Qisas al-Anbiya by Ibn Kathir (قصص الأنبياء لابن كثير) — Page 5

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

تَقْدِيمٌ.

Introduction.

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى الْمَبْعُوثِ رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ الَّذِي قَالَ لَهُ رَبُّهُ نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ الْقَصَصِ بِمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ وَإِن كُنتَ مِن قَبْلِهِ لَمِنَ الْغَافِلِينَ

Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, and prayers and peace be upon the one sent as a mercy to the worlds, to whom his Lord said: 'We relate to you the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Quran, although you were, before it, among the unaware.'

وَأَمَرَهُ تَعَالَى أَنْ يَقُصَّ هَذَا الْقَصَصَ عَلَى أُمَّتِهِ بِقَوْلِهِ فَاقْصُصِ الْقَصَصَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

And the Almighty commanded him to relate these stories to his nation, saying: 'So relate the stories that perhaps they will give thought.'

فَبَلَّغَ الرِّسَالَةَ وَأَدَّى الْأَمَانَةَ عَلَى أَكْمَلِ مَا يَنْبَغِي أَنْ يَكُونَ، وَعَمِلَتِ الْأُمَّةُ بِالرِّسَالَةِ، وَحَافَظَتْ عَلَى الْأَمَانَةِ؛ فَارْتَقَتْ وَتَقَدَّمَتْ وَسَادَتْ، وَلَمَّا قَصَّرَتْ فِي الْتِزَامِهَا، وَتَرَاخَتْ فِي عَمَلِهَا، وَفَرَّطَتْ فِي أَمَانَتِهَا؛ ضَعُفَتْ وَتَخَلَّفَتْ.

He delivered the message and fulfilled the trust in the most perfect manner possible; the nation acted upon the message and preserved the trust, so it rose, progressed, and prevailed; but when it fell short in its commitment, grew lax in its work, and neglected its trust, it weakened and fell behind.

(وَبَعْدُ) فَفِي التَّقْدِيمِ الْمُوجَزِ لِهَذَا السِّفْرِ النَّفِيسِ نَتَنَاوَلُ بِالْإِشَارَةِ: مُؤَلِّفَ الْكِتَابِ وَهُوَ الْغَنِيُّ عَنِ التَّعْرِيفِ، وَالْكِتَابَ نَفْسَهُ وَهُوَ الْوَاسِعُ الِانْتِشَارِ، وَمَنْهَجَنَا فِي خِدْمَتِهِ وَتَحْقِيقِهِ وَإِخْرَاجِهِ عَلَى نَحْوٍ نَرْجُو مِنَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فِيهِ التَّوْفِيقَ وَمِنْهُ الْقَبُولَ.

Furthermore, in this brief introduction to this precious volume, we shall touch upon: the author of the book, who needs no introduction; the book itself, which is widely circulated; and our methodology in serving, editing, and producing it in a manner for which we hope for success from God Almighty and acceptance from Him.

أَوَّلًا: الْمُؤَلِّفُ.

First: The Author.

هُوَ إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ عُمَرَ الْقُرَشِيُّ بْنُ كَثِيرٍ بْنُ ضَوْءِ بْنِ كَثِيرٍ بْنِ زَرْعٍ، الْبَصْرِيُّ، الدِّمَشْقِيُّ، الْفَقِيهُ الشَّافِعِيُّ، عِمَادُ الدِّينِ الْحَافِظُ أَبُو الْفِدَاءِ.

He is Ismail bin Umar al-Qurashi bin Kathir bin Daw' bin Kathir bin Zar', al-Basri, al-Dimashqi, the Shafi'i jurist, Imad al-Din, the Hafiz Abu al-Fida.

كَانَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ: كَثِيرَ الِاسْتِحْضَارِ، قَلِيلَ النِّسْيَانِ، جَيِّدَ الْفَهْمِ، يُشَارِكُ فِي الْعَرَبِيَّةِ وَيَنْظِمُ نَظْمًا وَسَطًا مِنْ مِثْلِ قَوْلِهِ:

He was, may God be pleased with him, possessed of great recall, rarely forgetful, of excellent understanding, participated in Arabic studies, and composed poetry of moderate quality, such as his saying:

تَمُرُّ بِنَا الْأَيَّامُ تَتْرَى وَإِنَّمَا نُسَاقُ إِلَى الْآجَالِ وَالْعَيْنُ تَنْظُرُ.

The days pass us by in succession, while we are being driven toward our appointed times, and the eye is watching.

فَلَا عَائِدٌ ذَاكَ الشَّبَابُ الَّذِي مَضَى وَلَا زَائِلٌ هَذَا الْمَشِيبُ الْمُكَدِّرُ.

That youth which has passed will not return, nor will this troubling gray hair depart.

