Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (8/230)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

He will send down abundant rain upon you. (11)

“And whenever I called them” to faith in You, “so that You might forgive them, they thrust their fingers into their ears” so that they would not hear my call, “and drew their garments over themselves”: they covered their faces with them so that they would not see me; “they persisted” in their disbelief, “and grew ever more arrogant” in refusing faith in You. “Then I called them openly,” proclaiming the call aloud. Ibn Abbas said: “At the top of my voice.” “Then I addressed them publicly,” repeating the call openly, “and addressed them privately.” Ibn Abbas said: “This means one man after another: I would speak to him privately, between him and me, calling him to worship You and affirm Your oneness.”

“Then I said, ‘Seek your Lord’s forgiveness, for He is ever Most Forgiving. He will send down abundant rain upon you.’” This was because, when Noah’s people had denied him for a long time, Allah withheld the rain from them and rendered the wombs of their women barren for forty years. Their wealth and livestock thus perished. So Noah said to them: “Seek your Lord’s forgiveness from polytheism”—that is, seek forgiveness through monotheism—“and He will send down abundant rain upon you.”

Mutarrif related from al-Shabi that Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, went out with the people to pray for rain, but did nothing more than seek forgiveness until he returned. It was said to him, “We did not hear you pray for rain.” He replied, “I sought rain through the [rain-seeking stars] (1) of the sky, by which rain is brought down.” Then he recited: “Seek your Lord’s forgiveness, for He is ever Most Forgiving. He will send down abundant rain upon you.” (2)

(1) The singular of majaadih is mijdah; the letter ya is added for phonetic lengthening. By analogy, its singular should be mijdaah; as for mijdah, its plural is majaadih. A mijdah is a star; it is said to be al-Dabaran. It is also said to consist of three stars, like the stones supporting a cooking pot, likened to the three-pronged mijdah. Among the Arabs, it was one of the anwa' (stellar stations believed to indicate rain). Thus, seeking forgiveness was likened to the anwa', addressing them in terms familiar to them, not as an affirmation of the anwa'. The plural form is used because it refers to all the anwa' that they claimed brought rain. See Ibn al-Athir, Al-Nihayah fi Gharib al-Hadith wa al-Athar, 1:243. (2) Reported by al-Tabari, 29:93-94, and cited by Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir, 4:426. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar stated in Al-Kafi al-Shaf, p. 177: “Its narrators are trustworthy, but its chain is disconnected.”

﴿يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِدْرَارًا (١١) ﴾ ﴿وَإِنِّي كُلَّمَا دَعَوْتُهُمْ﴾ إِلَى الْإِيمَانِ بِكَ ﴿لِتَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ جَعَلُوا أَصَابِعَهُمْ فِي آذَانِهِمْ﴾ لِئَلَّا يَسْمَعُوا دَعْوَتِي ﴿وَاسْتَغْشَوْا ثِيَابَهُمْ﴾ غَطَّوْا بِهَا وُجُوهَهُمْ لِئَلَّا يَرَوْنِي ﴿وَأَصَرُّوا﴾ عَلَى كُفْرِهِمْ ﴿وَاسْتَكْبَرُوا﴾ عَنِ الْإِيمَانِ بِكَ ﴿اسْتِكْبَارًا﴾ ﴿ثُمَّ إِنِّي دَعَوْتُهُمْ جِهَارًا﴾ مُعْلِنًا بِالدُّعَاءِ. قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: بِأَعْلَى صَوْتِي. ﴿ثُمَّ إِنِّي أَعْلَنْتُ لَهُمْ﴾ كَرَّرْتُ الدُّعَاءَ مُعْلِنًا ﴿وَأَسْرَرْتُ لَهُمْ إِسْرَارًا﴾ قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: يُرِيدُ الرَّجُلَ بَعْدَ الرَّجُلِ أُكَلِّمُهُ سِرًا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَهُ أَدْعُوهُ إِلَى عِبَادَتِكَ وَتَوْحِيدِكَ. ﴿فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِدْرَارًا﴾ وَذَلِكَ أَنْ قَوْمَ نُوحٍ لَمَّا كَذَّبُوهُ زَمَانًا طَوِيلًا حَبَسَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمُ الْمَطَرَ وَأَعَقَمَ أَرْحَامَ نِسَائِهِمْ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً، فَهَلَكَتْ أَمْوَالُهُمْ وَمَوَاشِيهِمْ، فَقَالَ لَهُمْ نُوحٌ: اسْتَغْفَرُوا رَبَّكُمْ مِنَ الشِّرْكِ، أَيِ اسْتَدْعَوْا الْمَغْفِرَةَ بِالتَّوْحِيدِ، يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِدْرَارًا. وَرَوَى مُطَرِّفٌ عَنِ الشَّعْبِيِّ أَنَّ عُمْرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ خَرَجَ يَسْتَسْقِي بِالنَّاسِ، فَلَمْ يَزِدْ عَلَى الِاسْتِغْفَارِ حَتَّى رَجَعَ، فَقِيلَ لَهُ: مَا سَمِعْنَاكَ اسْتَسْقَيْتَ؟ فَقَالَ. طَلَبْتُ الْغَيْثَ [بِمَجَادِيحِ] (١) السَّمَاءِ الَّتِي يُسْتَنْزَلُ بِهَا الْمَطَرُ، ثُمَّ قَرَأَ: "اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِدْرَارًا" (٢) .

(١) واحدها مجدح، والياء زائدة للإشباع، والقياس أن يكون واحدها مجداح، فأما مجدح فجمعه مجادح. والمجدح: نجم من النجوم، قيل: هو الدبران. وقيل: هو ثلاثة كواكب كالأثافي، تشبيها بالمجدح الذي له ثلاث شعب، وهو عند العرب من الأنواء الدالة على المطر، فجعل الاستغفار مشبها بالأنواء، مخاطبة لهم بما يعرفونه لا قولا بالأنواء، وجاء بلفظ الجمع لأنه أراد الأنواء جميعها التي يزعمون أن من شأنها المطر. انظر: النهاية في غريب الحديث والأثر لابن الأثير: ١ / ٢٤٣. (٢) أخرجه الطبري: ٢٩ / ٩٣-٩٤، وذكره ابن كثير في تفسيره: ٤ / ٤٢٦. قال الحافظ ابن حجر في الكافي الشاف ص: (١٧٧) "رجاله ثقات إلا أنه منقطع".