Search all 6,236 ayat + al-Tabari's tafseer. Use natural language for the tafseer — e.g., "how did the Prophet handle hostility".
Semantic match (cosine similarity ≥ 25%) on a per-segment summary. Count varies per query — shows every passage above the threshold, not a fixed top-N.
… explanation of the saying of the Exalted: {وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلاةِ} (And seek help in patience and prayer) Abu Jaʿfar said: By His words, exalted is His praise, "And seek help in patience (al-sabr … which is repugnant to you, namely submission to My command and following My Messenger Muhammad ﷺ - through patience with that and through prayer. * * * It has been said: The meaning of "the patience (al-sabr …
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: {وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلاةِ} (And seek help in patience and prayer) Abū Jaʿfar said: By His words, exalted is His praise, "And seek help in patience (al-ṣabr)," He means: Seek help in fulfilling My covenant which you concluded with Me in your Book — namely, to obey Me, to follow My command, and to give up that which you desire — of leadership and love for the worldly — in favor of that which is repugnant to you, namely submission to My command and following My Messenger Muḥammad ﷺ — through patience with that and through prayer. * * * It has been said: The meaning of "the patience (al-ṣabr)" in this place is: fasting (al-ṣawm), and "fasting" is one of the meanings of "patience." The explanation of the one who interprets it thus is, according to us, that Allah, exalted is His mention, commanded them to exercise patience with that which their souls had an aversion to, namely obedience to Allah and the abandonment of disobedience to Him. The original meaning of al-ṣabr is: to restrain the soul from that which it loves, and to hold it back from its desire. Therefore, the one who is patient in a calamity is called "patient (ṣābir)," because he restrains his soul from despair. And the month of Ramaḍān is called "the month of patience (shahr al-ṣabr)," on account of the patience of those who fast in it, who abstain from food and drink during the day. And his "making them patient" of that means: his holding them and his restraining them from that, just as a criminal is "held" (taṣbiru) for the death penalty and is kept imprisoned for it until he is killed. Therefore one says: "so-and-so killed so-and-so ṣabran," by which one means: he held him until he killed him. The one killed is thus "held (maṣbūr)" and the killer is "holding (ṣābir)." * * * As for the prayer (al-ṣalāh), we have already mentioned its meaning previously. * * * If someone says to us: We have understood the meaning of the command to seek help in patience in fulfilling the covenant and observing obedience, but what then is the meaning of the command to seek help in prayer in obedience to Allah, the abandonment of disobedience to Him, divesting oneself of leadership, and forsaking the worldly? Then it is answered: In the prayer is the recitation of the Book of Allah, whose verses call to the rejection of the worldly and the forsaking of its enjoyments, which console the souls regarding its adornment and its deception, and which remind of the Hereafter and of what Allah has prepared therein for its inhabitants. In reflection upon that lies the help for the people of obedience to Allah to exert themselves therein, as is related from our Prophet ﷺ that, whenever a matter troubled him, he took refuge in prayer. 849 — Ismāʿīl ibn Mūsā al-Fazārī related that to me, saying: Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ritāq al-Hamdānī related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿIkrima ibn ʿAmmār, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd ib …
… explanation of His word: {وَأَنْ تَصْبِرُوا خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ} (25) ("and that you practice patience is better for you; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful" (4:25)). Abu Jaʿfar said: He, exalted … praise, means thereby: "and that you practice patience (wa-an tasbiru)," O people, regarding the marrying of the slave-girls - "is better for you (khayrun lakum)" - "and Allah is Forgiving (wa-Llahu ghafur)" toward …
The explanation of His word: {أَنْ يَنْكِحَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ فَمِنْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ مِنْ فَتَيَاتِكُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ} ("that he marries free, believing women, then (let him marry) from what your right hands possess, namely your believing slave-girls"). Abū Jaʿfar said: He means thereby: and whoever of you, O people, does not have the means (ṭawl) — He means: from among the free — "to marry the chaste women (an yankiḥa al-muḥṣanāt)," which are the free women — "the believing (al-muʾmināt)," who have affirmed the oneness of Allah (tawḥīd) and the truth which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ brought. * * * And in accordance with what we have said concerning "al-muḥṣanāt" the exegetes have spoken. *Mention of who said that: 9062 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His word: "that he marries the chaste women." He says: that he marries the free women; then let him marry from the slave-girls (imāʾ) of the believers. 9063 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His word: "that he marries the chaste, believing women, then from what your right hands possess." He said: "al-muḥṣanāt" are the free women; then let him marry the believing slave-girl (al-ama). 9064 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar. 9065 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: as for "your young women (fatayātikum)," they are your slave-girls (imāʾ). 9066 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, saying: Abū Bishr informed us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "that he marries the chaste, believing women, then from what your right hands possess, namely your believing slave-girls." He said: whoever does not find that with which he may marry a free woman, let him marry a slave-girl (ama). 9067 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "that he marries the chaste, believing women, then from what your right hands possess, namely your believing slave-girls." He said: he does not find that with which he may marry a free woman, so he marries this slave-girl and preserves his chastity with her, and her owners are spared her maintenance by him. And Allah has permitted that to no one, except when he does not find that with which he may marry a free woman to provide for her, and it was not permitted to him until he fears fornication (zinā). 9068 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ḥabbān ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, sayi …
… false blood. He said: "Nay, your souls have made a matter [seem] fair to you. So beautiful patience is [my response], and Allah is the One whose help is sought against what you describe.") (verse … that is: your souls have made a matter [seem] fair to you. Concerning His word: (So beautiful patience is [my response]) - he says: My patience over what you have done to me in the matter …
The explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: { وَجَاءُوا عَلَى قَمِيصِهِ بِدَمٍ كَذِبٍ قَالَ بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنْفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًا فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ وَاللَّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَى مَا تَصِفُونَ } (And they brought upon his shirt false blood. He said: "Nay, your souls have made a matter [seem] fair to you. So beautiful patience is [my response], and Allah is the One whose help is sought against what you describe.") (verse 18) Abū Jaʿfar says: Allah the Exalted says: (And they brought upon his shirt false blood) — Allah called it "false" because those who brought the shirt while the blood was upon it lied and said to Yaʿqūb: "This is the blood of Yūsuf" — although it was not his blood; it was the blood of a young goat (sakhla), as has been transmitted. Mention of those who said this: 18843. Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad al-Anṣārī related to me, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Shubl, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: (And they brought upon his shirt false blood) — he said: the blood of a young goat (sakhla). 18844. Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: (And they brought upon his shirt false blood) — he said: the blood of a young goat (sakhla), a ewe. 18845. Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: (with false blood) — he said: the blood of a young goat (sakhla), that is: of a ewe. 18846. Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shubl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: (with false blood) — he said: the blood of a young goat (sakhla), a ewe. 18847. Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: (with false blood) — he said: that blood was false; it was not the blood of Yūsuf. 18848. Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: (with false blood) — he said: the blood of a young goat (sakhla), a ewe. 18849. Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (with false blood) — he said: the blood of a young goat. 18850. Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: They slaughtered a young goat from the flock and smeared the shirt with its blood. Then they came to their father. Yaʿqūb sa …
… They say to them: {سلام عليكم بما صبرتم} ("Peace be upon you, because of your patience") - that is, patience in obedience to your Lord in this world - {فنعم عقبى الدار} ("and how excellent … each year to the graves of the martyrs and say: "Peace be upon you, because of your patience; and how excellent is the final outcome of the Abode," and Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthman also …
They say to them: {سلام عليكم بما صبرتم} ("Peace be upon you, because of your patience") — that is, patience in obedience to your Lord in this world — {فنعم عقبى الدار} ("and how excellent is the final outcome of the Abode"). * * * And it has been related that the Gardens of ʿAdn (jannāt ʿAdn) have five thousand gates. 20342- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Jarīr related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of Yaʿlā ibn ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Nāfiʿ ibn ʿĀṣim, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAmr, who said: In Paradise there is a palace called "ʿAdn"; around it are towers and meadows, and in it are five thousand gates; at each gate are five thousand ḥibara-garments (a kind of striped cloth from Yemen). None enters it but a prophet, a truthful one (ṣiddīq), or a martyr (shahīd). 20343- [illegible] said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mughrāʾ related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word: {جنات عدن} ("the Gardens of ʿAdn"), he said: It is the city of Paradise; in it are the messengers, the prophets, the martyrs, and the leaders of right guidance, and the people are around them, in the number of the gardens that surround them. * * * And from His word {والملائكة يدخلون عليهم من كل باب سلام عليكم} ("and the angels enter upon them through every gate: peace be upon you"), the word "they say" has been omitted, because the wording sufficiently indicates it, just as it has been omitted from His word: {وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذِ الْمُجْرِمُونَ نَاكِسُو رُءُوسِهِمْ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ رَبَّنَا أَبْصَرْنَا} ("And if you were to see when the criminals bow their heads before their Lord: 'Our Lord, we have seen…'") [Surah As-Sajdah:12]. * * * 20344- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Baqiyya ibn al-Walīd, who said: Arṭāt ibn al-Mundhir related to me, saying: I heard a man from the elders of al-Jund, who was called "Abū al-Ḥajjāj," say: I was sitting with Abū Umāma, and he said: Truly, the believer will sit reclining on his couch when he enters Paradise, and beside him are two rows of attendants, and at the end of the two rows is a gate with a gatekeeper (bābun mubawwab). Then the angel comes and asks permission to enter; the furthest attendant says to the one beside him: "An angel asks permission," and the one beside him says to the one beside him: "An angel asks permission," until it reaches the believer, and he says: "Give permission." Then the one closest to the believer says: "Give permission," and the one beside him says to the one beside him: "Give permission," and so on until it reaches the furthest one, who stands at the gate, and he opens for him; then he enters, gives the greeting, and then departs. 20345- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad, o …
… الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلاةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ} (153) ("O you who believe, seek help through patience (sabr) and the ritual prayer (salah); truly, Allah is with the patient.") (153) Abu Jaʿfar said: This … that afflicts the bodies and the possessions. So He said: "O you who believe, seek help through patience (sabr) and the ritual prayer (salah)" - in carrying out obedience to Me, and in fulfilling My obligations …
The statement concerning the explanation of His words, the Exalted: {يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلاةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ} (153) ("O you who believe, seek help through patience (ṣabr) and the ritual prayer (ṣalāh); truly, Allah is with the patient.") (153) Abū Jaʿfar said: This verse is an exhortation from Allah, whose remembrance is exalted, to obedience to Him, and to bearing patiently the detestable part of it that afflicts the bodies and the possessions. So He said: "O you who believe, seek help through patience (ṣabr) and the ritual prayer (ṣalāh)" — in carrying out obedience to Me, and in fulfilling My obligations regarding that part of My ordinances which is abrogating, and in turning away from that which I abrogate of it toward that which I newly introduce for you of My obligations, and toward which I transfer you of My ordinances, and in submission to My command concerning that which I command you at the moment that I bind you to its ruling, and in turning away from it after I have turned you away from it — even if there befalls you thereby something detestable from the sayings of your enemies among the disbelievers (kuffār), in that they assail you with falsehood, or a hardship for your bodies in carrying it out, or a diminution in your possessions — and in the jihād against your enemies and in fighting them upon My path, through your patience for My sake with the detestable part of it and with its hardship for you, and through bearing its weight and its burden, and then through your recourse — in that which befalls you of distressing matters — to prayer to Me. For truly, through patience with the adversities you attain My good pleasure, and through prayer to Me you obtain what you desire from Me, and you reach what you need from Me. For truly, I am with the patient in carrying out the fulfillment of My obligations and the abandonment of disobedience to Me; I help them, watch over them, and protect them, until they triumph through that which they have desired and hoped for from Me. * * * And I have already set forth the meaning of "patience (al-ṣabr)" and "the prayer (al-ṣalāh)" previously, and therefore we have deemed it disagreeable to repeat that, such as: 2315 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, concerning His words: "and seek help through patience and the prayer," he says: seek help through patience and the prayer in attaining the good pleasure of Allah, and know that both of them belong to the obedience of Allah. 2316 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His words: "O you who believe, seek help through patience and the prayer," know that both of them are a help in the obedience of Allah. * * * As for His words: "truly, Allah is with th …
… with the like measure of the punishment with which your wrongdoer afflicted you. But if you show patience regarding punishing him, and take into account before Allah the wrong that … Allah says: The patient endurance of punishing him is, for that reason, better for the people of patience, out of reckoning with Allah and seeking His reward. For Allah recompenses him for the pleasure …
Allah, the Exalted, says to the believers: If you, O believers, wish to punish the one who wronged you and attacked you, then punish him with the like measure of the punishment with which your wrongdoer afflicted you. But if you show patience regarding punishing him, and take into account before Allah the wrong that he did to you, and leave his affair to Him so that He is the One who undertakes his punishment — { لَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لِلصَّابِرِينَ } — Allah says: The patient endurance of punishing him is, for that reason, better for the people of patience, out of reckoning with Allah and seeking His reward. For Allah recompenses him for the pleasure of the revenge that he wished to take upon his wrongdoer for his wrongdoing against him with the pleasure of victory. The pronoun in { لَهُوَ } refers to patience, and this is appropriate — even though patience was not mentioned before it — because of the indication of His word { وَلَئِنْ صَبَرْتُمْ } pointing to it. The exegetes differed concerning the reason why this verse was revealed and concerning the question whether it is abrogated or still in force. Some said: It was revealed because the Prophet ﷺ and his companions on the Day of Uḥud swore an oath — after the polytheists had done to the slain of the Muslims what they did in the way of mutilating them — that they would surpass that in mutilation if they should ever overcome them. Allah forbade them that through this verse and commanded them to limit themselves to equal retaliation if they should overcome, and then commanded them to abandon mutilation and to prefer patience over it with His word { وَاصْبِرْ وَمَا صَبْرُكَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ }. By that, according to them, He abrogated what He had permitted them of mutilation. Those who said that: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: al-Muʿtamir related to us, he said: I heard Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿĀmir: The Muslims said, after the polytheists on the Day of Uḥud had done to their slain what they did: "If we overcome them, we will do such and such." Allah, the Exalted, then revealed: { وَإِنْ عَاقَبْتُمْ فَعَاقِبُوا بِمِثْلِ مَا عُوقِبْتُمْ بِهِ وَلَئِنْ صَبَرْتُمْ لَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لِلصَّابِرِينَ }. They said: We will be patient. Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, he said: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿĀmir: he said: When the Muslims saw what the polytheists did to their slain on the Day of Uḥud — the opening of the bellies, the cutting off of the genitals, and the severe mutilation — they said: "If Allah gives us victory over them, we will do such and such." Allah revealed concerning them: { وَلَئِنْ صَبَرْتُمْ لَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لِلصَّابِرِينَ * وَاصْبِرْ وَمَا صَبْرُكَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ }. Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of some of his companions, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār: he said: The entire sūra al-Naḥl was revealed in Mecca and is Meccan, …
… temptation that leads astray and the disaster that the hearts of men cannot withstand, nor can their patience endure it." Allah, the Exalted, said to him: "Go, for I have given you power over … that strikes them, that they might take him as an example and hope, from the outcome of patience in the transience of this world, for the reward of the Hereafter and for what Allah …
