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.
Part 5 of 5: the commentary on The family of ʿImrān (3:33-64). The parts follow the order of the verses; this one covers 3:64.
On 3:64
On the interpretation of His words: Say: O People of the Book, come to a word that is equitable between us and you: that we worship none but God, and associate nothing with Him, and that none of us take others as lords besides God. But if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are Muslims. (3:64)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By this He means, Majestic is His praise: Say, O Muḥammad, to the People of the Book — and they are the people of the Torah and the Gospel — come, come along, to a word that is equitable, meaning: to a word of justice between us and you. The just word is that we declare God to be one, so that we worship none other than Him, and that we dissociate ourselves from every object of worship besides Him, so that we associate nothing with Him.
And His words and that none of us take others as lords, He says: and that none of us render obedience to another in what he commands of disobedience to God, nor exalt him by prostrating to him as one prostrates to one’s Lord; but if they turn away, He says: if they turn aside from the equitable word to which I have commanded you to call them, and to which you have called them, and do not answer you to it, then say, O believers, to those who turn away from it: Bear witness that we are Muslims.
Those versed in interpretation differed as to those concerning whom this verse was revealed.
- Some of them said: it was revealed concerning the Jews of the Children of Israel who lived around the city of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him).
Those who said this
(7191) Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah, who said: It was mentioned to us that the Prophet of God (peace and blessings be upon him) called the Jews of Medina to the equitable word, and they are the ones who disputed concerning Abraham.
(7192) Al-Muthannā related to me: Isḥāq related to us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, from his father, from al-Rabīʿ, who said: It was mentioned to us that the Prophet of God (peace and blessings be upon him) called the Jews to the equitable word.
(7193) Al-Qāsim related to us: al-Ḥusayn related to us: Ḥajjāj related to me, from Ibn Jurayj, who said: It has reached us that the Prophet of God (peace and blessings be upon him) called the Jews of Medina to that, and they refused him, so he fought them. He said: he called them to the word of God, Mighty and Majestic: Say: O People of the Book, come to a word that is equitable between us and you, the verse.
- Others said: rather, it was revealed concerning the delegation of the Christians of Najrān.
Those who said this
(7194) Ibn Ḥumayd related to us: Salamah related to us, from Ibn Isḥāq, from Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: Say: O People of the Book, come to a word that is equitable between us and you, the verse, up to His words then say: Bear witness that we are Muslims, who said: so he called them to equity (naṣaf) and cut off their argument — meaning the delegation of Najrān.
(7195) Mūsā related to us: ʿAmr related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī, who said: Then the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) called them — meaning the delegation of the Christians of Najrān — and said: O People of the Book, come to a word that is equitable between us and you, the verse.
(7196) Yūnus related to me: Ibn Wahb informed me: Ibn Zayd related to us, who said: He means, Majestic is His praise: Indeed, this is the true narrative (3:62), concerning Jesus — according to what we have already set out above. He said: And they refused — meaning the delegation of Najrān — so He said: Call them to something easier than this: Say: O People of the Book, come to a word that is equitable between us and you; and he recited until he reached as lords besides God. And they refused to accept either this or the other.
Abū Jaʿfar said: We have said that by His words O People of the Book He meant the people of both Books only because both of them are among the People of the Book, and He, Majestic is His praise, did not single out by His words O People of the Book some to the exclusion of others. So there is no more reason for this to be directed to the people of the Torah as the ones intended than for it to be directed to the people of the Gospel as the ones intended, nor are the people of the Gospel more entitled to be the ones intended, to the exclusion of the people of the Torah. And since neither of the two parties has a better claim to this than the other — because there is no indication that one rather than the other is singled out by it, and no sound report — it must be that every person of the Book is meant by it. For devoting worship to God alone and making the declaration of His oneness sincerely His is incumbent upon every one of God’s creatures who is subject to command and prohibition. And the name “People of the Book” applies to the people of the Torah and the people of the Gospel alike; so it was known thereby that both parties together were meant by it.
As for the interpretation of His words come (taʿālaw), it is: draw near and come along. It is in fact a tafāʿalū form from al-ʿuluww (“height”), so that one who says to his companion taʿāla ilayya (“come to me”) is using a tafāʿal form from al-ʿuluww, just as one says tadāna minnī (“draw near to me”) from al-dunuww (“nearness”), and taqārab minnī (“come close to me”) from al-qurb (“closeness”).
And His words to a word that is equitable (sawāʾ): it is the just word, and al-sawāʾ is an attribute of kalimah (“word”).
The scholars of Arabic differed as to how sawāʾ can follow kalimah in its case-ending, it being a noun and not an adjective.
