Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (6/73)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

“And they say, ‘What is the matter with this messenger, that he eats food and walks through the marketplaces? Why has no angel been sent down to him to be a warner alongside him? Or why has no treasure been cast down to him, or why does he not have a garden from which he may eat?’ And the wrongdoers say, ‘You follow none but a man under a spell.’ See how they coin comparisons for you: they have gone astray and can find no way. Blessed is He who, if He wills, can grant you something better than that: gardens beneath which rivers flow, and He can grant you palaces.” (7–10)

“And they say, ‘What is the matter with this messenger?’” They mean Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. “‘That he eats food’”: just as we eat; “‘and walks through the marketplaces’”: seeking a livelihood, just as we do. Therefore, they claimed, he could not be distinguished from us by prophethood. They would say to him, “You are neither an angel nor a king: you eat, whereas an angel does not eat; and you are not a king, because a king does not go to the market, while you go to the market and mingle freely with common people.”

What they said is unsound, for his eating food was due to his being human, and his walking through the marketplaces was due to his humility. This was part of his character, and none of this is incompatible with prophethood.

“Why has no angel been sent down to him”: to affirm his truthfulness, “to be a warner alongside him”: that is, one who calls people. “Or why has no treasure been cast down to him”: that is, why has a treasure not been sent down to him from heaven for him to spend, so that he would not need to go about and engage in seeking a livelihood? “Or why does he not have a garden”: an orchard, “from which he may eat?” Hamzah and al-Kisa'i recited, “from which we may eat,” with the first-person plural: that is, from which we may eat.

“And the wrongdoers say, ‘You follow none but a man under a spell’”: that is, deceived. It was also said: turned away from the truth. “See,” O Muhammad, “how they coin comparisons for you”: that is, likenesses. Thus they said, “He is under a spell, needy,” and the like. “They have gone astray” from the truth, “and can find no way”: either to guidance or to escape from misguidance.

“Blessed is He who, if He wills, can grant you something better than that”: better than what they mentioned, or better than the treasure and orchard of which they spoke. Ikrimah narrated from Ibn Abbas that this means: something better than walking through the marketplaces and seeking a livelihood. (1) He then explained that better thing, saying: “Gardens beneath which rivers flow, and He can grant you palaces”: lofty, well-built houses. The Arabs call every well-built house a palace. Ibn Kathir, Ibn Amir, and Asim, in the narration of Abu Bakr, recited “and He can grant you” with the final letter raised; the others recited it with the final letter in the jussive, governed by the conditional clause in His saying, “if He wills, He can grant you.”

(1) Al-Tabari mentions both views (18:185) and prefers the first view attributed to Mujahid, because the polytheists found it extraordinary that he should have no garden from which to eat and that no treasure should be bestowed upon him, while they found it objectionable that he walked through the marketplaces despite being Allah's Messenger. Thus, what Allah most fittingly promised him would be something better than what the polytheists regarded as great, not what they regarded as objectionable.

