al-Durr al-manthūr fī al-tafsīr bi-l-maʾthūr, by Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911 AH / 1505 CE). Al-Suyūṭī’s collection of every transmitted report on each verse, drawn from the ḥadīth collections and the early commentaries, many of them otherwise lost.
Part 2 of 3: the commentary on The family of ʿImrān (3:33-64). The parts follow the order of the verses; this one covers 3:48 to 3:53-54.
On 3:48
His words, Exalted: And He will teach him the Book and the Wisdom (3:48)
Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words And He will teach him the Book (3:48), that he said: writing with the pen.
Ibn Jarīr recorded from Ibn Jurayj: And He will teach him the Book (3:48) — he said: with his hand.
Ibn al-Mundhir recorded with a sound chain (isnād) from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: When Jesus had grown a little, his mother brought him to the school and handed him over to the teacher. He said: Say: In the name of God. Jesus said: In the name of God. The teacher said: Say: the Merciful. Jesus said: the Merciful, the Compassionate. The teacher said: Say: Abū Jād.1 He said: That is in a book. Then Jesus said: Do you know what alif is? He said: No. He said: The bounties (ālāʾ) of God. Do you know what bāʾ is? He said: No. He said: The splendour (bahāʾ) of God. Do you know what jīm is? He said: No. He said: The majesty (jalāl) of God. Do you know what lām is? He said: No. He said: The bounties (ālāʾ) of God. And he went on explaining in this manner, so the teacher said: How can I teach one who knows more than I do? She said: Then let him sit with the boys. And he would tell the boys what they were eating and what their mothers were storing up for them in their houses.
Ibn ʿAdī and Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī and Ibn Masʿūd, as a report traced to the Prophet (marfūʿ): “Jesus son of Mary — his mother handed him over to the school to be taught, and the teacher said to him: Write: In the name of God. Jesus said: And what is ‘In the name of God’? The teacher said to him: I do not know. Jesus said to him: The bāʾ is the splendour (bahāʾ) of God, the sīn is His sublimity (sanāʾ), the mīm is His dominion (mamlakah); Allāh is the God of gods; the Merciful (al-Raḥmān) is the Merciful of the Hereafter and this world; the Compassionate (al-Raḥīm) is the Compassionate of the Hereafter. Abū Jād: the alif is the bounties (ālāʾ) of God, the bāʾ is the splendour (bahāʾ) of God, jīm is the majesty (jalāl) of God, dāl is God the Everlasting (al-Dāʾim). Hawwaz: the hāʾ is the Abyss (al-Hāwiyah); wāw is woe (wayl) to the people of the Fire, a valley in Hell; zāy is the adornment (zayn) of the people of this world. Ḥuṭṭī: ḥāʾ is God the Forbearing (al-Ḥalīm); ṭāʾ is God the Seeker (al-Ṭālib) of every right until He restores it; yāʾ, that is, the origin of the day, and it is the returning. Kalamun: the kāf is God the Sufficient (al-Kāfī); lām is God the Self-Subsisting (al-Qāʾim); mīm is God the Sovereign (al-Mālik); nūn is the great fish (nūn) of the sea. Saʿfaṣ: ṣād is God the Truthful (al-Ṣādiq); ʿayn is God the Knowing (al-ʿĀlim); fāʾ is God — he mentioned a word — ; ṣād is God the Eternal Refuge (al-Ṣamad). Qarashat: qāf is the mountain encompassing the world, from which the sky has taken its green hue; rāʾ is the ostentation (riyāʾ) of people by means of it; sīn is the covering (sitr) of God; tāʾ: it is completed (tammat) for ever.” Ibn ʿAdī said: This ḥadīth is false (bāṭil) with this chain; none transmits it other than Ismāʿīl ibn Yaḥyā.
Isḥāq ibn Bishr and Ibn ʿAsākir recorded, by way of Juwaybir and Muqātil, from al-Ḍaḥḥāk, from Ibn ʿAbbās, that Jesus son of Mary refrained from speech after he had spoken to them as an infant, until he reached the age that boys reach; then after that God made him speak with wisdom and clear exposition. The Jews said much that was false about him and about his mother. Jesus used to drink milk from his mother, and when he was weaned he ate food and drank drink, until he reached seven years. The Jews used to call him the son of the harlot, and that is God’s words: and their uttering against Mary a tremendous calumny (4:156). When he reached seven years his mother handed him over to a man to teach him as boys are taught, but he would teach him nothing without Jesus anticipating him in the knowledge of it before he taught it to him. He taught him Abū Jād, and Jesus said: What is Abū Jād? The teacher said: I do not know. Jesus said: Then how do you teach me what you do not know? The teacher said: Then teach me. Jesus said to him: Rise from your seat. He rose, and Jesus sat in his seat and said: Ask me. The teacher said: What then is Abū Jād? Jesus said: The alif is the bounties (ālāʾ) of God; bāʾ is the splendour (bahāʾ) of God; jīm is the delight (bahjah) of God and His beauty. The teacher marvelled at that. So the first to explain Abū Jād was Jesus son of Mary. He said: ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān asked the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), saying: O Messenger of God, what is the explanation of Abū Jād? The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Learn Abū Jād, for in it are all the wonders. Woe to a scholar who is ignorant of its explanation.” It was said: O Messenger of God, and what is Abū Jād? He said: “The alif is the bounties (ālāʾ) of God; the bāʾ is the delight (bahjah) of God and His majesty; the jīm is the glory (majd) of God; the dāl is the religion (dīn) of God. Hawwaz: the hāʾ is the Abyss (al-Hāwiyah), woe to whoever falls into it; the wāw is woe (wayl) to the people of the Fire; the zāy is the corner (zāwiyah), meaning the corners of Hell. Ḥuṭṭī: the ḥāʾ is the putting down (ḥuṭūṭ) of the sins of those who seek forgiveness on the Night of Power, and what Gabriel comes down with together with the angels until the rising of the dawn; the ṭāʾ is ‘blessedness (ṭūbā) is theirs, and a fair return’, and it is a tree which God planted with His hand; the yāʾ is ‘the hand (yad) of God is above His creation’. Kalamun: the kāf is the speech (kalām) of God, ‘there is no changing His words’; the lām is the calling (ilmām) of the people of Paradise upon one another with visits, greeting and peace, and the mutual blaming (talāwum) of the people of the Fire among themselves; the mīm is the kingdom (mulk) of God which does not pass away, and the permanence of God which does not perish; and nūn is Nūn. By the pen and what they inscribe (68:1). Saʿfaṣ: the ṣād is a ṣāʿ for a ṣāʿ, a measure for a measure, and requital for requital — meaning recompense for recompense — and as you judge, so shall you be judged; and God does not desire injustice for His servants. Qarashat: meaning He gathers them (qarashahum) and assembles them on the Day of Resurrection, judging between them while they are not wronged.”
A mention of a selection of the wise sayings of Jesus (peace be upon him)
Ibn al-Mubārak recorded in al-Zuhd: Ibn ʿUyaynah informed us, from Khalaf ibn Ḥawshab, who said: Jesus son of Mary said to the disciples: Just as the kings have left wisdom to you, so leave this world to them.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd, who said: Jesus son of Mary used to say: No one attains the reality of faith until he does not care who it is that consumes this world.
Ibn Abī Shaybah recorded in al-Muṣannaf, and Aḥmad in al-Zuhd, from Thābit al-Bunānī, who said: It was said to Jesus: If only you would take a donkey to ride for your needs. He said: I am too honoured with God for Him to give me something with which to distract me.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Mālik ibn Dīnār, who said: Jesus said: O company of disciples, the fear of God and the love of Paradise bequeath patience under hardship, and they distance one from the glitter of this world.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from ʿUtbah ibn Yazīd, who said: Jesus son of Mary said: O weak son of Adam, fear God wherever you are; eat your crust from what is lawful; take the mosque as a home; be weak in this world; accustom yourself to weeping, your heart to reflection and your body to patience; and do not be anxious about your provision for tomorrow, for that is a sin recorded against you.
Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, and al-Aṣbahānī in al-Targhīb, recorded from Muḥammad ibn Muṭarrif that Jesus said — and he mentioned the same.
Ibn Abī al-Dunyā recorded from Wuhayb al-Makkī, who said: It reached me that Jesus said: The root of every sin is love of this world; and many a desire has bequeathed to its people long sorrow.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, who said: Jesus used to say: Pass through this world and do not build it up; love of this world is the head of every sin; and the gaze sows desire in the heart.
Aḥmad, and al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-īmān, recorded from Sufyān ibn Saʿīd, who said: Jesus (peace be upon him) used to say: Love of this world is the root of every sin, and in wealth there is a great disease. They said: And what is its disease? He said: Its owner is not safe from pride and vainglory. They said: And if he is safe from them? He said: Keeping it in order distracts him from the remembrance of God.
Ibn al-Mubārak recorded from ʿImrān al-Kūfī, who said: Jesus son of Mary said to the disciples: Do not take from those whom you teach any wage except the like of what you have given me. And O salt of the earth, do not become corrupt; for everything, when it goes bad, is treated with salt, but when salt goes bad there is no remedy for it. And know that there are in you two traits of ignorance: laughing without anything to wonder at, and sleeping on into the morning without having kept vigil.
Al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī recorded from Yazīd ibn Maysarah, who said: Jesus (peace be upon him) said: By righteous hearts God makes the earth flourish, and by them the earth falls to ruin when they are otherwise.
Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, and al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-īmān, recorded from Mālik ibn Dīnār, who said: Whenever Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him) passed by a house whose people had died, he would stand before it and say: Woe to your masters who inherit you one from another! How is it that they took no warning from what you did to their brothers who went before!
Al-Bayhaqī recorded from Mālik ibn Dīnār, who said: They said to Jesus (peace be upon him): O Spirit of God, shall we not build you a house? He said: Yes; build it on the seashore. They said: Then the water will come and carry it away. He said: Where then do you want to build for me — on the bridge!
Aḥmad recorded in al-Zuhd from Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who said: The disciples missed Jesus (peace be upon him), so they went out seeking him and found him walking on the water. One of them said: O Prophet of God, shall we walk out to you? He said: Yes. He set down one foot, then went to set down the other and sank. He said: Give me your hand, O you of little faith. If the son of Adam had the weight of a grain, or of an atom, of certainty, he would walk on water.
Aḥmad recorded from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Numayr, who said: I heard that Jesus (peace be upon him) said: It was, and I was not; and it will be, and I shall not be in it.
Aḥmad recorded from Mālik ibn Dīnār, who said: When Jesus (peace be upon him) was sent, he turned this world over on its face; and when he was raised up, people after him set it upright again.
ʿAbd Allāh his son recorded in his Zawāʾid from al-Ḥasan, who said: Jesus (peace be upon him) said: I have turned this world over on its face and sat upon its back; I have no child to die and no house to fall into ruin. They said to him: Will you not take a house? He said: Build me a house in the torrent-bed. They said: It will not stand. They said: Will you not take yourself a wife? He said: What would I do with a wife who will die!
Aḥmad recorded from Khaythamah, who said: A woman passed by Jesus (peace be upon him) and said: Blessed is the breast that suckled you and the lap that carried you. Jesus said: Blessed is he who recites the Book of God and then acts according to what is in it.
Aḥmad recorded from Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said: God revealed to Jesus: I have granted you love of the poor and mercy towards them; you love them and they love you; they are content with you as leader and guide, and you are content with them as companions and followers. These are two qualities: know that whoever meets Me with them meets Me with the purest of deeds and the most beloved of them to Me.
Ibn Abī Shaybah and Aḥmad recorded from Maymūn ibn Siyāh, who said: Jesus son of Mary said: O company of disciples, take the mosques as dwellings, and make your houses like the lodgings of guests; for you have no lodging in the world; you are nothing but wayfarers.
Aḥmad recorded from Wahb ibn Munabbih that Jesus said: Truly I say to you: the regions of heaven are empty of the rich, and the entry of a camel through the eye of a needle is easier than the entry of a rich man into Paradise.
ʿAbd Allāh recorded in his Zawāʾid from Jaʿfar ibn Jirfās that Jesus son of Mary said: The head of sin is love of this world; wine is the key to every evil; and women are the snare of Satan.
Aḥmad recorded from Sufyān, who said: Jesus (peace be upon him) said: Wisdom has its people: if you place it with other than its people you waste it, and if you withhold it from its people you waste it. Be like the physician, who applies the remedy where it ought to be applied.
Aḥmad recorded from Muḥammad ibn Wāsiʿ that Jesus son of Mary said: O Children of Israel, I seek refuge for you with God lest you be a disgrace to the People of the Book. O Children of Israel, your words are a cure that drives away disease, while your deeds are a disease that accepts no remedy.
Aḥmad recorded from Wahb, who said: Jesus said to the rabbis of the Children of Israel: Do not be towards the people like the thieving wolf, the deceitful fox and the snatching kite.
Aḥmad recorded from Makḥūl, who said: Jesus son of Mary said: O company of disciples, which of you can build a house upon the waves of the sea? They said: O Spirit of God, who could do that? He said: Then beware of this world, and do not take it as a settled abode.
Aḥmad recorded from Ziyād Abū ʿAmr, who said: It reached me that Jesus (peace be upon him) said: It does not benefit you to learn what you did not know while you have not yet acted on what you already know. Abundance of knowledge only increases pride when one does not act on it.
Aḥmad recorded from Ibrāhīm ibn al-Walīd al-ʿAbdī, who said: It reached me that Jesus (peace be upon him) said: Renunciation (zuhd) turns upon three days: a yesterday that has passed, by which you were admonished; a today, in which is your provision; and a tomorrow, of which you do not know what is yours in it. He said: And affairs turn upon three: a matter whose right guidance has become clear to you, so follow it; a matter whose error has become clear to you, so avoid it; and a matter that is doubtful to you, so entrust it to God, Mighty and Majestic.
Aḥmad recorded from Qatādah, who said: Jesus (peace be upon him) said: Ask me, for my heart is soft and I am small in my own eyes.
Aḥmad recorded from Bashīr al-Dimashqī, who said: Jesus (peace be upon him) passed by a people and said: O God, forgive us — three times. They said: O Spirit of God, we wish to hear from you today an exhortation, and to hear from you something we have not heard in times past. So God revealed to Jesus: Say to them: whoever I forgive with a single forgiveness, by it I set right for him his world and his Hereafter.
Ibn Abī Shaybah and Aḥmad recorded from Khathīmah, who said: When Jesus (peace be upon him) invited the reciters, he would stand and wait upon them, then say: Thus do with the reciters.
Aḥmad recorded from Yazīd ibn Maysarah, who said: The Messiah (peace be upon him) said: If you wish to be the chosen friends of God and the light of the sons of Adam among His creation, then pardon whoever wrongs you, visit whoever does not visit you, do good to whoever does not do good to you, and lend to whoever will not repay you.
Ibn Abī Shaybah and Aḥmad recorded from ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr that Jesus (peace be upon him) used to wear hair-cloth, eat from the leaves of the trees, and spend the night wherever evening found him; he would not keep back a morning meal for the evening, nor an evening meal for the morning, and he would say: Each day brings its provision with it.
Aḥmad recorded from Wahb, who said: Jesus son of Mary said: O house, you will fall into ruin and your inhabitants will perish; O soul, work and you will be provided for; O body, toil and you will find rest.