Some of the grammarians of Basra said: sawāʾ is in the genitive because it is an attribute of kalimah, and it means “the just one”; he intended “equal” (mustawiyah). He said: had he intended “equality” (istiwāʾ, the verbal noun), it would be in the accusative. And if one wishes to take it in the sense of “equality” and put it in the genitive, that is permissible, making it an attribute of kalimah, like khalq (“creation”), because khalq is “the created” (makhlūq); khalq may be both an attribute and a noun, and one treats istiwāʾ like mustawan (“equal”). He, Mighty and Majestic, said: which We have made for mankind, equal are the one who dwells therein and the visitor (22:25), because here al-sawāʾ belongs to what follows it, and it is a noun, not an adjective, that it should be made to follow the first; that is so when “equality” is meant by it. But if “equal” (mustawiyan) is meant by it, it is permissible for it to be made to follow the first. And the nominative in this sense is good, because it does not change from its state, nor is it made dual, plural or feminine, so it resembles the nouns that are like ʿadl (“just”), riḍan (“approved”) and junub (“ritually impure”) and the like. And they said, concerning His words that We shall make them like those who believe and do righteous deeds, equal in their life and their death (45:21): here al-sawāʾ belongs to “their life and their death”, which is the subject of the sentence (mubtadaʾ).
And if you wish, you may make it follow the first and make it an attribute placed in advance, as though it belonged to the first by way of connection and therefore followed it; that is so when you take it in the sense of mustawan. And the nominative is the proper form of the expression, as I have explained to you.
Some of the grammarians of Kufa said: sawāʾ is a verbal noun (maṣdar) put in the place of the derived adjective, that is, in the place of mutasāwiyah and mutasāwin (“equal”); sometimes it comes as the derived form and sometimes as the verbal noun. In the sense of “just”, one may also say of sawāʾ: siwan and suwan, as He said, Majestic is His praise, a place equal (makānan suwan) (20:58), also read siwan1, by which is meant: just and fair between us and you. And it has been related of Ibn Masʿūd (may God be pleased with him) that he used to read this: to a word of justice (ʿadl) between us and you.
Those versed in interpretation said the like of what we have said in the interpretation of His words to a word that is equitable between us and you, namely that al-sawāʾ is “justice”.
Those who said this
(7197) Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah, concerning His words O People of the Book, come to a word that is equitable between us and you: just between us and you; that we worship none but God, the verse.
(7198) Al-Muthannā related to us: Isḥāq related to us: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, from his father, from al-Rabīʿ, concerning His words Say: O People of the Book, come to a word that is equitable between us and you: that we worship none but God, and associate nothing with Him, the like of it.
- Others said: it is the saying “There is no god but God”.
Those who said this
(7199) Al-Muthannā related to me: Isḥāq related to us: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, from his father, from al-Rabīʿ, who said: Abū al-ʿĀliyah said: “the equitable word” is: There is no god but God.
As for His words that we worship none but God, the particle an is in the position of the genitive, the meaning being: come to [the position] that we worship none but God.
We have already explained the meaning of “worship” (ʿibādah) in the speech of the Arabs earlier, and have demonstrated the correct one among its meanings in a manner that dispenses with repeating it.
As for His words and that none of us take others as lords, the “taking of one another” [as lords] is what consisted in the followers’ obeying their chiefs in the acts of disobedience to God they commanded them, and their abandoning what they forbade them of obedience to God, as He said, Majestic is His praise: They have taken their rabbis and their monks as lords besides God, and the Messiah son of Mary; yet they were commanded only to worship one God (9:31); as in:
(7200) Al-Qāsim related to us: al-Ḥusayn related to us: Ḥajjāj related to me, and said: Ibn Jurayj said: and that none of us take others as lords besides God, he says: that none of us obey another in disobedience to God. And it is said that this lordship consists in people’s obeying their masters and leaders in something other than worship, even if they do not pray to them.
- Others said: “the taking of one another as lords” is their prostrating to one another.
Those who said this
(7201) Al-Muthannā related to me: Isḥāq related to us: Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar related to us, from al-Ḥakam ibn Abān, from ʿIkrimah, concerning His words and that none of us take others as lords besides God, who said: their prostrating to one another.
As for His words But if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are Muslims, He means: if those whom you call to the equitable word turn away from it and disbelieve, then say to them, O believers: Bear witness against us that we — in respect of that from which you have turned away, namely the declaration of God’s oneness, the devoting of servanthood sincerely to Him, and that He is the God who has no partner — are Muslims, meaning: submissive to God in it, humbling ourselves to Him by acknowledging it with our hearts and our tongues.
We have already explained the meaning of “Islam” earlier, and have demonstrated it in a manner that dispenses with repeating it.
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.
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Notes
- The two readings of 20:58, suwan with ḍammah and siwan with kasrah, are both canonical. ↩