And Ayyūb, when he called upon his Lord: "Verily, adversity has afflicted me, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful." The exegesis of His word, the Exalted: {And Ayyūb, when he called upon his Lord: "Verily, adversity has afflicted me, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful."} The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to His prophet Muḥammad, the Prophet ﷺ: And remember Ayyūb, O Muḥammad, when he called upon his Lord while adversity and trial had afflicted him. The adversity that struck him and the trial that descended upon him were a testing from Allah for him and a trial. And the cause of that was as [follows]: 18673 - Muḥammad ibn Sahl ibn ʿAskar al-Bukhārī related to me, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Hishām related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn Maʿqil related to me, saying: I heard Wahb ibn Munabbih say: The beginning of the affair of Ayyūb the truthful, the blessings of Allah be upon him, was that he was patient, an excellent servant. Wahb said: Jibrīl has with Allah a rank that none of the angels has with respect to nearness to Allah and favor with Him; and Jibrīl is the one who receives the word. When Allah remembers a servant with good, Jibrīl receives it from Him, then Mīkāʾīl receives it, and around him are the near angels, ranged about the Throne. And when this spread among the near angels, the benediction over that servant was [performed] by the inhabitants of the heavens; and when the angels of the heavens performed the benediction over him, they descended with it to the angels of the earth. And Iblīs was barred from nothing of the heavens; he stood therein wherever he wished as they desired, and from there he reached Ādam when He expelled him from the Garden. He kept ascending thus into the heavens, until Allah raised up ʿĪsā ibn Maryam, after which he was barred from four [heavens] and ascended into three. When Allah sent Muḥammad ﷺ, he was barred from the three remaining; thus he is barred, he and all his hosts, from all the heavens until the Day of Resurrection, {except him who steals a hearing, then there pursues him a clear flame} (15:18). And for that reason the jinn denied what they used to know, when they said: {And we touched the heaven and found it filled with stern guards} (72:8) up to His word: {a watching flame} (72:9). Wahb said: Iblīs was disturbed by nothing except the angels' calling back and forth with the benediction over Ayyūb, and that was when Allah had remembered and praised him. When Iblīs heard the benediction of the angels, rebellion and envy overcame him, and he ascended swiftly until he stood before Allah at a place where he used to stand, and he said: "O my God, I have looked at the affair of Your servant Ayyūb, and I found him a servant upon whom You have poured out favors, whereupon he thanked You, and to whom You have granted health, whereupon he praised You; but You have not afflicted him with adversity nor tested him with calamity. And I guarantee You: if You were to st …
… الْحَكِيمُ } (He said: Nay, but your souls have made a matter seem fair to you; so comely patience. Perhaps Allah will bring them all to me together; He is indeed the All-Knowing … made fair to you a matter which you had resolved upon and which you desired. (so comely patience) - he says: my patience over what has befallen me through the loss of my sons …
The statement concerning the explanation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: { قَالَ بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنْفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًا فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ عَسَى اللَّهُ أَنْ يَأْتِيَنِي بِهِمْ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ } (He said: Nay, but your souls have made a matter seem fair to you; so comely patience. Perhaps Allah will bring them all to me together; He is indeed the All-Knowing, the All-Wise) (83) Abū Jaʿfar said: In the text something has been omitted, namely: The brothers of Binyāmīn returned to their father, while Rūbīl stayed behind, and they informed him of what had happened. When they informed him that he had stolen, he said: (Nay, but your souls have made a matter seem fair to you) — he says: Nay, but your souls have made fair to you a matter which you had resolved upon and which you desired. (so comely patience) — he says: my patience over what has befallen me through the loss of my sons is a comely patience, without lamentation or complaint in it. (Perhaps Allah will bring all my children together for me and return them to me.) (He is indeed the All-Knowing) of my loneliness, and of their absence, and my grief over them, and the truth of what they say concerning his lie. (the All-Wise) in His governance over His creation. * * * In accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes spoke. Mention of who said that: 19644 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying: (Nay, but your souls have made a matter seem fair to you, so comely patience) — he says: they made it fair. And his saying: (Perhaps Allah will bring them all to me together) — he says: Yūsuf, his brother, and Rūbīl. 19645 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: When they brought that to Yaʿqūb — meaning the words of Rūbīl to them — he accused them and suspected that this was a repetition of their deed against Yūsuf. Then he said: (Nay, but your souls have made a matter seem fair to you, so comely patience; perhaps Allah will bring them all to me together) — that is: Yūsuf, his brother, and Rūbīl.
… averted the punishment from yourselves. But we have succumbed to the punishment; neither our succumbing nor our patience has availed us. (8) {سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْنَا أَجَزِعْنَا أَمْ صَبَرْنَا مَا لَنَا مِن مَّحِيصٍ} (it is the same … people! You see what punishment and trial has descended upon you. Come, let us be patient - perhaps patience will avail us, just as the people in the worldly life were patient in obedience to Allah …
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His words — {وَبَرَزُوا لِلَّهِ جَمِيعًا} (and they all appeared before Allah) — Allah, exalted be His remembrance, means that those who disbelieved in Him will, on the Day of Resurrection, rise up from their graves and find themselves in the open, exposed part of the earth (4), all together — that is to say: all of them. {فَقَالَ الضُّعَفَاءُ لِلَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُوا} (and the weak will say to those who were arrogant) — He means: the followers among them will say to those who were followed, namely those who in the worldly life were too proud to devote themselves sincerely and purely to Allah and to follow the messengers who were sent to them. (6) {إِنَّا كُنَّا لَكُمْ تَبَعًا} (we were your followers) — in the worldly life. "Al-tabaʿ" is the plural of "tābiʿ" (follower), just as "al-ghayab" is the plural of "ghāʾib" (one who is absent). What they meant by: {إِنَّا كُنَّا لَكُمْ تَبَعًا} is that they followed them in the worldly life, obedient to their commands regarding the worship of idols and disbelief (kufr) in Allah, and that they abstained from what they forbade, namely the following of the messengers of Allah. {فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّغْنُونَ عَنَّا مِنْ عَذَابِ اللَّهِ مِن شَيْءٍ} (can you avert anything of the punishment of Allah from us?) — they mean: can you today avert anything of the punishment of Allah from us? (7) Ibn Jurayj said something of similar import: 20638 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His words: {وَقَالَ الضُّعَفَاءُ}: the followers; {لِلَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُوا}: to the leaders. As for His words: {لَوْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ لَهَدَيْنَاكُمْ} (if Allah had guided us, we would have guided you) — Allah, mighty and glorified be His remembrance, says: the leaders in disbelief (kufr) in Allah say to their followers: {لَوْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ} — they mean: had Allah made clear to us something by which we could today avert His punishment from ourselves, {لَهَدَيْنَاكُمْ} — then we would have made that clear to you as well, so that you could have averted the punishment from yourselves. But we have succumbed to the punishment; neither our succumbing nor our patience has availed us. (8) {سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْنَا أَجَزِعْنَا أَمْ صَبَرْنَا مَا لَنَا مِن مَّحِيصٍ} (it is the same for us whether we complain or are patient — we have no escape) — they mean: there is for them no recourse by which they may escape. (9) For this one says: "ḥāṣa ʿan kadhā" when he wishes to flee from it, "yaḥīṣu ḥayṣan, wa-ḥuyūṣan, wa-ḥayaṣānan". (10) 20639 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn Abī Laylā, one of the Banū ʿĀmir, who said: I heard Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī say: it reached me, or it was mentioned to me, that the inhabitants of the Fire said to one another: "O people! You see what punishment and trial has descended upon …
… saying {fa-sbir sabran jamila} (So be patient with a beautiful patience). The Exalted in mention says: {fa-sbir sabran jamila} (So be patient with a beautiful patience), that is to say: a patience … said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying {fa-sbir sabran jamila} (So be patient with a beautiful patience): he said: this was when He was still commanding him to pardon them and not to requite …
And His saying {fa-ṣbir ṣabran jamīlā} (So be patient with a beautiful patience). The Exalted in mention says: {fa-ṣbir ṣabran jamīlā} (So be patient with a beautiful patience), that is to say: a patience in which there is no disquiet. He says to him: be patient with the harm that these polytheists (mushrikīn) inflict upon you, and do not let the displeasure that you experience from them turn you away from conveying to them that which your Lord has commanded you to deliver of the message. Ibn Zayd used to say concerning this what Yūnus related to me about it, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying {fa-ṣbir ṣabran jamīlā} (So be patient with a beautiful patience): he said: this was when He was still commanding him to pardon them and not to requite them; but when the jihād and severity against them was commanded to him, the harshness and the killing were commanded to him until they would desist, and this was abrogated (nasakha). And this which Ibn Zayd said — that he had been commanded by this āya to pardon and that this was subsequently abrogated — is a statement for which there is no basis, for there is no proof of the correctness of what he said by way of any of the paths by which assertions are made valid. And in Allah's command to His Prophet ﷺ to the beautiful patience at the harm of the polytheists there is nothing that necessitates that this would be a command from Him to him for only some of the circumstances; rather it was a command from Allah to him for all circumstances, for he ﷺ, from the moment that Allah sent him until the moment that He took him away, was continually amid harm from them, and he was throughout all of that patient with what he experienced of harm from them, both before Allah granted him permission to fight them and after His permission to that.
… exegetes differed concerning the meaning of al-ʿazm here. Some of them said: its meaning is patience (sabr). Mention of those who said this: Bishr related to us, saying: Yazid related to us, saying: Saʿid … authority of Qatada, his word { وَلَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْمًا }: that is to say: patience. Muhammad ibn Bashshar related to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority …
The statement concerning the explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: { وَلَقَدْ عَهِدْنَا إِلَى آدَمَ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَنَسِيَ وَلَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْمًا } ("And We had aforetime made a covenant with Ādam, but he forgot, and We found in him no firm resolve") (20:115) Allah the Exalted says: And if, O Muḥammad, those for whom We have set forth the threat in manifold ways in this Qurʾān neglect My covenant, defy My command, abandon obedience to Me, follow the command of their enemy Iblīs, and obey him in defying My command — then that is precisely what their father Ādam did aforetime. { وَلَقَدْ عَهِدْنَا إِلَى } — He says: We charged Ādam and said to him: { إِنَّ هَذَا عَدُوٌّ لَكَ وَلِزَوْجِكَ فَلا يُخْرِجَنَّكُمَا مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ } ("Verily, this is an enemy to you and to your wife, so let him not drive you both out of the Garden (janna)"). But the devil (shayṭān) whispered to him and he obeyed him, defied My command, and the punishment from Me befell him as it befell him. By His word ("aforetime") He, the Exalted, means: before these people about whom He has informed that He set forth the threat for them in manifold ways in this Qurʾān. His word ("but he forgot") — He says: he abandoned My covenant. As ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me on the authority of ʿAlī, from Ibn ʿAbbās, regarding his word { وَلَقَدْ عَهِدْنَا إِلَى آدَمَ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَنَسِيَ }: he says: he neglected it. Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, regarding his word ("but he forgot"): he said: he neglected the command of his Lord. Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, regarding his word { وَلَقَدْ عَهِدْنَا إِلَى آدَمَ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَنَسِيَ وَلَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْمًا }: he said: He said to him: { يَا آدَمُ إِنَّ هَذَا عَدُوٌّ لَكَ وَلِزَوْجِكَ فَلا يُخْرِجَنَّكُمَا مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ فَتَشْقَى } ("O Ādam! Verily, this is an enemy to you and to your wife, so let him not drive you both out of the Garden, lest you be wretched"). And he recited until he reached { لا تَظْمَأُ فِيهَا وَلا تَضْحَى } ("therein you will neither thirst nor suffer the heat"); and he recited until he reached { وَمُلْكٍ لا يَبْلَى } ("and a kingdom that never decays"). He said: but he forgot what had been charged to him therein. He said: this was Allah's covenant with him. He said: and had he possessed firm resolve (ʿazm), he would not have obeyed his enemy who envied him, who refused to make a prostration (sujūd) before him together with those who made a prostration before him, and who disobeyed Allah — He who had honored and exalted him and commanded His angels to make a prostration before him. Ibn al-Muthannā and Ibn Bashshār related to us — both of them said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, and Muʾammal related to us — they said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority …
… they marched out against Jalut [Goliath] and his armies, they said: Our Lord, pour out upon us patience, make our feet firm, and help us against the disbelieving people) (2:250) Abu Jaʿfar said … himself to the ghaʾit of the land. * * * As for His statement "Our Lord, pour out upon us patience": by it is meant that Talut and his companions said: "Our Lord, pour out upon us patience …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: {وَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِ قَالُوا رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَانْصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ} (250) (And when they marched out against Jālūt [Goliath] and his armies, they said: Our Lord, pour out upon us patience, make our feet firm, and help us against the disbelieving people) (2:250) Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, means by His statement "and when they marched out against Jālūt and his armies": and when Ṭālūt [Saul] and his armies marched out against Jālūt and his armies. * * * The meaning of His statement "barazū" (they marched out) is: they betook themselves to the barāz of the land, that is, that part of it which lies open and level. For this reason one says of the man who relieves himself: "tabarraza" (he went out to relieve himself), because the people in former times, in the age of ignorance (jāhiliyya), used to relieve themselves in the barāz of the land. That is just as one says: "taghawwaṭa," because they used to relieve themselves in the ghāʾiṭ of the land, that is, the low-lying part of it; and so one says of the men "taghawwaṭa," that is: he betook himself to the ghāʾiṭ of the land. * * * As for His statement "Our Lord, pour out upon us patience": by it is meant that Ṭālūt and his companions said: "Our Lord, pour out upon us patience," that is: send down patience upon us. * * * And His statement "and make our feet firm" means: and strengthen our hearts in the struggle (jihād) against them, so that our feet may remain firm and we may not take flight before them = "and help us against the disbelieving people," those who disbelieved in You and thus denied You as God and worshipped another than You, and took the idols as lords. ---------- Footnotes: (37) In the manuscript and the printed edition it reads "lidhālika kamā qīla" ("for this reason, as was said"), but the context requires what has been established, and "lidhālika" does not form part of the preceding sentence.
… يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اصْبِرُوا وَصَابِرُوا وَرَابِطُوا} ("O you who believe, be patient, be more steadfast [in patience than your enemies], and keep guard (rabitu)") (3:200) Abu Jaʿfar [al-Tabari] said: The scholars … obedience to your Lord. And that is because Allah did not except, from among the meanings of "patience (sabr)" concerning the religion and obedience, anything that would permit it to be placed outside the literal …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: {يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اصْبِرُوا وَصَابِرُوا وَرَابِطُوا} ("O you who believe, be patient, be more steadfast [in patience than your enemies], and keep guard (rābiṭū)") (3:200) Abū Jaʿfar [al-Ṭabarī] said: The scholars of exegesis differed concerning the explanation of this. Some of them said: the meaning of this is: "Be patient concerning your religion, be more steadfast than the disbelievers (kuffār), and keep guard against them (rābiṭū)." Mention of who said that: 8386 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of al-Mubārak ibn Faḍāla, on the authority of al-Ḥasan [al-Baṣrī]: that he heard him say concerning the statement of Allah: "O you who believe, be patient, be more steadfast, and keep guard" — he said: He commanded them to be patient concerning their religion and not to abandon it, neither in hardship nor in prosperity, neither in joy nor in adversity; and He commanded them to be more steadfast than the disbelievers (kuffār), and to keep guard against the polytheists (mushrikīn). 8387 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, [concerning] his statement: "O you who believe, be patient, be more steadfast, and keep guard", that is: be patient in obedience to Allah, be more steadfast than the people of misguidance, and keep guard in the path of Allah = "and fear Allah, so that you may succeed". 8388 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his statement: "Be patient, be more steadfast, and keep guard", he says: Be more steadfast than the polytheists (mushrikīn) and keep guard in the path of Allah. 8389 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: Be patient in obedience, be more steadfast than the enemies of Allah, and keep guard in the path of Allah. 8390 - Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Yazīd informed us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning his statement: "Be patient, be more steadfast, and keep guard", he said: Be patient concerning that which you have been commanded, be more steadfast than the enemy, and keep guard against them. * * * And others said: the meaning of this is: be patient concerning your religion, be steadfast [in awaiting] My promise to you for your obedience to Me, and keep guard against your enemies. * Mention of who said that: 8391 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Abū Ṣakhr informed me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī: that he used to say concerning this verse: "Be patient, be more steadfast, and keep guard", he says: Be patient concerning your religion, be steadfast [in awaiting] the promise that I have made to you, and keep guard against My ene …
… deeds {مَرَّتَيْنِ بِمَا صَبَرُوا} (twice, because they were patient). The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of the patience for which Allah promised what He promised. Some said: He promised them what He promised, mighty … praise, on account of their patience with respect to the first Book, their following of Muhammad - Allah's peace and blessings be upon him - and their patience therein. That is the statement of Qatada, which …
The explanation of His word, the Exalted: {أُولَئِكَ يُؤْتَوْنَ أَجْرَهُمْ مَرَّتَيْنِ بِمَا صَبَرُوا وَيَدْرَءُونَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ السَّيِّئَةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ} (These will receive their reward twice, because they were patient and ward off evil with good and spend out of what We have provided them) (54). The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: These, whose characteristic I have described, {يُؤْتَوْنَ} (will receive) the reward for their deeds {مَرَّتَيْنِ بِمَا صَبَرُوا} (twice, because they were patient). The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of the patience for which Allah promised what He promised. Some said: He promised them what He promised, mighty is His praise, on account of their patience with respect to the first Book, their following of Muḥammad — Allah's peace and blessings be upon him — and their patience therein. That is the statement of Qatāda, which we have already mentioned earlier. Others said: No, He promised them on account of their patience by means of their belief in Muḥammad — Allah's peace and blessings be upon him — before he was sent, and by means of their following of him when he was sent. That is the statement of al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim, which we have likewise already mentioned earlier. And among those who agreed with Qatāda in his statement is ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd. Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word: {إِنَّا كُنَّا مِنْ قَبْلِهِ مُسْلِمِينَ} (Verily, we were already before it Muslims): upon the religion (dīn) of ʿĪsā; and when the Prophet — Allah's peace and blessings be upon him — came, they submitted (aslamū). Thus there was for them their reward twice: because they were patient the first time, and they entered into Islam with the Prophet — Allah's peace and blessings be upon him. And a group said concerning it what Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: There was a people who were polytheists (mushrikīn) and converted to Islam, and their people inflicted harm upon them; then it was revealed: {أُولَئِكَ يُؤْتَوْنَ أَجْرَهُمْ مَرَّتَيْنِ بِمَا صَبَرُوا} (These will receive their reward twice, because they were patient). And His word: {وَيَدْرَءُونَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ السَّيِّئَةَ} (and ward off evil with good), He says: and they ward off their evil deeds with the good deeds that they perform; {وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ} (and out of what We have provided them) of possessions {يُنْفِقُونَ} (they spend) in obedience to Allah, whether in jihād on the path of Allah, or in alms to a needy person, or in maintaining the ties of kinship. Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: {وَإِذَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ قَالُوا آمَنَّا بِهِ إِنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا مِنْ قَبْلِهِ مُسْلِمِينَ} (And when it is recited to them, they say: …
… Humayd related to us, saying: Jarir related to us, on the authority of Mughira, who said: Patience is half of faith, and gratitude is half of faith, and certainty (al-yaqin): that is the whole … لآياتٍ لكُلّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ } (indeed, in that are signs for everyone exceedingly patient and grateful). He said: Patience is half of faith, and certainty: that is the whole of faith. If someone were …
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: { أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ الْفُلْكَ تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِنِعْمَةِ اللَّهِ لِيُرِيَكُمْ مِنْ آيَاتِهِ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لِكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ } (31) (Have you not seen that the ships sail upon the sea by the favor of Allah, that He may show you something of His signs? Indeed, in that are signs for everyone exceedingly patient and grateful. (31)) The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Have you not seen, O Muḥammad, that the ships sail upon the sea as a favor of Allah to His creatures? { لِيُرِيَكُمْ مِنْ آيَاتِهِ } (that He may show you something of His signs). He says: that He may show you something of His lessons and His proofs against you. { إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لِكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ } (Indeed, in that are signs for everyone exceedingly patient and grateful). He says: indeed, in the sailing of the ships upon the sea there lies an indication that Allah, who made them sail, is the Truth, and that whatever they call upon besides Him is the false. { لكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ } (for everyone exceedingly patient and grateful). He says: for everyone who patiently restrains himself from what Allah has forbidden, and thanks Him for His favors and is not ungrateful to Him for them. Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Muṭarrif used to say: Indeed, among the most beloved of the servants of Allah to Him is: the exceedingly patient, the grateful. Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, who said: Patience is half of faith, and gratitude is half of faith, and certainty (al-yaqīn): that is the whole of faith. Have you not looked at His saying: { إنَّ فِي ذلكَ لآياتٍ لكُلّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ } (indeed, in that are signs for everyone exceedingly patient and grateful), { إنَّ فِي ذلكَ لآياتٍ للْمُوقِنينَ } (indeed, in that are signs for those who are certain), { إنَّ فِي ذلكَ لآياتٍ للْمُؤْمِنينَ } (indeed, in that are signs for the believers)? Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī: { إنَّ فِي ذلكَ لآياتٍ لكُلّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ } (indeed, in that are signs for everyone exceedingly patient and grateful). He said: Patience is half of faith, and certainty: that is the whole of faith. If someone were to say: How is it that this indication is reserved in particular as an indication for the exceedingly patient, grateful one, and not for the rest of the creatures? Then it is answered: because patience and gratitude belong to the deeds of people of intellect and reason. Therefore He announced that therein are indeed signs for everyone possessing intellect, for Allah has made the signs into lessons for people of reason and discernment.