Aḥmad recorded from Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said: Jesus son of Mary said to the disciples: Truly I say to you — and Jesus very often used to say: Truly I say to you — the one among you most intense in love of this world is the one among you most intense in grief over misfortune.
Aḥmad recorded from ʿAṭāʾ al-Azraq, who said: It reached us that Jesus (peace be upon him) said: O company of disciples, eat barley bread and the plants of the earth and plain water, and beware of wheaten bread, for you will not render due thanks for it. And know that the sweetness of this world is the bitterness of the Hereafter, and that the bitterness of this world is the sweetness of the Hereafter.
His son recorded in his Zawāʾid from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shawdhab, who said: Jesus son of Mary said: Fineness of clothing comes from vainglory of the heart.
Aḥmad recorded from Sufyān, who said: Jesus (peace be upon him) said: I do not speak to you so that you may marvel; I speak to you only so that you may act.
His son recorded from Abū Ḥassān, who said: Jesus son of Mary said: Be like the knowledgeable physician, who applies his remedy where it benefits.
His son recorded from ʿImrān ibn Sulaymān, who said: It reached me that Jesus son of Mary said: O Children of Israel, hold this world lightly and it will be light upon you; treat this world with contempt and the Hereafter will be held in honour for you; and do not honour this world, lest the Hereafter be held lightly by you; for this world is not worthy of honour, and every day it calls to temptation and loss.
Ibn al-Mubārak and Aḥmad recorded from Abū Ghālib, who said: In the testament of Jesus (peace be upon him): O company of disciples, make yourselves beloved to God by hating the people of disobedience; draw near to Him by loathing them; and seek His good pleasure through their displeasure. They said: O Prophet of God, then with whom shall we sit? He said: Sit with him whose speech increases your works, whose sight reminds you of God, and whose conduct makes you renounce this world.
Aḥmad recorded from Mālik ibn Dīnār, who said: God revealed to Jesus: Admonish yourself; if it accepts the admonition, then admonish the people; otherwise, be ashamed before Me.
Aḥmad recorded from Wahb, who said: Jesus said to the disciples: To the degree that you toil here, you will rest there; and to the degree that you rest here, you will toil there.
Ibn al-Mubārak and Aḥmad recorded from Sālim ibn Abī al-Jaʿd, who said: Jesus said: Blessed is he who keeps his tongue under lock, whose house is roomy enough for him, and who weeps over the memory of his sin.
Ibn al-Mubārak, Ibn Abī Shaybah and Aḥmad recorded from Hilāl ibn Yisāf, who said: Jesus used to say: When one of you gives charity with his right hand, let him hide it from his left; when he fasts, let him anoint himself and wipe his lips with his oil, so that one who looks at him does not see that he is fasting; and when he prays, let him let down the curtain of his door over himself. For God apportions praise just as He apportions provision.
Aḥmad and Ibn Abī al-Dunyā recorded from Khālid al-Rabaʿī, who said: I was told that Jesus said to his companions: What do you think — if one of you came upon his Muslim brother while he was asleep, and the wind had uncovered part of his garment? They said: Then we would cover him up again. He said: No; rather you would uncover what remained! It was a parable he struck for people who hear of a man’s evil deed and then mention more than that.
Aḥmad recorded from Abū al-Jald, who said: Jesus said: I reflected upon creation, and lo, he who has not been created was more to be envied in my eyes than he who has been created. And he said: Do not look at the sins of people as though you were lords; rather look at your own sins as though you were slaves. People are of two kinds: the afflicted and the spared; so have mercy on the people of affliction, and praise God for well-being.
Ibn Abī Shaybah and Aḥmad recorded from Abū al-Hudhayl, who said: Jesus met John and said: Counsel me. He said: Do not become angry. He said: I cannot. He said: Do not acquire wealth. He said: As for that, perhaps.
Aḥmad and Ibn Abī al-Dunyā recorded from Mālik ibn Dīnār, who said: Jesus and the disciples passed by the carcass of a dog, and they said: How foul it stinks! He said: How intensely white are its teeth! — admonishing them and forbidding them backbiting.
Aḥmad recorded from al-Awzāʿī, who said: Jesus used to love the servant who learns a craft by which he becomes independent of people, and he used to dislike the servant who learns knowledge and takes it as a craft.
Ibn Abī Shaybah, Aḥmad and Ibn Abī al-Dunyā recorded from Sālim ibn Abī al-Jaʿd, who said: Jesus (peace be upon him) said: Work for God, and do not work for your bellies. Look at these birds: they go out in the morning and come back in the evening; they neither plough nor reap, and God, Exalted, provides for them. If you say: We have bigger bellies than the birds, then look at these wild cattle and wild asses: they go out in the morning and come back in the evening; they neither plough nor reap, and God, Exalted, provides for them. Beware of the superfluities of this world, for the superfluities of this world are an abomination with God.
Aḥmad recorded from Wahb, who said: Iblīs said to Jesus: You claim that you raise the dead; if you are as you claim, then pray to God to turn this mountain into bread. Jesus said to him: Do all people live by bread? He said: Then if you are as you say, leap from this place, for the angels will receive you. He said: My Lord has commanded me not to put myself to the test, for I do not know whether He will keep me safe or not.
Aḥmad recorded from Sālim ibn Abī al-Jaʿd that Jesus son of Mary used to say: The beggar has a right, even if he comes to you on a horse collared with silver.
He recorded from one of them, who said: God revealed to Jesus: If you are not content that people should chew you with their mouths for My sake, I shall not record you with Me as a monk. What harm does it do you if people hate you while I am pleased with you, and what benefit does the love of people bring you while I am angry with you?
Aḥmad recorded from al-Ḥaḍramī, and Ibn Abī al-Dunyā and Ibn ʿAsākir from Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ, who both said: It was said to Jesus son of Mary: By what thing do you walk on the water? He said: By faith and certainty. They said: We believe as you believe, and we are certain as you are certain. He said: Then walk. So they walked with him, and the waves came and they sank. Jesus said to them: What is the matter with you? They said: We feared the waves. He said: Did you not fear the Lord of the waves! Then he brought them out. Then he struck his hand upon the ground, grasped with it and then opened it, and lo, in one of his hands was gold and in the other clay; and he said: Which of the two is sweeter in your hearts? They said: The gold. He said: To me they are both the same.
Ibn al-Mubārak, Ibn Abī Shaybah, Aḥmad and Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from al-Shaʿbī, who said: Whenever the Hour was mentioned in the presence of Jesus son of Mary, he would cry out and say: It is not fitting for the son of Mary that the Hour be mentioned in his presence and he keep silent.
Aḥmad and Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Mujāhid, who said: Jesus used to wear hair-cloth and eat of the trees; he did not store up today for tomorrow, and he spent the night wherever night sheltered him; he had no child to die, and no house to fall into ruin.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from al-Ḥasan: Jesus is the head of the renunciants on the Day of Resurrection, and those who flee with their religion will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection with Jesus son of Mary. And Iblīs passed by Jesus one day while he was using a stone as a pillow and had found the pleasure of sleep, and Iblīs said to him: O Jesus, do you not claim that you want nothing of the goods of this world? Yet this stone is of the goods of this world. So Jesus got up, took the stone and threw it away, and said: This is yours, together with the world.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Kaʿb that Jesus used to eat barley, walk on his feet and not ride beasts; he did not live in houses, nor light a lamp, nor wear cotton, nor touch women; he never touched perfume, never mixed his drink with anything at all, nor cooled it; he never oiled his head, and no wash ever came near his head or his beard; he never put anything between the ground and his skin except his garment; he never concerned himself about a morning meal or about an evening meal, and he desired nothing of the desires of this world. He used to sit with the weak, the chronically ill and the poor. When food was brought near to him upon something, he would set it down on the ground; he never ate any condiment with his food; he contented himself from this world with little sustenance, and he would say: This is a great deal for one who will die and be called to account for it.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from al-Ḥasan, who said: It reached me that it was said to Jesus son of Mary: Marry. He said: And what would I do with marriage? They said: She would bear you children. He said: Children — if they live they cause trial, and if they die they cause grief.
Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, and al-Bayhaqī in al-Shuʿab, recorded from Ashʿath ibn Isḥāq, who said: It was said to Jesus: If only you would take a house. He said: The worn-out remnants of those who were before us suffice us.
Ibn Abī al-Dunyā and al-Bayhaqī recorded from Maysarah, who said: It was said to Jesus: Will you not build yourself a house? He said: I shall not leave behind me anything of this world by which I would be remembered.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Abū Sulaymān, who said: While Jesus was walking on a summer’s day, afflicted by the heat, the sun and thirst, he sat down in the shade of a tent. The owner of the tent came out to him and said: O servant of God, get up out of our shade. So Jesus got up and sat in the sun, and said: It is not you who made me get up; the One who made me get up is He who did not wish that I should obtain anything of this world.
Aḥmad recorded from Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, who said: Jesus and John (peace be upon them both) would come to a village, and Jesus would ask after the worst of its people while John would ask after the best of its people. He said to him: Why do you lodge with the worst of people? He said: I am only a physician, treating the sick.
Aḥmad recorded from Hishām al-Dastuwāʾī, who said: It reached me that among the wisdom of Jesus son of Mary is: You work for this world, while you are provided for in it without work; and you do not work for the Hereafter, while you are not provided for in it except by work. Woe to you, evil scholars! You take the wage and waste the work! You are about to go out of this world into the darkness of the grave and its narrowness. God, Mighty and Majestic, forbids you acts of disobedience just as He commanded you fasting and prayer. How can he be among the people of knowledge whose world is dearer to him than his Hereafter, and who is more eager in desire for this world? How can he be among the people of knowledge whose journey is towards his Hereafter while he faces towards his world, and what harms him is more appetising to him than what benefits him? How can he be among the people of knowledge who is discontented and despises his station, while he knows that this is from God’s knowledge and His power? How can he be among the people of knowledge who accuses God, Exalted, in His decree, so that he is not content with anything that befalls him? How can he be among the people of knowledge who seeks speech in order to talk, and does not seek it in order to act upon it?
Aḥmad recorded from Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, from his elders, that Jesus (peace be upon him) passed by the pass of Afīq2 with one of his disciples, when a man confronted them and barred their way, saying: I shall not let the two of you pass until I have slapped each one of you a slap. They tried to put him off, but he would accept nothing else. So Jesus said: As for my cheek, slap it. He slapped it and let him go, and he said to the disciple: I shall not let you pass until I slap you. He resisted him; and when Jesus saw that, he gave him his other cheek, and he slapped it and let the two of them go. Then Jesus (peace be upon him) said: O God, if this is pleasing to You, then convey me to Your good pleasure; and if this is displeasing to You, then You are the most entitled to pardon.
ʿAbd Allāh his son recorded from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, who said: While Jesus (peace be upon him) was sitting with his companions a woman passed by him, and one of them looked at her. One of his companions said to him: You have committed adultery. Jesus said to him: What do you think — if you were fasting and passed by roast meat and smelt it, would you have broken your fast? He said: No.
Aḥmad recorded from ʿAṭāʾ, who said: Jesus said: I do not enter a village whose people wish to expel me from it but that they expel me — meaning: I have nothing in it. He said: And Jesus used to make himself sandals of the bark of trees, and make their thongs of palm fibre.
Aḥmad recorded from Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, who said: The Messiah said: Not as I want, but as You want; and not as I will, but as You will.
Aḥmad recorded from Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, who said: It reached me that there was no word that could be said of Jesus more beloved to him than that it be said: This poor wretch.
His son recorded from Ibn Ḥalbas, who said: Jesus said: Satan is with this world, his cunning is with wealth, his adornment is with passion, and his consummation is with the desires.
Ibn Abī Shaybah and Aḥmad recorded from Jaʿfar ibn Burqān, who said: Jesus used to say: O God, I have come to morning unable to ward off what I dislike, and not possessing the benefit of what I hope for; the matter has come to be in the hand of another than me, and I have become pledged by my works. There is no poor man poorer than I. So do not let my enemy gloat over me, nor let my friend be grieved by me; do not make my affliction be in my religion, and do not give power over me to one who will not have mercy on me.
Aḥmad recorded from Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said: In the books of the disciples: When you are led along the path of affliction, know that you are being led along the path of the prophets and the righteous; and when you are led along the path of the people of ease, know that you are being led along other than their path, and are being turned aside from their way.
Aḥmad recorded from Mālik ibn Dīnār, who said: Jesus said: I send you only like rams, to gather up the lambs of the Children of Israel; so do not be like ravening wolves that snatch away the people; keep to the lambs. What is it with you, that you come wearing garments of hair while your hearts are the hearts of swine? Wear the garments of kings, and soften your hearts with fear. And Jesus said: O son of Adam, do the works of righteousness until your work reaches the clouds of heaven, and do them out of love for God; whatever you have done avails nothing of that in His sight without it. And Jesus said to the disciples: Iblīs wants to make you stingy, so do not fall into his stinginess.
Aḥmad recorded from al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣanʿānī, who said: It reached us that Jesus (peace be upon him) said: O company of disciples, pray to God to lighten for me this agony — meaning death. Then Jesus said: I have feared death with such a fear that my fear of death has set me face to face with death.
Aḥmad recorded from Wahb ibn Munabbih that Jesus (peace be upon him) was standing at a grave with the disciples, while the owner of the grave was being lowered into it, and they spoke of the darkness of the grave, its desolation and its narrowness. Jesus said: You have already been in what is narrower than it: in the wombs of your mothers. When God loves to make room, He makes room.
Aḥmad recorded from Wahb, who said: The Messiah (peace be upon him) said: Remember God much, praise Him and hallow Him, and obey Him; for it is enough for one of you, by way of supplication, when God, Blessed and Exalted, is pleased with him, that he say: O God, forgive me my sin, set right for me my livelihood, and preserve me from what is hateful, O my God.
Aḥmad recorded from Abū al-Jald that Jesus (peace be upon him) said to the disciples: Truly I say to you: it is neither this world you want nor the Hereafter. They said: O Messenger of God, explain this to us, for we used to think that we wanted one of the two. He said: Had you wanted this world you would have obeyed the Lord of this world, in whose hand are the keys of its treasuries, and He would have given it to you; and had you wanted the Hereafter you would have obeyed the Lord of the Hereafter, who owns it, and He would have given it to you. But it is neither this you want, nor that.
Aḥmad recorded from Abū ʿUbaydah that the disciples said to Jesus: What shall we eat? He said: You shall eat barley bread and the herbs of the open country. They said: Then what shall we drink? He said: You shall drink plain water. They said: Then what shall we lay our heads upon? He said: Lay your heads upon the ground. They said: We see you commanding us nothing by way of livelihood but what is hard. He said: And by this you will be saved. You will not enter the kingdom of the heavens until one of you does this while he still has an appetite for it. They said: And how can that be? He said: Have you not seen that when a man is hungry, how beloved to him is a crust, even if it is of barley! And if he is thirsty, how beloved to him is water, even if it is plain! And when he has stood long, how beloved to him is to lay his head upon the ground.
Aḥmad recorded from ʿAṭāʾ that it reached him that Jesus (peace be upon him) said: Hope for no more than a bare sufficiency; be wakeful in the hours of heedlessness; judge with the subtlety of discernment; and do not be like a saddle-cloth cast aside while you are alive and breathing.