قَالَ عَنْهُ بَعْضُ عُلَمَاءِ عَصْرِهِ: إِمَامٌ رَوَى التَّسْبِيحَ وَالتَّهْلِيلَ، وَزَعِيمُ أَرْبَابِ التَّأْوِيلِ، سَمِعَ وَجَمَعَ، وَصَنَّفَ وَأَطْرَبَ الْأَسْمَاعَ، بِالْفَتْوَى؛ وَشَنَّفَ وَحَدَّثَ وَأَفَادَ، وَطَارَتْ أَوْرَاقُ فَتَاوِيهِ إِلَى الْبِلَادِ، وَاشْتَهَرَ بِالضَّبْطِ وَالتَّحْرِيرِ، وَانْتَهَتْ إِلَيْهِ.

Some of the scholars of his time said of him: 'An Imam who narrated the glorification and the declaration of God's oneness, a leader of the masters of interpretation, he heard and collected, authored and delighted the ears with his fatwas; he adorned and narrated and benefited, and the pages of his fatwas flew to the lands, and he became famous for precision and editing, and it [the leadership of knowledge] ended with him.'

Vocabulary · المفردات (39 verbs · 71 nouns)

• قَالَ — to say
• قَصَّ — to narrate
• أَوْحَى — to reveal
• أَمَرَ — to command
• تَفَكَّرَ — to reflect
• بَلَّغَ — to convey
• أَدَّى — to perform
• اِنْبَغَى — to be appropriate
• كَانَ — to be
• عَمِلَ — to work
• حَافَظَ — to preserve
• ارْتَقَى — to ascend
• تَقَدَّمَ — to advance
• سَادَ — to lead
• قَصَّرَ — to fall short
• تَرَاخَى — to slacken
• فَرَّطَ — to neglect
• ضَعُفَ — to weaken
• تَخَلَّفَ — to lag behind
• تَنَاوَلَ — to address
• رَجَا — to hope
• رَضِيَ — to be pleased
• شَارَكَ — to have expertise in
• نَظَمَ — to compose
• مَرَّ — to pass
• سَاقَ — to drive
• نَظَرَ — to look
• مَضَى — to pass
• رَوَى — to narrate
• سَمِعَ — to hear
• جَمَعَ — to collect
• صَنَّفَ — to author
• أَطْرَبَ — to delight
• شَنَّفَ — to adorn
• حَدَّثَ — to speak
• أَفَادَ — to benefit
• طَارَ — to fly
• اشْتَهَرَ — to be famous
• انْتَهَى — to end
• تَقْدِيمٌ — introduction
• حَمْدٌ — praise
• رَبٌّ — lord
• عَالَمٌ — world
• صَلَاةٌ — prayer
• سَلَامٌ — peace
• مَبْعُوثٌ — sent one
• رَحْمَةٌ — mercy
• أَحْسَنُ — best
• قَصَصٌ — story
• قُرْآنٌ — quran
• غَافِلٌ — heedless
• أُمَّةٌ — nation
• قَوْلٌ — saying
• رِسَالَةٌ — message
• أَمَانَةٌ — trust
• أَكْمَلُ — most complete
• الْتِزَامٌ — commitment
• عَمَلٌ — work
• مُوجَزٌ — brief
• سِفْرٌ — book
• نَفِيسٌ — precious
• إِشَارَةٌ — indication
• مُؤَلِّفٌ — author
• كِتَابٌ — book
• غَنِيٌّ — rich
• تَعْرِيفٌ — definition
• وَاسِعٌ — wide
• انْتِشَارٌ — spread
• مَنْهَجٌ — methodology
• خِدْمَةٌ — service
• تَحْقِيقٌ — verification
• إِخْرَاجٌ — production
• نَحْوٌ — manner
• تَوْفِيقٌ — success
• قَبُولٌ — acceptance
• أَوَّلٌ — first
• فَقِيهٌ — jurist
• عِمَادٌ — pillar
• دِينٌ — religion
• حَافِظٌ — memorizer
• اسْتِحْضَارٌ — recall
• قَلِيلٌ — a little
• نِسْيَانٌ — forgetfulness
• جَيِّدٌ — good
• فَهْمٌ — understanding
• عَرَبِيَّةٌ — arabic language
• نَظْمٌ — poetry
• وَسَطٌ — middle
• مِثْلٌ — example
• يَوْمٌ — day
• أَجَلٌ — appointed time
• عَيْنٌ — eye
• عَائِدٌ — returning
• شَبَابٌ — youth
• زَائِلٌ — vanishing
• مَشِيبٌ — gray hair
• مُكَدِّرٌ — disturbing
• بَعْضٌ — some
• عَصْرٌ — era
• إِمَامٌ — leader
• تَسْبِيحٌ — glorification
• تَهْلِيلٌ — declaration of oneness
• زَعِيمٌ — leader
• تَأْوِيلٌ — interpretation
• سَمْعٌ — hearing
• فَتْوَى — legal opinion
• وَرَقٌ — paper
• بِلَادٌ — land
• ضَبْطٌ — precision
• تَحْرِيرٌ — editing