… Yunus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning "al-sabr" (patience): constancy. He said, and he mentioned "al-sabr" in both cases: patience for Allah's sake in what … wills, even though that weighs upon the inner self and the body, and patience from what He does not will, even though desire is drawn toward it. Whoever is thus belongs to the patient ones …
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted says: and those who were steadfast in fulfilling the covenant with Allah, in refraining from breaking the pact, and in maintaining the bonds of kinship — { ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ رَبِّهِمْ } — and by His word { ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ رَبِّهِمْ } He means: desiring the glorification of Allah and sanctifying Him from any transgression of His command, or the committing of anything by which He does not wish, such that they would be disobedient to Him therein — { وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلاةَ } — He says: and those who perform the obligatory ritual prayer (ṣalāh) with observance of its prescriptions and at the appointed times — { وَأَنْفَقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ سِرًّا وَعَلانِيَةً } — He says: and those who pay from their possessions the obligatory alms-tax (zakāh) and spend out of it upon the paths in which Allah has commanded them to spend — "in secret" covertly, and "openly" in public. As: 20335 — Al-Mutannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word { وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلاةَ } — he means the five prayers; { وَأَنْفَقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ سِرًّا وَعَلانِيَةً } — he means the zakāh. 20336 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning "al-ṣabr" (patience): constancy. He said, and he mentioned "al-ṣabr" in both cases: patience for Allah's sake in what He wills, even though that weighs upon the inner self and the body, and patience from what He does not will, even though desire is drawn toward it. Whoever is thus belongs to the patient ones. And he recited: { سَلامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ بِمَا صَبَرْتُمْ فَنِعْمَ عُقْبَى الدَّارِ } (Sūrat al-Raʿd:24). And His word { وَيَدْرَءُونَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ السَّيِّئَةَ } — He says: and they ward off the wrong from whoever wrongs them, by being good toward him. As: 20337 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word { وَيَدْرَءُونَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ السَّيِّئَةَ } — he said: they repel evil with good; they do not requite evil with evil, but repel it with good. And His word { أُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ عُقْبَى الدَّارِ } — Allah the Exalted says: these whose qualities We have described are those for whom holds { لَهُمْ عُقْبَى الدَّارِ } — He says: they are those to whom Allah has given Paradise as the final destination, in place of the abode they would have had in the Fire had they not been believers; Allah gave them this in place of that abode. And it has also been said: the meaning is: these are those to whom Allah has given Paradise as a consequence of their obedience to their Lord in the worldly life.
… Hurayra, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: May Allah have mercy on Yusuf; what great patience he had! Had I been the one who was imprisoned and then sent for, I would have … authority of ʿIkrima, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: I marvel at Yusuf and his patience and nobility - may Allah forgive him - when he was asked about the lean and fat cows …
The explanation of the words of Allah, the Exalted: {وَقَالَ الْمَلِكُ ائْتُونِي بِهِ فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُ الرَّسُولُ قَالَ ارْجِعْ إِلَى رَبِّكَ فَاسْأَلْهُ مَا بَالُ النِّسْوَةِ اللاتِي قَطَّعْنَ أَيْدِيَهُنَّ إِنَّ رَبِّي بِكَيْدِهِنَّ عَلِيمٌ} (And the king said: "Bring him to me." But when the messenger came to him, he said: "Return to your master and ask him what is the case of the women who cut their hands; verily, my Lord knows well their guile." — 12:50) Abū Jaʿfar says: Allah, the Exalted, says: When the messenger whom she had sent to Yūsuf — the one who had said: {أَنَا أُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِتَأْوِيلِهِ فَأَرْسِلُونِ} — returned and conveyed to them the interpretation of the king's dream from Yūsuf, and the king understood the correctness of what had been conveyed to him as the interpretation of his dream and its validity, the king said: bring me the one who has interpreted my dream. As: 19392 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: Nabū departed from Yūsuf with what he had conveyed to them concerning the interpretation of the king's dream, until he reached the king and told him what Yūsuf had said. When he told him what was in his innermost being, clear as day, and he understood that what he had said would come to pass as he had said, he said: "bring him to me." 19393 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: When the messenger came back to the king, he said: "bring him to me." * * * His word: (fa-lammā jāʾahu al-rasūlu): when the king's messenger came to him to summon him to the king; (qāla irjiʿ ilā rabbika): Yūsuf said to the messenger: return to your master, (fa-saʾalhu mā bālu al-niswati al-lātī qaṭṭaʿna aydiyahunna)? And he refused to go with the messenger and to accept the king's invitation, until he knew that his reputation with them concerning the matter of the women was sound; he said to the messenger: ask the king what is the condition of the women who cut their hands, and of the woman on account of whom he was imprisoned. As: 19394 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: (fa-lammā jāʾahu al-rasūlu qāla irjiʿ ilā rabbika fa-saʾalhu mā bālu al-niswati al-lātī qaṭṭaʿna aydiyahunna) — and the woman on account of whom he had been imprisoned — concerning what had occurred in that matter. 19395 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: When the messenger came back to the king and informed him, he said: (iʾtūnī bi-h), but when the messenger came to him and summoned him to the king, Yūsuf refused to go; he said: (irjiʿ ilā rabbika fa-saʾalhu mā bālu al-niswati al-lātī qaṭṭaʿna aydiyahunna) — the āya. Al-Suddī said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: had Yūsuf gone out that day before the king knew what had happened with him, the ʿAzīz would still have held something against him in his …
… relief from the mighty trial in which they were, said to Ishaq: 'Verily, on account of your patience at My command I have granted you a supplication by which I give you what … decreed that, and on account of the excellence that Allah has mentioned of him because of his patience at what he was commanded. Therefore they deny that and claim that it was Ishaq, because Ishaq …
The statement concerning the explanation of His word, the Exalted: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ) (37:107) And His word ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ) — by this He says: and We ransomed Isḥāq with a mighty sacrifice. The ransom (fidya) is the compensation. He says: We rewarded him with it by setting, in place of his slaughter, the slaughter of a mighty ram, and We saved him from being slaughtered. The exegetes differed concerning which of the two sons of Ibrāhīm it was who was ransomed from the slaughter. Some said: it is Isḥāq. * Mention of who said that: Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Mubārak, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays, on the authority of al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: it is Isḥāq. Al-Ḥusayn ibn Yazīd ibn Isḥāq related to me, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the one whose slaughter Ibrāhīm was commanded to perform was Isḥāq. Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: it is Isḥāq. Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: the slaughtered one (al-dhabīḥ) is Isḥāq. Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Zayd ibn Ḥubāb related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Zayd ibn Judʿān, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays, on the authority of al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ in a tradition that he mentioned, he said: 'It is Isḥāq.' Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, he said: a man boasted in the presence of Ibn Masʿūd and said: 'I am so-and-so, son of so-and-so, descendant of the noble forefathers.' Thereupon ʿAbd Allāh said: 'That is Yūsuf, son of Yaʿqūb, son of Isḥāq, the slaughtered one of Allah, son of Ibrāhīm, the bosom-friend of Allah.' Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mukhtār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Ḥāritha al-Thaqafī, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of Kaʿb, concerning His word ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: of his son Isḥāq. Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Zakariyyā and Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Masrūq, concerning His word ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: …