Ibn Abī Shaybah and Aḥmad recorded from Abū Hurayrah, who said: Jesus (peace be upon him) used to say: O company of disciples, take your houses as way-stations, take the mosques as dwellings, eat of the herbs of the open country, and go out of this world in peace.
Aḥmad recorded from Ibrāhīm al-Taymī that Jesus (peace be upon him) said: Lay up your treasures in heaven, for a man’s heart is with his treasure.
Ibn Abī Shaybah recorded from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿīd al-Juʿfī, who said: Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him) said: My house is the mosque, my perfume is water, my condiment is hunger, my inner garment is fear, my mount is my two legs, my fireside in winter is the places where the sun rises, my lamp by night is the moon, and my companions are the chronically ill and the poor; I pass the evening with nothing, and I come to morning with nothing, and I am well. So who is richer than I?
Ibn Abī al-Dunyā recorded from al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ, who said: Jesus said: This world has been laid flat for you, and you sit upon its back; none will contend with you for it except kings and women. As for the kings, do not contend with them for this world, for they will never trouble you so long as you leave them and their world alone; and as for women, guard yourselves against them with fasting and prayer.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Sufyān al-Thawrī, who said: The Messiah said: This world is sought only in order to do good; but leaving it is better.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Shuʿayb ibn Ṣāliḥ, who said: Jesus son of Mary said: By God, this world has not settled in the heart of a servant but that his heart has become bound by it to three things: a preoccupation whose toil never ceases, a poverty whose sufficiency is never reached, and a hope whose end is never attained. This world is both seeker and sought: the seeker of the Hereafter is sought by this world until he has received his provision from it in full, and the seeker of this world is sought by the Hereafter until death comes and seizes him by the neck.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Yazīd ibn Maysarah, who said: Jesus son of Mary said: As you humble yourselves, so you will be raised; as you show mercy, so you will be shown mercy; and as you fulfil the needs of people, so God will fulfil your needs.
Aḥmad and Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from al-Shaʿbī, who said: Jesus son of Mary said: Beneficence is not that you do good to one who has done good to you — that is recompense; beneficence is only that you do good to one who has done evil to you.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Ibn al-Mubārak, who said: It reached me that Jesus son of Mary passed by a people who reviled him, and he spoke good; and he passed by others who reviled him and did more, and he gave them more good. A man among the disciples said: The more they increase in evil to you, the more you increase in good to them, as though you were inciting them against yourself! Jesus said: Every person gives what he has.
Ibn Abī al-Dunyā recorded from Mālik ibn Anas, who said: A pig passed by Jesus son of Mary, and he said: Pass in peace. It was said to him: O Spirit of God, do you say this to this pig? He said: I dislike accustoming my tongue to evil.
Ibn Abī al-Dunyā recorded from Sufyān, who said: They said to Jesus son of Mary: Direct us to a deed by which we may enter Paradise. He said: Never speak. They said: We cannot do that. He said: Then speak nothing but good.
Al-Kharāʾiṭī recorded from Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, who said: Jesus son of Mary said: Take the truth from the people of falsehood, and do not take falsehood from the people of truth. Be critics of speech, so that counterfeits do not pass current upon you.
Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, and al-Bayhaqī in al-Zuhd, recorded from Zakariyyā ibn ʿAdī, who said: Jesus son of Mary said: O company of disciples, be content with the meanness of this world together with the soundness of religion, just as the people of this world are content with the meanness of religion together with the soundness of this world.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Mālik ibn Dīnār, who said: Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him) said: Eating barley with ashes, and sleeping on dunghills with the dogs, is little indeed in the quest for Paradise.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Anas ibn Mālik, who said: Jesus son of Mary used to say: No servant can bear to have two lords: if he pleases one of them he angers the other, and if he angers one of them he pleases the other. Likewise no servant can bear to be a servant of this world while doing the work of the Hereafter. Do not be anxious about what you will eat or what you will drink, for God has not created a soul greater than its provision, nor a body greater than its clothing; so take heed.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from al-Maqburī that it reached him that Jesus son of Mary used to say: O son of Adam, when you do a good deed, forget about it, for it is with One who will not let it be lost; and when you do an evil deed, set it before your eyes.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Saʿīd ibn Abī Hilāl that Jesus son of Mary used to say: Whoever thinks that greed increases his provision, let him add to his height, or to his breadth, or to the number of his buildings, or let him change his colour. Indeed, God created the creation, and the creation proceeded according to what He created; then He apportioned provision, and provision proceeded according to what He apportioned. This world gives no one anything that is not his, nor does it withhold from anyone anything that is his. So hold fast to the worship of your Lord, for you were created for it.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from ʿImrān ibn Sulaymān, who said: It reached me that Jesus said to his companions: If you are my brothers and my companions, then accustom yourselves to enmity and hatred from people.
Aḥmad and al-Bayhaqī recorded from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Ẓabyān, who said: The Messiah said: Whoever learns, acts and teaches — that one is called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Jesus son of Mary stood up among the Children of Israel and said: O company of disciples, do not speak wisdom to those who are not its people, lest you wrong it; and do not withhold it from its people, lest you wrong them. Affairs are three: a matter whose right guidance is clear, so follow it; a matter whose error is clear to you, so avoid it; and a matter about which you differ, so refer the knowledge of it to God, Exalted.”
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from ʿAmr ibn Qays al-Mulāʾī, who said: Jesus son of Mary said: If you withhold wisdom from its people you act in ignorance, and if you grant it to those who are not its people you act in ignorance. Be like the physician who treats: if he sees a place for the remedy he applies it, and otherwise he holds back.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad in al-Zuhd, and Ibn ʿAsākir, recorded from ʿIkrimah, who said: Jesus son of Mary said to the disciples: O company of disciples, do not cast pearls before swine, for the swine does nothing with the pearl; and do not give wisdom to one who does not want it, for wisdom is better than pearls, and one who does not want it is worse than the swine.
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded from Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said: Jesus said: O evil scholars, you have sat at the gates of Paradise; you neither enter it yourselves nor let the poor enter it. The worst of people with God is a scholar who seeks this world by means of his knowledge.
Ibn Abī Shaybah recorded from Sālim ibn Abī al-Jaʿd, who said: Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him) said: The likeness of the soul’s whispering of sin is the likeness of smoke in a house: if it does not burn it, it makes its smell foul and changes its colour.
His words, Exalted: and the Torah and the Gospel (3:48)
Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded from Qatādah, who said: Jesus used to recite the Torah and the Gospel.
On 3:49
His words, Exalted: that I create for you out of clay the likeness of a bird (3:49)
Ibn Jarīr recorded, from Ibn Isḥāq, that Jesus sat one day with some boys from the school, and he took clay, then said: “Shall I make for you out of this clay a bird?” They said: “And can you do that?” He said: “Yes, by the permission of my Lord.” Then he shaped it, until, when he had made it into the form of a bird, he breathed into it, then said: “Be a bird, by the permission of God.” And it went out flying from between his two palms. The boys went out with this deed of his and mentioned it to their teacher, and they spread it abroad among the people.
Ibn Jarīr recorded, from Ibn Jurayj, that Jesus said: “Which of the birds is the hardest in its creation?” They said: “The bat; for it is nothing but flesh.” So he made it.
Abū al-Shaykh recorded, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Jesus created only one bird, and it was the bat.
His words, Exalted: and I heal the one born blind and the leper (3:49)
Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, by way of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The akmah is the one who is born blind.
Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, by way of ʿAṭāʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The akmah is the blind man whose eye is smoothed over.3
Abū ʿUbayd, al-Firyābī, ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abī Ḥātim and Ibn al-Anbārī in the Kitāb al-Aḍdād recorded, from Mujāhid, who said: The akmah is the one who sees by day and does not see by night.
ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn Abī Ḥātim and Ibn al-Anbārī recorded, from ʿIkrimah, who said: The akmah is the bleary-eyed (aʿmash).
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded, from Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said: The supplication of Jesus with which he used to pray for the sick, the chronically ill, the blind, the mad and others was: “O God, You are the God of whoever is in heaven and the God of whoever is on earth; there is no god in them besides You. You are the Compeller of whoever is in heaven and the Compeller of whoever is on earth; there is no compeller in them besides You. You are the King of whoever is in heaven and the King of whoever is on earth; there is no king in them besides You. Your power on earth is like Your power in heaven, and Your authority on earth is like Your authority in heaven. I ask You by Your noble Name, Your radiant Face and Your eternal dominion; truly You have power over all things.” Wahb said: This is for the one seized with terror and for the madman: it is recited over him and written out for him, and he is given its water to drink, God willing.
Ibn Jarīr recorded, by another route, from Wahb, who said: When Jesus reached twelve years of age, God revealed to his mother, while she was in the land of Egypt, for she had fled from her people to the land of Egypt when she gave birth to him: “Go up with him to Syria.” She did so, and she remained in Syria until he was thirty years old. His prophethood lasted three years, and then God raised him to Himself. Wahb claimed that sometimes there would gather around Jesus, in a single assembly, fifty thousand of the sick: whoever of them was able to reach him reached him, and whoever of them was not able to do so, Jesus would come to him, walking to him. And he treated them only by supplication to God, Exalted.
His words, Exalted: and I give life to the dead by the permission of God (3:49)
Al-Bayhaqī in al-Asmāʾ wa-l-ṣifāt and Ibn ʿAsākir recorded, by way of Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh, from Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥah, from a man, that Jesus son of Mary, when he wished to give life to the dead, would pray two units of prayer (rakʿahs), reciting in the first Blessed is He in whose hand is the dominion (67:1), and in the second The sending down (32:2) of “al-Sajdah”. When he had finished, he would praise God and extol Him, then call upon Him by seven names: O Eternal (Qadīm), O Living (Ḥayy), O Everlasting (Dāʾim), O Single (Fard), O Odd (Witr), O One (Aḥad), O Self-Sufficient (Ṣamad). Al-Bayhaqī said: This is not strong.
Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded it, by way of Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥah ibn Muṣarrif, from Abū Bishr, from Abū al-Hudhayl, with its wording, and added at its end: And when hardship befell him, he would call upon Him by seven other names: O Living, O Self-Subsisting (Qayyūm), O God, O Most Merciful (Raḥmān), O Possessor of Majesty and Honour, O Light of the heavens and the earth and what is between them and Lord of the Mighty Throne, O my Lord.
Ibn Abī al-Dunyā recorded in Kitāb Man ʿāsha baʿd al-mawt (The Book of Those Who Lived after Death), from Muʿāwiyah ibn Qurrah, who said: The Children of Israel asked Jesus, saying: “Shem son of Noah is buried near here, so pray to God to raise him up for us.” The prophet of God called out to him, but saw nothing; and he called out, but saw nothing. They said: “He was indeed buried near here.” The prophet of God called out, and he came forth, grey-haired. They said: “He died while he was a young man, so what is this whiteness?” He said: “I thought it was the Cry,4 and I was terrified.”
Isḥāq ibn Bishr and Ibn ʿAsākir recorded, by several routes, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Jews used to gather around Jesus and mock him, saying to him: “O Jesus, what did so-and-so eat last night, and what did he store away in his house for tomorrow?” He would tell them, and they would scoff at him. This went on at length between him and them, and Jesus had no settled abode and no known place; he was only a wanderer in the land. One day he passed by a woman sitting by a grave, weeping. He asked her, and she said: “A daughter of mine has died, and I had no child other than her.” So Jesus prayed two rakʿahs, then called out: “O so-and-so, rise by the permission of the Most Merciful, and come forth!” The grave stirred. Then he called a second time, and the grave split open. Then he called a third time, and she came out, shaking the dust from her head. She said: “O mother, what moved you to make me taste the agony of death twice? O mother, be patient and seek your reward with God, for I have no need of this world. O Spirit of God, ask my Lord to return me to the Hereafter and to make the agonies of death easy for me.” So he prayed to his Lord, and He took her to Himself, and the earth settled level over her. That reached the Jews, and they increased in anger against him. Now there was a king of theirs in a certain region, in a city called Nisibis,5 a tyrannical and insolent man, and Jesus was commanded to journey to him to call him and the people of that city to turn back to God. He went until he drew near the city, with the disciples accompanying him, and he said to his companions: “Is there not a man among you who will set out to the city and proclaim in it, saying: ‘Jesus is the servant of God and His messenger’?” A man of the disciples called Yaʿqūb stood up and said: “I will, O Spirit of God.” He said: “Then go; but you will be the first to disown me.” Another, called Tūṣār, stood up and said to him: “I will go with him.” He said: “And you, with him.” The two walked off, and Simon stood up and said: “O Spirit of God, let me be the third of them, and permit me to speak against you if I am compelled to that.” He said: “Yes.” They set off, until, when they were near the city, Simon said to the two of them: “Enter the city and deliver what you have been commanded, and I will stay in my place; if you are put to trial, I will devise a stratagem for you.” The two went on until they entered the city, where the people were talking of the affair of Jesus, saying the vilest things about him and about his mother. One of them, the first, called out: “Hear ye! Jesus is the servant of God and His messenger.” They leapt upon the two of them: “Who is it that says that Jesus is the servant of God and His messenger?” The one who had called out disowned it and said: “I said nothing.” Then the other said: “You did say it, and I say it: Jesus is the servant of God and His messenger, and His word which He cast unto Mary, and a spirit from Him; so believe in him, O company of the Children of Israel, it is better for you.” They took him off to their king, who was a tyrannical and oppressive man, and he said to him: “Woe to you, what are you saying?” He said: “I say: Jesus is the servant of God and His messenger, and His word which He cast unto Mary, and a spirit from Him.” He said: “You lie.” And they slandered Jesus and his mother with calumny. Then he said to him: “Woe to you, disown Jesus and say about him what we say.” He said: “I will not do it.” He said: “If you do not, I will cut off your hands and your feet and put out your eyes with nails.” He said: “Do with us what you are going to do.” So he did that to him and threw him on a rubbish heap in the middle of their city. Then the king was minded to cut out his tongue, when Simon came in, the people having gathered, and said to them: “What has this poor wretch said?” They said: “He claims that Jesus is the servant of God and His messenger.” Simon said: “O king, will you permit me to go near to him and question him?” He said: “Yes.” Simon said to him: “O afflicted one, what do you say?” He said: “I say: Jesus is the servant of God and His messenger.” He said: “And what is his sign? Do you know him?” He said: “He heals the one born blind and the leper and the sick.” He said: “The physicians do this; is there anything else?” He said: “Yes, he tells you what you eat and what you store away.” He said: “The soothsayers know this; is there anything other than this?” He said: “Yes, he creates out of clay the likeness of a bird.” He said: “This the sorcerers can do; he will have taken it from them.” The king began to marvel at him and at his questioning. He said: “Is there anything other than this?” He said: “Yes, he gives life to the dead.” He said: “O king, he has mentioned a mighty matter, and I do not think any creature has power over that except by the permission of God; and God would not bring that to pass at the hand of a lying sorcerer. If Jesus were not a messenger he would have no power over that, and God has not done that for anyone except for Abraham, when he asked Him: Show me how You give life to the dead (2:260). And who is like Abraham, the Friend of the Most Merciful!”
