and purulence in Hell is for those who disbelieved in God, who said of Jesus son of Mary other than what Jesus described himself as being in this verse. from the punishment of a painful day: He says: from the punishment of a day that inflicts pain; and the day is described as inflicting pain since the punishment that pains them takes place in it — and that is the Day of Resurrection.
As:
Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: from the punishment of a painful day (43:65): he said: from the punishment of the Day of Resurrection.
About this text
This is a complete English rendering of Jāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān on these verses, prepared for this website from the public-domain Arabic text (tafsir.app, src=tabari). Nothing is abridged: every opinion, every report with its chain of transmission, every verse of poetry and every grammatical note is translated. Qur’anic quotations are in bold; the translator’s own notes are confined to the numbered footnotes and identify names, terms and variant readings only. A second translator has not checked the rendering, and the Arabic is linked so that any passage can be compared. The modern editors’ apparatus is not part of the classical text and is not translated.
The son of Mary as an example (43:57-65): all commentaries · The classical commentaries
Notes
- Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī, ʿĀṣim’s teacher in recitation. ↩
- A variant reading, la-ʿalamun (“a sign, a token”), with a fatḥah on the ʿayn, in place of the standard la-ʿilmun (“knowledge”). ↩
- Labīd ibn Rabīʿah, the pre-Islamic poet whose ode is one of the Muʿallaqāt; the line is from that ode. ↩
- An allusion to the account, related elsewhere on Qatādah’s authority, that the Children of Israel put forward four of their learned men to pronounce on Jesus, and that each gave a different answer about his nature, whence the sects of the Christians arose. ↩