… spend.") Abu Jaʿfar said: By His words "the patient" (al-sabirin) He means: those who showed patience in adversity and hardship and at the moment of battle (al-baʾs). And by "the truthful" (al-sadiqin … were truthful in the hidden and the open. "And the patient": a people who showed patience in obedience to Allah, and who refrained with patience from what He has forbidden. "And the devoutly obedient": they …
Explanation of the words of Allah: { الصَّابِرِينَ وَالصَّادِقِينَ وَالْقَانِتِينَ وَالْمُنْفِقِينَ } ("The patient, the truthful, the devoutly obedient, and those who spend.") Abū Jaʿfar said: By His words "the patient" (al-ṣābirīn) He means: those who showed patience in adversity and hardship and at the moment of battle (al-baʾs). And by "the truthful" (al-ṣādiqīn) He means: those who were truthful toward Allah in their word by affirming their acknowledgment of Him and of His messenger and of what he has brought from Him, by acting upon what He has commanded them and refraining from what He has forbidden them. And by "the devoutly obedient" (al-qānitīn) He means: those who are obedient to Him. * * * We have already given the explanation of all these words and their meanings, with the proofs for the correctness of what we have said about them, and with the reports of those who have made a statement about it, in what preceded, with that which relieves us from repeating it in this place. * * * Qatāda used to say concerning that what follows: 6752 - Bishr related it to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words "the patient, the truthful, the devoutly obedient, and those who spend": "the truthful": a people whose mouths spoke truth and whose hearts and tongues were upright, and who were truthful in the hidden and the open. "And the patient": a people who showed patience in obedience to Allah, and who refrained with patience from what He has forbidden. "And the devoutly obedient": they are those who are obedient to Allah. * * * As for "those who spend" (al-munfiqūn), they are those who give the obligatory alms (zakāh) on their possessions and dispense them as Allah has commanded them to give them, and those who spend their possessions in the ways in which Allah, exalted is His praise, has permitted them to spend them. * * * As for "the patient" and "the truthful" and the rest of these words, they stand in the genitive on the basis of being referred back to His words: { الَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا إِنَّنَا آمَنَّا } ("Those who say: Our Lord, indeed we have believed"). And the genitive in these words indicates that His words "those who say" stand in the genitive, on the basis of being referred back to His words: { لِلَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ } ("for those who are God-fearing, with their Lord"). * * * Explanation of the words of Allah: { وَالْمُسْتَغْفِرِينَ بِالأَسْحَارِ } ("and those who ask for forgiveness in the last hours of the night") (3:17) Abū Jaʿfar said: The scholars of exegesis differed concerning the people whose characteristic this description is. Some of them said: They are those who pray in the last hours of the night. Mention of who said that: 6753 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "and those who ask for forgiveness in the last hours of the night," they are the peo …
… followers of the prophets, when their prophets were killed? For they stood firm against their enemy with patience such as their patience was, and they did not grow weak and did not yield to their … that Allah might help you against them just as they were helped. For Allah loves whoever shows patience for His command and in the jihad against His enemy, and He then grants him help …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: {وَمَا كَانَ قَوْلَهُمْ إِلا أَنْ قَالُوا رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَإِسْرَافَنَا فِي أَمْرِنَا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَانْصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ} (147) (And their statement was nothing other than that they said: Our Lord, forgive us our sins and our excess in our affair, and make our feet firm, and help us against the disbelieving people. (3:147)) Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, means by His statement "and their statement was not": and the statement of the devout men (al-ribbiyyūn) was not — and the "hā and mīm" (the suffix "hum") refers to the names of the devout men — "except that they said," that is to say: they had no statement other than this statement, when their prophet was killed. And His statement "Our Lord, forgive us our sins" means: when their prophet was killed, they grasped at nothing for protection other than at patiently enduring what afflicted them, fighting against their enemy, and asking their Lord for forgiveness and for help against their enemy. And the meaning of the statement is: and their statement was nothing other than that they said: Our Lord, forgive us our sins. (76) * * * And as for "al-isrāf" (excess): that is going beyond the limit in something. One says of that: "so-and-so has acted excessively (asrafa) in this affair," when he exceeds its measure and goes to extremes. * * * And its meaning here is: forgive us our sins — the minor of them, and that in which we have been excessive, such that we passed on to the major ones. And the meaning of the statement is: forgive us our sins, the minor of them and the major of them. As: 7987 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the statement of Allah "and our excess in our affair," he said: our errors. 7988 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and our excess in our affair": our errors and our wronging of ourselves. 7989 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk concerning his statement "and our excess in our affair," he means: the major errors. 7990 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Tumayla related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim, he said: the major sins (al-kabāʾir). 7991 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, saying: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning "and our excess in our affair," he said: our errors. 7992 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: …
… Exalted, praised be His mention, says: and Allah rewarded them, on account of their patience in this world in obedience to Him and in performing what was pleasing to Him, with a garden (janna … they endured with a garden and silk"): he says: and He rewarded them, on account of their patience in obedience to Allah and their patience in refraining from disobedience to Him and what …
The Exalted, praised be His mention, says: and Allah rewarded them, on account of their patience in this world in obedience to Him and in performing what was pleasing to Him, with a garden (janna) and silk. And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken. * Mention of who said that: Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning { wa-jazāhum bimā ṣabarū jannatan wa-ḥarīran } ("and He rewarded them for what they endured with a garden and silk"): he says: and He rewarded them, on account of their patience in obedience to Allah and their patience in refraining from disobedience to Him and what He has forbidden, with a garden and silk.
… وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْمَرْحَمَةِ } (17) ("Then he was among those who believed and enjoined one another to patience and enjoined one another to compassion"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: then this … that he believes along with them just as they believed. { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ } ("and enjoined one another to patience") - He says: and [they were] among those who enjoined one another to patience regarding what befell them …
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: { ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْمَرْحَمَةِ } (17) ("Then he was among those who believed and enjoined one another to patience and enjoined one another to compassion"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: then this one who said { أَهْلَكْتُ مَالا لُبَدًا } ("I have squandered an immense fortune") was among those who believed in Allah and His Messenger, so that he believes along with them just as they believed. { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ } ("and enjoined one another to patience") — He says: and [they were] among those who enjoined one another to patience regarding what befell them for the sake of Allah. { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْمَرْحَمَةِ } ("and enjoined one another to compassion") — He says: and they enjoined one another to compassion. As Muḥammad ibn Sinān and al-Qazzāz related to us, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of Shabīb, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْمَرْحَمَةِ }. He said: compassion toward the people.