Ibn Jarīr recorded, from al-Suddī, and Ibn ʿAsākir, by way of al-Suddī, from Abū Mālik and from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: When God sent Jesus and commanded him to call to Him, the Children of Israel confronted him and drove him out. So he and his mother went out wandering in the land, and they lodged in a village with a man who gave them hospitality and treated them well. That city had a tyrannical king. One day that man came home grieving, and entered his house while Mary was with his wife. She said to her: “What is the matter with your husband? I see him grieving!” She said: “We have a king who imposes on each man among us a day on which he must feed him and his soldiers and give them wine to drink, and if he does not do so he punishes him; and his turn has come today, and we have not the means.” She said: “Tell him not to worry, for I shall tell my son and he will pray for him, and he will be spared that.” Mary spoke to Jesus about that, and Jesus said: “O mother, if I do it there will be evil in it.” She said: “Do not mind that, for he has been good to us and honoured us.” Jesus said: “Tell him: fill your cooking-pots and your jars with water.” He filled them, and Jesus prayed to God, and what was in the pots turned into meat, broth and bread, and what was in the jars into wine the like of which the people had never seen. When the king came he ate of it, and when he drank the wine he asked: “Where did you get this wine?” He said: “It is from such-and-such a land.” The king said: “But my wine is brought to me from that land, and it is not like this!” He said: “It is from another land.” When he had confused the king, the king pressed him hard, and so he said: “I will tell you: I have with me a boy who never asks God for anything but He gives it to him, and he prayed to God and turned the water into wine.” The king said to him, now he had had a son whom he wished to make his successor, who had died a few days before that, and who had been the dearest of creatures to him, he said: “A man who prayed to God and He turned the water into wine will surely be answered if he prays that my son be brought back to life.” So he summoned Jesus and spoke with him, and asked him to pray to God to give life to his son. Jesus said: “Do not do it, for if he lives it will be an evil.” The king said: “I do not care; shall I not see him? I do not care what happens.” Jesus (peace be upon him) said: “If I bring him to life, will you leave me and my mother to go wherever we wish?” The king said: “Yes.” So he prayed to God, and the boy lived. When the people of his kingdom saw that he had come to life, they called one another to arms and said: “This one has devoured us, until, when his death drew near, he wants to set his son over us as his successor, to devour us as his father devoured us!” So they fought one another, and Jesus and his mother went away, and a Jew accompanied the two of them. The Jew had two loaves and Jesus had one loaf. Jesus said to him: “Will you share with me?” The Jew said: “Yes.” But when he saw that Jesus (peace be upon him) had only one loaf, he regretted it. When the two slept, the Jew set about trying to eat the loaf; he would eat a mouthful and Jesus would say to him: “What are you doing?” and he would say: “Nothing,” until he had finished the loaf. When morning came, Jesus said to him: “Bring out your food.” He brought one loaf, and Jesus said to him: “Where is the other loaf?” He said: “I had only one.” He let it pass. They set off and passed by a shepherd of sheep, and Jesus called out: “O owner of the sheep, give us a sheep from your flock to slaughter.” He said: “Yes,” and gave him a sheep, which he slaughtered and roasted. Then he said to the Jew: “Eat, and do not break a bone.” They ate, and when they were full Jesus threw the bones into the skin, then struck it with his staff and said: “Rise, by the permission of God.” The sheep stood up, bleating. He said: “O owner of the sheep, take your sheep.” The shepherd said to him: “Who are you?” He said: “I am Jesus son of Mary.” He said: “You are the sorcerer?” and fled from him. Jesus said to the Jew: “By Him who gave life to this sheep after we had eaten it, how many loaves did you have?” He swore that he had had only one loaf. Then he passed by an owner of cattle and said: “O owner of the cattle, give us a calf from these cattle of yours to slaughter.” He gave it to him, and he slaughtered it and roasted it while the owner of the cattle looked on. Jesus said to him: “Eat, and do not break a bone.” When they had finished, he threw the bones into the skin, then struck it with his staff and said: “Rise, by the permission of God.” It rose up, lowing. He said: “O owner of the cattle, take your calf.” He said: “And who are you?” He said: “I am Jesus.” He said: “You are Jesus the sorcerer?” and then fled from him. Jesus said to the Jew: “By Him who gave life to this sheep after we had eaten it, and the calf after we had eaten it, how many loaves did you have?” He swore by that that he had had only one loaf. The two went on until they stopped at a village; the Jew lodged in the upper part of it and Jesus in the lower part. The Jew took a staff like the staff of Jesus and said: “Now I will give life to the dead.” The king of that village was ill, gravely ill, so the Jew went about calling: “Who is seeking a physician?” He was told of the king and his malady, and he said: “Bring me in to him and I will cure him; and if you see that he has died, I will bring him back to life.” He was told: “The king’s malady has baffled the physicians before you.” He said: “Bring me in to him.” So he was brought in to him, and he took hold of the king’s leg and struck him with his staff until he died, and he kept striking him while he was dead, saying: “Rise, by the permission of God.”
So they seized him to crucify him. That reached Jesus, and he came to him when he had already been hoisted onto the wooden beam, and said: “What do you say: if I bring your companion back to life for you, will you leave my companion to me?” They said: “Yes.” So Jesus brought the king back to life, and he stood up and brought the Jew down. He said: “O Jesus, you are the man to whom I owe the greatest favour of all people; by God, I will never part from you.” Jesus said: “I adjure you by Him who gave life to the sheep and the calf after we had eaten them both, and gave life to this man after he had died, and brought you down from the trunk after you had been hoisted onto it to be crucified: how many loaves did you have?” He swore by all of this that he had had only one loaf. The two went on and passed by three bricks, and Jesus prayed to God and He turned them into gold. He said: “O Jew, one brick is for me, one brick is for you, and one brick is for the one who ate the loaf.” He said: “I ate the loaf.”
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded, from Layth, who said: A man accompanied Jesus son of Mary. The two set off and came to the bank of a river, and sat down to eat the midday meal; they had three loaves with them. They ate the two loaves and one loaf remained. Jesus got up to go to the river to drink, then came back and did not find the loaf. He said to the man: “Who ate the loaf?” He said: “I do not know.” He went on with him and saw a gazelle with two fawns. He called one of the two and it came to him; he slaughtered it and roasted it, and they ate. Then he said to the fawn: “Rise, by the permission of God,” and it rose. He said to the man: “I ask you, by Him who showed you this sign, who took the loaf?” He said: “I do not know.” Then they came to the sea, and Jesus took the man by the hand and walked upon the water. Then he said: “I adjure you, by Him who showed you this sign, who took the loaf?” He said: “I do not know.” Then they came to a cave, and Jesus took earth and clay and said: “Be gold, by the permission of God,” and it became gold. He divided it into three thirds and said: “A third is for you, a third is for me, and a third is for the one who took the loaf.” He said: “I took it.” He said: “Then all of it is yours.” And Jesus parted from him. Two men came upon him and wanted to take it and kill him. He said: “It is between us in thirds; so send one of you to the village to buy us food.” They sent one of them, and the one who was sent said: “Why should I share the money with these two? Rather, I will put poison in the food and kill them.” And those two said: “Why should we give this one a third of the money? Rather, when he comes back we will kill him.” When he came back to them they killed him, and the two ate the food and died. So that money remained in the cave, with those three lying dead beside it.
Aḥmad recorded in al-Zuhd, from Khālid al-Ḥadhdhāʾ, who said: When Jesus son of Mary sent out his messengers to give life to the dead, he would say to them: “Say such-and-such, say such-and-such; and when you feel a shudder and a tear, then make the supplication at that moment.”