﴿وَقَالُوا مَالِ هَذَا الرَّسُولِ يَأْكُلُ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشِي فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ لَوْلَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مَلَكٌ فَيَكُونَ مَعَهُ نَذِيرًا (٧) أَوْ يُلْقَى إِلَيْهِ كَنْزٌ أَوْ تَكُونُ لَهُ جَنَّةٌ يَأْكُلُ مِنْهَا وَقَالَ الظَّالِمُونَ إِنْ تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا رَجُلًا مَسْحُورًا (٨) انْظُرْ كَيْفَ ضَرَبُوا لَكَ الْأَمْثَالَ فَضَلُّوا فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَبِيلًا (٩) تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي إِنْ شَاءَ جَعَلَ لَكَ خَيْرًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكَ قُصُورًا (١٠) ﴾ ﴿وَقَالُوا مَالِ هَذَا الرَّسُولِ﴾ يَعْنُونَ مُحَمَّدًا ﷺ، ﴿يَأْكُلُ الطَّعَامَ﴾ كَمَا نَأْكُلُ نَحْنُ، ﴿وَيَمْشِي فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ﴾ يَلْتَمِسُ الْمَعَاشَ كَمَا نَمْشِي، فَلَا يَجُوزُ أَنْ يَمْتَازَ عَنَّا بِالنُّبُوَّةِ، وَكَانُوا يَقُولُونَ لَهُ: لَسْتَ أَنْتَ بِمَلَكٍ وَلَا بِمَلِكِ، لِأَنَّكَ تَأْكُلُ وَالْمَلَكِ لَا يَأْكُلُ، وَلَسْتَ بِمَلِكٍ لِأَنَّ الْمَلِكَ لَا يَتَسَوَّقُ، وَأَنْتَ تَتَسَوَّقُ وَتَتَبَذَّلُ. وَمَا قَالُوهُ فَاسِدٌ؛ لِأَنَّ أَكْلَهُ الطَّعَامَ لِكَوْنِهِ آدَمِيًّا، وَمَشْيَهُ فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ لِتَوَاضُعِهِ، وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ صِفَةٌ لَهُ، وَشَيْءٌ مِنْ ذَلِكَ لَا يُنَافِي النُّبُوَّةَ. ﴿لَوْلَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مَلَكٌ﴾ فَيُصَدِّقُهُ، ﴿فَيَكُونَ مَعَهُ نَذِيرًا﴾ دَاعِيًا. ﴿أَوْ يُلْقَى إِلَيْهِ كَنْزٌ﴾ أَيْ: يُنْزَلَ عَلَيْهِ كَنْزٌ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ يُنْفِقُهُ، فَلَا يَحْتَاجُ إِلَى التَّرَدُّدِ وَالتَّصَرُّفِ فِي طَلَبِ الْمَعَاشِ، ﴿أَوْ تَكُونُ لَهُ جَنَّةٌ﴾ بُسْتَانٌ، ﴿يَأْكُلُ مِنْهَا﴾ قَرَأَ حَمْزَةٌ وَالْكِسَائِيُّ: "نَأْكُلُ" بِالنُّونِ أَيْ: نَأْكُلُ نَحْنُ مِنْهَا، ﴿وَقَالَ الظَّالِمُونَ إِنْ تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا رَجُلًا مَسْحُورًا﴾ مَخْدُوعًا. وَقِيلَ: مَصْرُوفًا عَنِ الْحَقِّ. ﴿انْظُرْ﴾ يَا مُحَمَّدُ، ﴿كَيْفَ ضَرَبُوا لَكَ الْأَمْثَالَ﴾ يَعْنِي الْأَشْبَاهَ، فَقَالُوا: مَسْحُورٌ، مُحْتَاجٌ، وَغَيْرُهُ، ﴿فَضَلُّوا﴾ عَنِ الْحَقِّ، ﴿فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَبِيلًا﴾ إِلَى الْهُدَى وَمَخْرَجًا عَنِ الضَّلَالَةِ. ﴿تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي إِنْ شَاءَ جَعَلَ لَكَ خَيْرًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ﴾ الَّذِي قَالُوا، أَوْ أَفْضَلَ مِنَ الْكَنْزِ وَالْبُسْتَانِ الَّذِي ذَكَرُوا، وَرَوَى عِكْرِمَةُ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ قَالَ: يَعْنِي خَيْرًا مِنَ الْمَشْيِ فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ وَالتَّمَاسِ الْمَعَاشِ (١) . ثُمَّ بَيَّنَ ذَلِكَ الْخَيْرَ فَقَالَ: ﴿جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكَ قُصُورًا﴾ بُيُوتًا مُشَيَّدَةً، وَالْعَرَبُ تُسَمِّي كُلَّ بَيْتٍ مُشَيَّدٍ قَصْرًا، وَقَرَأَ ابْنُ كَثِيرٍ، وَابْنُ عَامِرٍ، وَعَاصِمٌ بِرِوَايَةِ أَبِي بَكْرٍ: "وَيَجْعَلُ" بِرَفْعِ اللَّامِ، وَقَرَأَ الْآخَرُونَ بِجَزْمِهَا عَلَى مَحَلُّ الْجَزَاءِ فِي قَوْلِهِ: "إِنْ شَاءَ جَعْلَ لَكَ".

(١) ذكر الطبري القولين: (١٨ / ١٨٥) ورجح قول مجاهد الأول، لأن المشركين استعظموا أن لا تكون له جنة يأكل منها، وأن لا يلقى إليه كنز، واستنكروا أن يمشي في الأسواق، وهو لله رسول، فالذي هو أولى بوعد الله إياه أن يكون وعدا بما هو خير ما كان عند المشركين عظيما، لا مما كان منكرا عندهم.