Tarikh (al-Tabari) 291
The story of ʿUzayr
الْمَشْهُورُ أَنَّ عُزَيْرًا نَبِيٌّ مِنْ أَنْبِيَاءِ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ فِيمَا بَيْنَ دَاوُدَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ، وَبَيْنَ زَكَرِيَّا وَيَحْيَى، وَأَنَّهُ لَمَّا لَمْ يَبْقَ فِي بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ مَنْ يَحْفَظُ التَّوْرَاةَ أَلْهَمَهُ اللَّهُ حِفْظَهَا، فَسَرَدَهَا عَلَى بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ، كَمَا قَالَ وَهْبُ بْنُ مُنَبِّهٍ: أَمَرَ اللَّهُ مَلَكًا فَنَزَلَ بِمِغْرَفَةٍ مِنْ نُورٍ فَقَذَفَهَا فِي فِي عُزَيْرٍ فَنَسَخَ التَّوْرَاةَ حَرْفًا بِحَرْفٍ، حَتَّى فَرَغَ مِنْهَا. وَرَوَى ابْنُ عَسَاكِرَ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ أَنَّهُ سَأَلَ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ سَلَامٍ عَنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى: وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ عُزَيْرٌ ابْنُ اللَّهِ [ التَّوْبَةِ: 30 ]. لِمَ قَالُوا ذَلِكَ ؟ فَذَكَرُ لَهُ ابْنُ سَلَامٍ مَا كَانَ مِنْ كَتْبِهِ لِبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ التَّوْرَاةَ مِنْ حِفْظِهِ، وَقَوْلِ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ: لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ مُوسَى أَنْ يَأْتِيَنَا بِالتَّوْرَاةِ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ، وَإِنَّ عُزَيْرًا قَدْ جَاءَنَا بِهَا مِنْ غَيْرِ كِتَابٍ. فَرَمَاهُ طَوَائِفُ مِنْهُمْ، وَقَالُوا: عُزَيْرٌ ابْنُ اللَّهِ. وَلِهَذَا يَقُولُ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ الْعُلَمَاءِ: إِنَّ تَوَاتُرَ التَّوْرَاةِ انْقَطَعَ فِي زَمَنِ الْعُزَيْرِ. وَهَذَا مُتَّجِهٌ جِدًّا إِذَا كَانَ الْعُزَيْزُ غَيْرَ نَبِيٍّ، كَمَا قَالَهُ عَطَاءُ بْنُ أَبِي رَبَاحٍ، وَالْحَسَنُ الْبَصْرِيُّ، فِيمَا رَوَاهُ عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ أَبِي رَبَاحٍ، قَالَ: كَانَ فِي الْفَتْرَةِ تِسْعَةُ أَشْيَاءَ: بُخْتُ نَصَّرَ وَجَنَّةُ صَنْعَاءَ، وَجَنَّةُ سَبَأٍ، وَأَصْحَابُ الْأُخْدُودِ وَأَمْرُ حَاصُورَا، وَأَصْحَابُ الْكَهْفِ، وَأَصْحَابُ الْفِيلِ، وَمَدِينَةُ أَنْطَاكِيَةَ، وَأَمْرُ تُبَّعٍ. وَقَالَ إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ بِشْرٍ: عَنِ الْحَسَنِ قَالَ: كَانَ أَمْرُ عُزَيْرٍ وَبُخْتُ نَصَّرَ فِي الْفَتْرَةِ. وَقَدْ ثَبَتَ فِي " الصَّحِيحِ " أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَالَ: إِنَّ أَوْلَى النَّاسِ بِابْنِ مَرْيَمَ لَأَنَا، إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَهُ نَبِيٌّ وَقَالَ وَهْبُ بْنُ مُنَبِّهٍ: كَانَ فِيمَا بَيْنَ سُلَيْمَانَ وَعِيسَى، عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلَامُ. وَقَدْ رَوَى ابْنُ عَسَاكِرَ، عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، وَعَطَاءِ بْنِ السَّائِبِ أَنَّ عُزَيْرًا كَانَ فِي زَمَنِ مُوسَى بْنِ عِمْرَانَ وَأَنَّهُ اسْتَأْذَنَ عَلَيْهِ، فَلَمْ يَأْذَنْ لَهُ - يَعْنِي لِمَا كَانَ مِنْ سُؤَالِهِ عَنِ الْقَدَرِ - وَأَنَّهُ انْصَرَفَ وَهُوَ يَقُولُ: مِائَةُ مَوْتَةٍ أَهْوَنُ مِنْ ذُلِّ سَاعَةٍ. وَفِي مَعْنَى قَوْلِ عُزَيْرٍ: مِائَةُ مَوْتَةٍ أَهْوَنُ مِنْ ذُلِّ سَاعَةٍ. قَوْلُ بَعْضِ الشُّعَرَاءِ: قَدْ يَصْبِرُ الْحُرُّ عَلَى السَّيْفِ وَيَأْنَفُ الصَّبْرَ عَلَى الْحَيْفِ وَيُؤْثِرُ الْمَوْتَ عَلَى حَالَةٍ يَعْجَزُ فِيهَا عَنْ قِرَى الضَّيْفِ وَعَنْ نَوْفٍ الْبِكَالِيِّ قَالَ: قَالَ عُزَيْرٌ فِيمَا يُنَاجِي رَبَّهُ: يَا رَبِّ، تَخْلُقُ خَلْقًا، فَتُضِلُّ مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتَهْدِي مَنْ تَشَاءُ. فَقِيلَ لَهُ: أَعْرِضْ عَنْ هَذَا. فَعَادَ فَقِيلَ لَهُ: لَتُعْرِضَنَّ عَنْ هَذَا أَوْ لَأَمْحُوَنَّ اسْمَكَ مِنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ، إِنِّي لَا أُسْأَلُ عَمَّا أَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يُسْأَلُونَ. وَهَذَا يَقْتَضِي وُقُوعَ مَا تُوُعِّدَ عَلَيْهِ لَوْ عَادَ، فَمَا عَادَ، فَمَا مُحِيَ اسْمُهُ. وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ. وَعَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: نَزَلَ نَبِيٌّ مِنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ تَحْتَ شَجَرَةٍ فَلَدَغَتْهُ نَمْلَةٌ، فَأَمَرَ بِجَهَازِهِ فَأُخْرِجَ مِنْ تَحْتِهَا، ثُمَّ أَمَرَ بِهَا فَأُحْرِقَتْ بِالنَّارِ، فَأَوْحَى اللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ: فَهَلَّا نَمْلَةً وَاحِدَةً فَرَوَى عَنْ عَبْدِ الْوَهَّابِ بْنِ مُجَاهِدٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ، أَنَّهُ عُزَيْرٌ. وَكَذَا رُوِيَ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ وَالْحَسَنِ الْبَصْرِيِّ أَنَّهُ عُزَيْرٌ. فَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ.
Translation
✧ The well-known view is that ʿUzayr was a prophet among the prophets of the Children of Israel, and that he lived between Dāwūd and Sulaymān and between Zakariyyā and Yaḥyā, and that when no one remained among the Children of Israel who had memorized the Torah, God inspired him to memorize it, and he recited it to the Children of Israel, as Wahb b. Munabbih said: God commanded an angel, who descended with a ladle of light and cast it into ʿUzayr's mouth, so he transcribed the Torah letter by letter until he finished it. Ibn ʿAsākir narrated, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he asked ʿAbd Allāh b. Salām about God's saying, may He be exalted: “And the Jews said: ʿUzayr is the son of God” [al-Tawbah: 30]. Why did they say that? Ibn Salām mentioned to him what had occurred when he wrote the Torah for the Children of Israel from his memory, and the saying of the Children of Israel: “Mūsā could not bring us the Torah except in a book, but ʿUzayr has brought it to us without a book.” So some factions of them accused him, and they said: “ʿUzayr is the son of God.” For this reason many scholars say: The uninterrupted transmission of the Torah ceased in the time of ʿUzayr. This is very plausible if ʿUzayr was not a prophet, as ʿAṭāʾ b. Abī Rabāḥ and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī said. In what was narrated from ʿAṭāʾ b. Abī Rabāḥ, he said: “In the interval there were nine things: Bukht Naṣṣar, the garden of Ṣanʿāʾ, the garden of Sabaʾ, the People of the Pit, the affair of Ḥāṣūrā, the People of the Cave, the People of the Elephant, the city of Anṭākiya, and the affair of Tubbaʿ.” Isḥāq b. Bishr said, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: “The affair of ʿUzayr and Bukht Naṣṣar was in the interval.” It is established in the Ṣaḥīḥ that the Messenger of God ﷺ said: “The people most entitled to ʿĪsā b. Maryam are I, for there is no prophet between me and him.” Wahb b. Munabbih said: “He was between Sulaymān and ʿĪsā, peace be upon them.” Ibn ʿAsākir narrated, on the authority of Anas b. Mālik and ʿAṭāʾ b. al-Sāʾib, that ʿUzayr lived in the time of Mūsā b. ʿImrān, and that he sought permission to enter upon him, but he did not grant him permission—meaning because of his questioning about the divine decree—and he departed saying: “A hundred deaths are easier than the humiliation of a single hour.” In the meaning of ʿUzayr's saying: “A hundred deaths are easier than the humiliation of a single hour,” some poet said: A free man may endure the sword, yet disdain patience under injustice, and he prefers death over a state in which he is unable to entertain a guest. From Nawf al-Bikālī, who said: ʿUzayr said in his intimate converse with his Lord: “O Lord, You create creation, then You lead astray whom You will and guide whom You will.” It was said to him: “Turn away from this.” But he repeated it, and it was said to him: “You will turn away from this, or I will erase your name from among the prophets. I am not asked about what I do, but they are asked.” This implies that what he was threatened with would have occurred had he returned to it, but he did not return, so his name was not erased. And God knows best. From Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of God ﷺ said: “A prophet among the prophets alighted under a tree, and an ant stung him. He ordered his baggage removed from beneath it, then ordered it burned with fire. Then God revealed to him: 'Why not one ant?'” It was narrated from ʿAbd al-Wahhāb b. Mujāhid, from his father, that this was ʿUzayr. Likewise it was narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī that it was ʿUzayr. And God knows best.
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