Tanwīr al-miqbās min tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās, by attributed to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās; compiled by Majd al-Dīn al-Fīrūzābādī (d. compiler d. 817 AH / 1414 CE). A running gloss, phrase by phrase, transmitted under the name of the Prophet’s cousin Ibn ʿAbbās through a chain (al-Kalbī from Abū Ṣāliḥ) that Muslim scholars have long judged weak; it is read as a witness to early Kufan exegesis rather than as Ibn ʿAbbās’s own words.
The complete commentary on The son of Mary as an example (43:57-65), covering 43:57-65.
On 43:57-65
43:57. And when the son of Mary was cited as an example: they likened him to their gods; behold, your people at it: at the words of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zibaʿrā and his companions; cry out: they laugh.
43:58. And they said: meaning ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zibaʿrā; Are our gods better: O Muḥammad; or he?: meaning Jesus son of Mary: if it is permissible for him to be in the Fire with the Christians, it is permissible for us to be in the Fire with our gods. They did not cite him to you: they did not mention Jesus son of Mary to you; except for argument: except for disputation and contention; rather, they are a contentious people: disputers with falsehood.
43:59. He is not: he is nothing, meaning Jesus son of Mary; but a servant upon whom We bestowed favour: with the message; and he is not like their gods; and We made him an example: a lesson; for the Children of Israel: a child without a father.
43:60. And if We willed, We could have made from you: in your place; and it is said, We could have created from you; angels in the earth to succeed: successors from you, in your stead; and it is said, walking in the earth in your stead.
43:61. And indeed he: meaning the descent of Jesus son of Mary; is a knowledge of the Hour: a clear indication of the coming of the Hour; and it is said, a mark (ʿalam) of the coming of the Hour, if you read it with the fatḥa on the ʿayn and the lām; so do not doubt it: do not be in doubt about it, about the coming of the Hour; and follow me: in the profession of God’s oneness; this: the profession of oneness; is a straight path: an upright religion with which He is pleased, and it is Islam.
43:62. And let him not turn you away: let him not divert you; Satan: from the religion of Islam and the acknowledgement of the coming of the Hour; indeed he is to you a manifest enemy: open in enmity.
43:63. And when Jesus came with clear proofs: with command and prohibition and wonders; he said: I have come to you with wisdom: with command and prohibition and prophethood; and to make clear to you some of that about which you differ: in which you disagree in religion; so fear God: be in awe of God in what He has commanded you; and obey me: follow my counsel and my word.
43:64. Indeed God, He is my Lord: my Creator; and your Lord: your Creator; so worship Him: so declare Him One; this: the profession of oneness; is a straight path: an upright religion with which He is pleased.
43:65. But the factions differed: the Christians; among themselves: between themselves, concerning Jesus: some of them said he is the son of God, and they are the Nestorians; some of them said he is God, and they are the Jacobites (al-Mār Yaʿqūbiyya); some of them said he is His partner, and they are the Melkites; and some of them said he is the third of three, and they are the Marqūsiyya1; so woe: severe punishment; to those who do wrong: who formed factions concerning Jesus; from the punishment of a painful Day: agonising.
About this text
This is a complete English rendering of Tanwīr al-miqbās min tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās on these verses, prepared for this website from the public-domain Arabic text (shamela.ws, book 12877). 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
- A sect named in the Arabic sources after a certain Marqus (Mark); its identity is uncertain. ↩