Tarikh (al-Tabari) 7
Creation of the heavens and the earth
الْقَوْلُ فِي اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ، أَيُّهُمَا خُلِقَ قَبْلَ صَاحِبِهِ ؟ قَدْ ذَكَرْنَا مَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى مِنَ الْأَشْيَاءِ قَبْلَ خَلْقِ الْأَوْقَاتِ، وَأَنَّ الْأَزْمِنَةَ وَالْأَوْقَاتَ إِنَّمَا هِيَ سَاعَاتُ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ، وَأَنَّ ذَلِكَ إِنَّمَا هُوَ قَطْعُ الشَّمْسِ، وَالْقَمَرِ دَرَجَاتِ الْفَلَكِ. فَلْنَذْكُرِ الْآنَ بِأَيِّ ذَلِكَ كَانَ الِابْتِدَاءُ، أَبِاللَّيْلِ أَمْ بِالنَّهَارِ ؟ فَإِنَّ الْعُلَمَاءَ اخْتَلَفُوا فِي ذَلِكَ، فَإِنَّ بَعْضَهُمْ يَقُولُ: إِنَّ اللَّيْلَ خُلِقَ قَبْلَ النَّهَارِ، وَيَسْتَدِلُّ عَلَى ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ النَّهَارَ مِنْ نُورِ الشَّمْسِ، فَإِذَا غَابَتِ الشَّمْسُ جَاءَ اللَّيْلُ فَبَانَ بِذَلِكَ أَنَّ النَّهَارَ - وَهُوَ النُّورُ - وَارِدٌ عَلَى الظُّلْمَةِ الَّتِي هِيَ اللَّيْلُ. وَإِذَا لَمْ يَرِدْ نُورُ الشَّمْسِ كَانَ اللَّيْلُ ثَابِتًا، فَدَلَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى أَنَّ اللَّيْلَ هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ، وَهَذَا قَوْلُ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ. وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ: كَانَ النَّهَارُ قَبْلَ اللَّيْلِ. وَاسْتَدَلُّوا بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى كَانَ وَلَا شَيْءَ مَعَهُ، وَلَا لَيْلَ وَلَا نَهَارَ، وَأَنَّ نُورَهُ كَانَ يُضِيءُ بِهِ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ حَتَّى خَلَقَ اللَّيْلَ. قَالَ ابْنُ مَسْعُودٍ: إِنَّ رَبَّكُمْ لَيْسَ عِنْدَهُ لَيْلٌ، وَلَا نَهَارٌ. نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ مِنْ نُورِ وَجْهِهِ. قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: وَالْأَوَّلُ أَوْلَى بِالصَّوَابِ لِلْعِلَّةِ الْمَذْكُورَةِ أَوَّلًا، وَلِقَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: أَأَنْتُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمِ السَّمَاءُ بَنَاهَا رَفَعَ سَمْكَهَا فَسَوَّاهَا وَأَغْطَشَ لَيْلَهَا وَأَخْرَجَ ضُحَاهَا فَبَدَأَ بِاللَّيْلِ قَبْلَ النَّهَارِ. قَالَ عُبَيْدُ بْنُ عُمَيْرٍ الْحَارِثِيُّ: كُنْتُ عِنْدَ عَلِيٍّ فَسَأَلَهُ ابْنُ الْكَوَّاءِ عَنِ السَّوَادِ الَّذِي فِي الْقَمَرِ، فَقَالَ: ذَلِكَ آيَةٌ مُحِيَتْ، وَقَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ مِثْلَهُ، وَكَذَلِكَ قَالَ مُجَاهِدٌ، وَقَتَادَةُ، وَغَيْرُهُمَا، لِذَلِكَ خَلَقَهُمَا اللَّهُ تَعَالَى الشَّمْسُ أَنْوَرُ مِنَ الْقَمَرِ.
Translation
✧ The statement concerning the night and the day: which of them was created before its companion? We have already mentioned what God Almighty created of things before the creation of times, and that spans and times are only the hours of the night and the day, and that this is only the traversing by the sun and the moon of the degrees of the celestial sphere. Let us now mention with which of these the beginning was made: with the night or with the day? For the scholars have differed concerning that. Some of them say that the night was created before the day, and they adduce as evidence that the day is from the light of the sun, so when the sun sets the night comes, and thereby it becomes clear that the day—that is, the light—is something that comes upon the darkness, which is the night. And when the light of the sun does not come, the night remains, so that indicates that the night is the first. This is the saying of Ibn ʿAbbās. Others said: the day was before the night. They adduced as evidence that God Almighty existed while there was nothing with Him, neither night nor day, and that His light illuminated everything He created until He created the night. Ibn Masʿūd said: 'Indeed your Lord has with Him neither night nor day. The light of the heavens is from the light of His face.' Abū Jaʿfar said: The first opinion is more deserving of correctness on account of the reason mentioned first, and because of His saying, Exalted be He: 'Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? He built it. He raised its height and proportioned it. And He darkened its night and brought out its forenoon.' Thus He began with the night before the day. ʿUbayd b. ʿUmayr al-Ḥārithī said: I was with ʿAlī when Ibn al-Kawwāʾ asked him about the blackness that is in the moon. He said: 'That is a sign that was effaced.' Ibn ʿAbbās said something similar, and likewise Mujāhid, Qatādah, and others said, for that reason God Almighty created them: the sun more luminous than the moon.
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording.