Tarikh (al-Tabari) 326
The story of ʿĪsā b. Maryam (peace be upon him)
اخْتَلَفَ أَصْحَابُ الْمَسِيحِ، عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ - بَعْدَ رَفْعِهِ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ - فِيهِ عَلَى أَقْوَالٍ، كَمَا قَالَهُ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ وَغَيْرُهُ مِنْ أَئِمَّةِ السَّلَفِ، كَمَا أَوْرَدْنَاهُ عِنْدَ قَوْلِهِ: فَأَيَّدْنَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا عَلَى عَدُوِّهِمْ فَأَصْبَحُوا ظَاهِرِينَ قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ وَغَيْرُهُ: قَالَ قَائِلُونَ مِنْهُمْ: كَانَ فِينَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولُهُ، فَرُفِعَ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ. وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ: هُوَ اللَّهُ. وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ: هُوَ ابْنُ اللَّهِ. فَالْأَوَّلُ هُوَ الْحَقُّ، وَالْقَوْلَانِ الْآخَرَانِ كُفْرٌ عَظِيمٌ، كَمَا قَالَ: فَاخْتَلَفَ الْأَحْزَابُ مِنْ بَيْنِهِمْ فَوَيْلٌ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ مَشْهَدِ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ [ مَرْيَمَ: 37 ]. وَقَدِ اخْتَلَفُوا فِي نَقْلِ الْأَنَاجِيلِ عَلَى أَرْبَعَةِ أَقَاوِيلَ، مَا بَيْنَ زِيَادَةٍ وَنُقْصَانٍ وَتَحْرِيفٍ وَتَبْدِيلٍ، ثُمَّ بَعْدَ الْمَسِيحِ بِثَلَاثِمِائَةِ سَنَةٍ حَدَثَتْ فِيهِ الطَّامَّةُ الْعُظْمَى، وَالْبَلِيَّةُ الْكُبْرَى اخْتَلَفَ الْبَطَارِكَةُ الْأَرْبَعَةُ وَجَمِيعُ الْأَسَاقِفَةِ وَالْقَسَاوِسَةُ وَالشَّمَامِسَةُ وَالرَّهَابِينُ فِي الْمَسِيحِ عَلَى أَقْوَالٍ مُتَعَدِّدَةٍ لَا تَنْحَصِرُ وَلَا تَنْضَبِطُ، وَاجْتَمَعُوا وَتَحَاكَمُوا إِلَى الْمَلِكِ قُسْطَنْطِينَ، بَانِي الْقُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةِ وَهُمُ الْمَجْمَعُ الْأَوَّلُ، فَصَارَ الْمَلِكُ إِلَى قَوْلِ أَكْثَرِ فِرْقَةٍ اتَّفَقَتْ عَلَى قَوْلٍ مِنْ تِلْكَ الْمَقَالَاتِ، فَسُمُّوا الْمَلَائِكَةَ، وَدَحَضَ مَنْ عَدَاهُمْ، وَأَبْعَدَهُمْ، وَتَفَرَّدَتِ الْفِرْقَةُ التَّابِعَةُ لِعَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَدْيُوسَ، الَّذِي ثَبَتَ عَلَى أَنَّ عِيسَى عَبْدٌ مِنْ عِبَادِ اللَّهِ، وَرَسُولٌ مِنْ رُسُلِهِ، فَسَكَنُوا الْبَرَارِيَ وَالْبَوَادِيَ، وَبَنَوُا الصَّوَامِعَ وَالدِّيَارَاتِ وَالْقَلَّايَاتِ، وَقَنِعُوا بِالْعَيْشِ الزَّهِيدِ، وَلَمْ يُخَالِطُوا أُولَئِكَ الْمِلَلَ وَالنِّحَلَ، وَبَنَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ الْكَنَائِسَ الْهَائِلَةَ، عَمَدُوا إِلَى مَا كَانَ مِنْ بِنَاءِ الْيُونَانِ، فَحَوَّلُوا مَحَارِيبَهَا إِلَى الشَّرْقِ، وَقَدْ كَانَتْ إِلَى الشَّمَالِ إِلَى الْجَدْيِ.
Translation
✧ The companions of the Messiah ﷺ differed concerning him after his ascension to heaven into various statements, as Ibn ʿAbbās and others among the leading scholars of the salaf said, as we cited at His saying: “So We supported those who believed against their enemy, and they became dominant” [al-Ṣaff: 14]. Ibn ʿAbbās and others said: Some of them said: He was among us a servant of Allah and His messenger, then he was raised to heaven. Others said: He is Allah. Others said: He is the son of Allah. The first is the truth, and the other two statements are a great disbelief, as He said: “But the factions differed among themselves, so woe to those who disbelieved from the witnessing of a tremendous day” [Maryam: 37]. They differed over the transmission of the Gospels into four statements, involving addition, omission, distortion, and alteration. Then, three hundred years after the Messiah, there occurred in it the great calamity and the major affliction: the four patriarchs, all the bishops, priests, deacons, and monks differed concerning the Messiah into numerous statements that cannot be counted or contained. They gathered and submitted their dispute to King Constantine, the builder of Constantinople—this is the first council—and the king adopted the statement of the largest faction that agreed upon one of those doctrines, so they were called the Melkites, and he refuted and banished those besides them. The faction that followed ʿAbd Allāh b. Adīyūs, who remained firm that ʿĪsā was a servant among Allah's servants and a messenger among His messengers, separated themselves and dwelt in the deserts and wildernesses, and built hermitages, monasteries, and cells, and were content with an ascetic life, and did not mix with those religions and sects. The Melkites built magnificent churches; they took what had been buildings of the Greeks and turned their prayer niches to the east, after they had been to the north, toward the Goat star.
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording.