Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (6/77)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

“Averting”: that is, averting punishment from themselves. “Nor help”: that is, nor helping themselves. It was also said: nor can they, O worshippers, help you against Allah’s punishment by repelling it from you. It was also said that “averting” means a stratagem. Thus the Arabs say, “He is resourceful,” meaning that he devises stratagems. “And whoever among you commits wrongdoing”: that is, commits shirk (associating partners with Allah). “We shall make him taste a great punishment.”

“We never sent before you any messengers but that they ate food and walked through the marketplaces. And We have made some of you a trial for others. Will you be patient? And your Lord is All-Seeing.” (20)

Allah, exalted is He, says: “We never sent before you any messengers,” O Muhammad, “but that they ate food.” Al-Dahhak narrated from Ibn Abbas that, when the idolaters reproached the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saying, “What is the matter with this messenger, that he eats food and walks through the marketplaces?” Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. (1) That is: “I am only a messenger, and I am not unprecedented among the messengers.” They too were human beings who ate food and walked through the marketplaces.

It was also said that its meaning is: We never sent any messengers before you except that the same was said of them—that they ate food and walked through the marketplaces—as He says elsewhere: “Nothing is said to you except what was already said to the messengers before you.” (Fussilat 43)

“And We have made some of you a trial for others”: that is, an affliction. Thus, the rich person is a trial for the poor person, who says, “Why am I not like him?” The healthy person is a trial for the sick person, and the noble person is a trial for the lowly person.

Ibn Abbas said: That is, “I have made some of you a trial for others, so that you may patiently bear what you hear from them and see of their opposition, and follow guidance.”

It was also said that it was revealed concerning the testing of the noble by the lowly. When a noble person wished to accept Islam and saw that a lowly person had accepted Islam before him, he would disdain it and say, “Am I to accept Islam after him, so that he has precedence and merit over me?” He would then persist in his disbelief and refuse Islam. This is how some of them were tested through others. This was the view of al-Kalbi. (2)

Muqatil said: It was revealed concerning Abu Jahl, al-Walid ibn Uqbah, al-As ibn Wail, and al-Nadr ibn al-Harith. When they saw Abu Dharr, Ibn Masud, Ammar, Bilal, Suhayb, Amir ibn Fuhayrah, and others like them, they said, “Are we to accept Islam and become like these people?”

He also said: It was revealed concerning the testing of the poor believers by the mockers among Quraysh. They used to say, “Look at these

(1) Al-Wahidi narrated it at length in Asbab al-Nuzul, pp. 383-384; Ibn Asakir also narrated it through Juwaybir, from al-Dahhak, from Ibn Abbas. See al-Durr al-Manthur, 6:237. (2) Al-Bahr al-Muhit, 6:491. He said: “The preferable view is that His statement, ‘And We have made some of you a trial for others,’ encompasses all the meanings of these expressions, since they all share a common underlying sense.”