Aḥmad recorded in al-Zuhd, from Thābit, who said: Jesus (peace be upon him) set out to visit a brother of his, and a person met him and said: “Your brother has died.” So he turned back. The daughters of his brother heard that he had turned back from them, so they came to him and said: “O Messenger of God, your turning back from us is harder upon us than the death of our father.” He said: “Then go and show me his grave.” They went until they showed him his grave. He said: He called out to him, and he came forth, white-haired. He said: “Are you not so-and-so?” He said: “Yes, indeed.” He said: “Then what is this that I see upon you?” He said: “I heard your voice and thought it was the Cry.”
His words, Exalted: and I inform you (3:49), the verse.
Al-Firyābī, ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, from Mujāhid, concerning His words and I inform you of what you eat and what you store (3:49): He said: Of what food you ate last night, and what of it you hid away.
Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr, Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: Jesus used to say to the boy in the school: “Your family have hidden away such-and-such for you.” That is His words: and what you store (3:49).
Ibn ʿAsākir recorded, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, who said: Jesus son of Mary, while he was a boy, used to play with the children, and he would say to one of them: “Do you want me to tell you what your mother has hidden away for you?” He would say: “Yes.” He would say: “She has hidden away such-and-such for you.” The boy among them would go to his mother and say to her: “Feed me what you hid away for me.” She would say: “And what have I hidden away for you?” He would say: “Such-and-such.” She would say: “Who told you?” He would say: “Jesus son of Mary.” So they said: “By God, if you leave these children with Jesus he will surely corrupt them.” So they gathered them in a house and locked them in. Jesus went out seeking them and did not find them, until he heard their clamour in a house. He asked about them, saying: “O you people, it seems these are the children.” They said: “No, these are only apes and swine.” He said: “O God, make them apes and swine.” And they became so.
ʿAbd al-Razzāq, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, from ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, who said: and I inform you of what you eat (3:49): of the Table; and what you store (3:49): of it. A covenant had been taken from them concerning the Table, when it came down, that they should eat and not store away; but they stored away and acted treacherously, and so they were made into apes and swine.
ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd recorded, from ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Najūd: and what you store (3:49), read with the doubled letter, by assimilation (idghām).6
On 3:50
His words, Exalted: and confirming what was before me (3:50), the verse.
Ibn Jarīr recorded, from Wahb, that Jesus was upon the law (sharīʿah) of Moses (peace be upon them both); he used to keep the Sabbath and to face Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis) in prayer, and he said to the Children of Israel: “I have not called you to go against a single letter of what is in the Torah, except in order to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you, and to lift from you some of the burdens.”
Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, from al-Rabīʿ, concerning His words and to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you (3:50): He said: What Jesus brought was gentler than what Moses brought. In what Moses brought, the flesh of camels and the fat of the entrails (thurūb) had been forbidden to them, and He made these lawful for them by the tongue of Jesus; the fats had been forbidden to them, and they were made lawful for them in what Jesus brought; and likewise certain kinds of fish, and certain kinds of birds, those which have no spur (ṣīṣiyah), and other things which He had forbidden them and in which He had been severe upon them; so Jesus came to them with the lightening of that in the Gospel.
ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn Jarīr recorded, from Qatādah, the like of it.
ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, from Mujāhid, concerning His words and I have come to you with a sign from your Lord (3:50): He said: All the things that Jesus made clear to them, and what his Lord gave him.
On 3:52
His words, Exalted: Then when Jesus perceived (3:52), the verse.
Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, from Ibn Jurayj, concerning His words Then when Jesus perceived unbelief from them (3:52): He said: They disbelieved and wanted to kill him; that is when he sought the help of his people, and that is when He says: so a party of the Children of Israel believed and a party disbelieved (61:14).
Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, from Mujāhid: Who are my helpers unto God? (3:52). He said: Who will follow me unto God?
Ibn Jarīr recorded, from al-Suddī: Who are my helpers unto God? (3:52). He says: with God.
His words, Exalted: The disciples said (3:52), the verse.
Al-Firyābī, ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: They were called the disciples (ḥawāriyyūn) only because of the whiteness of their garments; they were fishermen.
ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn Jarīr recorded, from Abū Arṭāh, who said: The disciples were the washermen who whiten (yuḥawwirūn) garments, that is, wash them.
Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, from al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: The disciples were the washermen; in Nabataean it is hawwārī, and in Arabic, al-muḥawwar (the whitened).
ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd recorded, from al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: The disciples were fullers; Jesus passed by them and they believed in him and followed him.
Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, from Qatādah, who said: The disciples are those who are fit for succession.7
Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, from al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: The disciples are the chosen ones (aṣfiyāʾ) of the prophets.
Ibn Mardawayh recorded, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The disciples are the chosen ones of the prophets.
ʿAbd al-Razzāq and Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, from Qatādah, who said: The ḥawārī is the minister (wazīr).
Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded, from Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, who said: The ḥawārī is the helper.
Al-Bukhārī, al-Tirmidhī and Ibn al-Mundhir recorded, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: “Every prophet has a disciple (ḥawārī), and my disciple is al-Zubayr.”
Ibn Abī Dāwūd recorded in al-Maṣāḥif, from Asīd ibn Yazīd, who said: “And bear witness that we are Muslims” (wa-shhad bi-annanā muslimūn) (3:52) is in the codex (muṣḥaf) of ʿUthmān in three letters.8
On 3:53-54
His words, Exalted: Our Lord, we believe (3:53), the verse.
Al-Firyābī, ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Abū al-Shaykh, al-Ṭabarānī and Ibn Mardawayh recorded, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words so write us down among the witnesses (3:53): He said: With Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and his community; for they bore witness for him that he had conveyed the message, and they bore witness for the messengers that they had conveyed it.
ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn al-Mundhir recorded, by way of al-Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: so write us down among the witnesses (3:53). He said: With the Companions of Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
Ibn Mardawayh recorded, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say when he had finished his prayer: “O God, I ask You by the right of those who ask of You, for those who ask of You have a right upon You, that whatever servant or handmaid among the people of the land and the sea whose call You have accepted and whose supplication You have answered, You make us partners in the good of what they ask of You, and that You grant well-being to us and to them, and accept from us and from them, and pardon us and them; for we believe in what You have sent down and we follow the Messenger, so write us down among the witnesses.” And he used to say: “No one of His creatures speaks these words but that God makes him a partner in the supplication of the people of their land and the people of their sea, so that it encompasses them all while he remains in his place.”
Ibn Jarīr recorded, from al-Suddī, who said: The Children of Israel besieged Jesus and nineteen men of the disciples in a house. Jesus said to his companions: “Who will take on my likeness and be killed, and Paradise shall be his?” One of them took it on, and Jesus was taken up to heaven. That is His words: And they schemed, and God schemed; and God is the best of schemers (3:54).
About this text
This is a complete English rendering of al-Durr al-manthūr fī al-tafsīr bi-l-maʾthūr on these verses, prepared for this website from the public-domain Arabic text (tafsir.app, src=aldur-almanthoor). 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
- Abū Jād (abjad): the mnemonic words by which the letters of the alphabet were taught in their ancient order: abjad, hawwaz, ḥuṭṭī, kalamun, saʿfaṣ, qarashat. ↩
- ʿAqabat Afīq: a mountain pass east of the Sea of Galilee, on the road to Damascus. ↩
- That is, one whose eye socket is flat and sealed, with no eye visible. ↩
- The Cry (al-ṣayḥah) is the blast of the Trumpet that raises the dead on the Day of Resurrection. ↩
- Naṣībīn, a city in upper Mesopotamia, today Nusaybin in south-eastern Turkey. ↩
- That is, taddakhirūn, the standard reading in which the dhāl of the root is assimilated into the dāl of the verbal form, as against the lighter reading tadhkharūn. ↩
- That is, fit to succeed the prophets as their deputies (khilāfah). ↩
- That is, the particle after bi- is written in ʿUthmān’s codex in the shorter form of three letters, annā, rather than the fuller annanā. ↩