﴿صَرْفًا﴾ يَعْنِي: صَرْفًا مِنَ الْعَذَابِ عَنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ، ﴿وَلَا نَصْرًا﴾ يَعْنِي: وَلَا نَصْرَ أَنْفُسِهِمْ. وَقِيلَ: وَلَا نَصْرَكُمْ أَيُّهَا الْعَابِدُونَ مِنْ عَذَابِ اللَّهِ بِدَفْعِ الْعَذَابِ عَنْكُمْ. وَقِيلَ: "الصَّرْفُ": الْحِيلَةُ، وَمِنْهُ قَوْلُ الْعَرَبِ: إِنَّهُ لِيَصْرِفَ، أَيْ: يَحْتَالُ، ﴿وَمَنْ يَظْلِمْ﴾ يُشْرِكْ، ﴿مِنْكُمْ نُذِقْهُ عَذَابًا كَبِيرًا﴾ ﴿وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِلَّا إِنَّهُمْ لَيَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشُونَ فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ وَجَعَلْنَا بَعْضَكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ فِتْنَةً أَتَصْبِرُونَ وَكَانَ رَبُّكَ بَصِيرًا (٢٠) ﴾ قَوْلُهُ ﷿: ﴿وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ﴾ يَا مُحَمَّدُ، ﴿إِلَّا إِنَّهُمْ لَيَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ﴾ رَوَى الضَّحَّاكُ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ قَالَ: لَمَّا عَيَّرَّ الْمُشْرِكُونَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَقَالُوا مَا لِهَذَا الرَّسُولِ يَأْكُلُ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشِي فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ، أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ ﷿ هَذِهِ الْآيَةَ (١) . يَعْنِي: مَا أَنَا إِلَّا رَسُولٌ وَمَا كُنْتُ بِدْعًا مِنَ الرُّسُلِ، وَهُمْ كَانُوا بَشَرًا يَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ، ﴿وَيَمْشُونَ فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ﴾ وَقِيلَ: مَعْنَاهُ وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِلَّا قِيلَ لَهُمْ مِثْلَ هَذَا أَنَّهُمْ يَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشُونَ فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ كَمَا قَالَ فِي مَوْضِعٍ آخَرَ: "مَا يُقَالُ لَكَ إِلَّا مَا قَدْ قِيلَ لِلرُّسُلِ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ" (فُصِّلَتْ-٤٣) . ﴿وَجَعَلْنَا بَعْضَكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ فِتْنَةً﴾ أَيْ بَلِيَّةً، فَالْغَنِيُّ فِتْنَةً لِلْفَقِيرِ، يَقُولُ الْفَقِيرَ: مَا لِي لَمْ أَكُنْ مَثَلَهُ؟ وَالصَّحِيحُ فِتْنَةً لِلْمَرِيضِ، وَالشَّرِيفُ فِتْنَةً لِلْوَضِيعِ. وَقَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: أَيْ جَعَلْتُ بَعْضَكُمْ بَلَاءً لِبَعْضٍ لِتَصْبِرُوا عَلَى مَا تَسْمَعُونَ مِنْهُمْ، وَتَرَوْنَ مِنْ خِلَافِهِمْ، وَتَتْبَعُوا الْهُدَى. وَقِيلَ: نَزَلَتْ فِي ابْتِلَاءِ الشَّرِيفِ بِالْوَضِيعِ؛ وَذَلِكَ أَنَّ الشَّرِيفَ إِذَا أَرَادَ أَنْ يُسْلِمَ فَرَأَى الْوَضِيعَ قَدْ أَسْلَمَ قَبْلَهُ أَنِفَ، وَقَالَ: أُسْلِمُ بَعْدَهُ فَيَكُونُ لَهُ عَلَيَّ السَّابِقَةَ وَالْفَضْلَ؟! فَيُقِيمُ عَلَى كُفْرِهِ وَيَمْتَنِعُ مِنَ الْإِسْلَامِ، فَذَلِكَ افْتِتَانُ بَعْضِهِمْ بِبَعْضٍ، وَهَذَا قَوْلُ الْكَلْبِيِّ (٢) وَقَالَ مُقَاتِلٌ: نَزَلَتْ فِي أَبِي جَهْلٍ، وَالْوَلِيدِ بْنِ عُقْبَةَ، وَالْعَاصِ بْنِ وَائِلٍ، وَالنَّضْرِ بْنِ الْحَارِثِ؛ وَذَلِكَ أَنَّهُمْ لَمَّا رَأَوْا أَبَا ذَرٍّ، وَابْنَ مَسْعُودٍ، وَعَمَّارًا، وَبِلَالًا وَصُهَيْبًا، وَعَامِرَ بْنَ فُهَيْرَةَ، وَذَوِيهِمْ، قَالُوا: نُسْلِمُ فَنَكُونُ مِثْلَ هَؤُلَاءِ؟. وَقَالَ: نَزَلَتْ فِي ابْتِلَاءِ فُقَرَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ بِالْمُسْتَهْزِئِينَ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ، كَانُوا يَقُولُونَ: انْظُرُوا إِلَى هَؤُلَاءِ

(١) أخرجه الواحدي في أسباب النزول ص (٣٨٣-٣٨٤) مطولا، وابن عساكر من طريق جويبر عن الضحاك عن ابن عباس. انظر: الدر المنثور: ٦ / ٢٣٧. (٢) البحر المحيط: ٦ / ٤٩١، وقال: والأولى أن قوله: "وجعلنا بعضكم لبعض فتنة" يشمل معاني هذه الألفاظ كلها، لأن بين الجميع قدرا مشتركا.