… reward those who do good"). The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: We rewarded Nuh for his patience under the trial with which We tested him for Our sake, by guiding him and giving … guided him. And just as We rewarded these for their excellent obedience to Us and their patience under the trials for Our sake, so do We reward with good everyone who does good …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: {وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ إِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ كُلًّا هَدَيْنَا وَنُوحًا هَدَيْنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِ دَاوُدَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُوسُفَ وَمُوسَى وَهَارُونَ وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ} (84) (And We bestowed upon him Isḥāq and Yaʿqūb; all of them We guided, and Nūḥ We guided before, and from his progeny Dāwūd and Sulaymān and Ayyūb and Yūsuf and Mūsā and Hārūn; and thus do We reward those who do good.) (84) Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: We rewarded Ibrāhīm — peace be upon him — for his obedience to Us, for his sincere devotion to the oneness (tawḥīd) of his Lord, and for his break with the religion of his people, the polytheists who ascribed partners to Allah (mushrikīn), by raising his rank in the highest heavens, granting him his reward in this world, and bestowing upon him children whom We distinguished with prophethood, and a progeny whom We ennobled from Ourselves with honor and privileged above the worlds. Among them are: his son Isḥāq, and the son of his son, Yaʿqūb. {كُلًّا هَدَيْنَا} ("all of them We guided"), He says: We guided them all upon the path of righteousness, and We gave them right understanding of the truth and of what is correct among the religions. {وَنُوحًا هَدَيْنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ} ("and Nūḥ We guided before"), He says: and We guided him to the same to which We guided Ibrāhīm, Isḥāq and Yaʿqūb, of the truth and what is correct, and We gave it to him — namely Nūḥ — before Ibrāhīm, Isḥāq and Yaʿqūb. * * * {وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِ دَاوُدَ} ("and from his progeny Dāwūd"). The "hāʾ" (the personal pronoun) in His statement {وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِ} ("and from his progeny") refers to Nūḥ. The reason for this is that Allah, the Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, in the course of the verses that follow this verse mentioned Lūṭ, for He said: {وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَالْيَسَعَ وَيُونُسَ وَلُوطًا وَكُلًّا فَضَّلْنَا عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ} (And Ismāʿīl and al-Yasaʿ and Yūnus and Lūṭ; and all of them We favored above the worlds). Now, it is known that Lūṭ did not belong to the progeny of Ibrāhīm — Allah's peace be upon them all. Since this is so, and since he is joined to the names of those whom We have named as his progeny, there is no doubt that — if by "the progeny" the progeny of Ibrāhīm were meant — Yūnus and Lūṭ would not be included therein. And there is no doubt that Lūṭ does not belong to the progeny of Ibrāhīm, but rather to the progeny of Nūḥ. Therefore it is necessary that the "hāʾ" in "the progeny" refers to Nūḥ. The explanation of the words is thus: and to Nūḥ We gave understanding of the truth and what is correct, before Ibrāhīm, Isḥāq and Yaʿqūb, and likewise We guided from the progeny of Nūḥ: Dāwūd and Sulaymān. "Dāwūd" is Dāwūd, the son of Īshā. "Sulaymān" is his son: Sulaymān, the son of Dāwūd. "Ayyūb" is Ayyūb, the son of Mawṣ, the son of Razāḥ, the son of ʿĪṣ, the son of Isḥāq, the son of Ibrāhīm. "Yūsuf" is Yūsuf, the son of …
… free women, because you were created weak, unable to refrain from sexual intercourse with women, having little patience to abstain from that. For this reason He has permitted you to marry your believing slave-women … marry a free woman, so that you would not commit fornication (zina) on account of your scant patience in refraining from sexual intercourse with women. * * * And in accordance with what we have said concerning this …
The explanation of His word: {يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَنْ يُخَفِّفَ عَنْكُمْ وَخُلِقَ الإِنْسَانُ ضَعِيفًا} (Allah wishes to lighten [the burden] for you, and man was created weak) (28). Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means by His word: "Allah wishes to lighten [the burden] for you" — Allah wishes to make it easy for you, by permitting you to marry believing slave-women (slave-girls) when you do not have the means to marry a free woman — "and man was created weak," that is to say: He has made this easy for you when you do not have the means to marry free women, because you were created weak, unable to refrain from sexual intercourse with women, having little patience to abstain from that. For this reason He has permitted you to marry your believing slave-women when you fear for yourselves unlawful intercourse (ʿanat) and you do not find the means to marry a free woman, so that you would not commit fornication (zinā) on account of your scant patience in refraining from sexual intercourse with women. * * * And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken. * Mention of those who said that: 9135 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "Allah wishes to lighten [the burden] for you" — concerning the marrying of the slave-woman (ama), and in everything in which there is lightening. 9136 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, on the authority of his father: "and man was created weak," he said: in the matter of sexual intercourse. 9137 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, on the authority of his father: "and man was created weak," he said: in the matter of women. 9138 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, on the authority of his father: "and man was created weak," he said: in the matters of women. Man is weaker in nothing than in the case of women. 9139 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "Allah wishes to lighten [the burden] for you," he said: He gave you permission to marry these slave-women (imāʾ) when you were compelled to it — "and man was created weak," he said: Had He not given him permission therein, there would have been only the first ruling, namely when he does not find a free woman.
… worldly life is an abode of trial, and that He tests them therein. He commanded them patience and announced to them the glad tidings, and said: "And give glad tidings to the patient ones." Then … glad tidings concerning the severe trials with which He puts them to the test - the people of patience, whose characteristic Allah has described, for special favor. * * * The root meaning of "al-tabshir" (the giving …
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: {وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِنَ الأَمْوَالِ وَالأَنْفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ} (155) (And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger, and with a diminution of possessions, lives, and fruits. And give glad tidings to the patient ones — 2:155) Abū Jaʿfar said: This is an announcement from Allah — exalted be His remembrance — to the followers of His Messenger ﷺ, that He will test them and put them to the trial with severe trials in all sorts of matters, so that He may know who follows the Messenger and who turns back on his heels, just as He tested them and put them to the trial with the change of the direction of prayer (qibla) from Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis) to the Kaʿba, and just as He put His elect before them to the trial. He promised them this also in another verse, where He said to them: {أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَنْ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُمْ مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ مَسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا حَتَّى يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ مَتَى نَصْرُ اللَّهِ أَلا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ} [Surah Al-Baqarah: 214] (Or did you think that you would enter Paradise (janna) while the example of those who passed away before you has not yet come to you? Adversity and hardship touched them, and they were so shaken that the Messenger and those who believed with him said: "When will the help of Allah come?" Verily, the help of Allah is near — 2:214). And in the spirit of what we have said about this, Ibn ʿAbbās and others used to speak. 2325 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger," and the rest of this. He said: Allah informed the believers that the worldly life is an abode of trial, and that He tests them therein. He commanded them patience and announced to them the glad tidings, and said: "And give glad tidings to the patient ones." Then He informed them that He acted thus with His prophets and His elect, so that their hearts might be set at ease, and He said: {مَسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا} (Adversity and hardship touched them, and they were shaken). * * * The meaning of His saying "And We will surely test you" (wa-la-nabluwannakum) is: and We will surely put you to the trial. We have already previously expounded that the meaning of "al-ibtilāʾ" (the trial) is the putting to the test, in what preceded. * * * And His saying "with something of fear" means: of the fear of the enemy. And "hunger" — that is famine. He says: We will surely put you to the trial with something of fear that befalls you from your enemy, and with a year of drought that befalls you in which hunger and privation befall you, and in which the obtaining of t …
… possessions - this as an indication that I will tread the same path with you, if you exercise patience as he exercised patience and you fulfill the task of conveying the message to those to whom …
And His saying: {إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً} (Therein is surely a sign) — Allah, exalted be His remembrance, says: In what I did to Pharaoh and his companions — namely that I drowned them in the sea because they had denied My messenger Mūsā and had transgressed My command after I had given them a warning and had warned them — therein is a clear proof, O Muḥammad, for your people of the Quraysh, that this is My way of dealing with everyone who treads their path of denying My messengers. And therein is an admonition for them and a lesson, that they may remember and take heed, so that they do not do the same as what they did — namely deny you despite the proof and the signs that you have brought them — for otherwise the same punishment will befall them as befell them. And for you there is a sign in what I did to Mūsā and in My rescuing him after his prolonged striving against Pharaoh and his people, and in My clear victory for him and My granting to him and his people as inheritance their houses, their land, and their possessions — this as an indication that I will tread the same path with you, if you exercise patience as he exercised patience and you fulfill the task of conveying the message to those to whom I have sent you as he fulfilled it. And I will grant you victory over those who deny you and exalt you above them. {وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ} (And most of them were not believers) — He says: And most of your people, O Muḥammad, did not believe in the clear Truth that Allah had brought you — it was already fixed in My foreknowledge that they would not believe.
… tura" with damma on the taʾ, in the meaning: what do you advise, and what [sign] of patience or distress at the slaughtering are you shown? And the more correct of the two readings … that he would know what his son possessed of resolve: whether he was among those who show patience at the command of Allah in the manner in which he [Ibrahim] did so, so that …
And His words: { فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ } ("And when he reached with him the age of striving"). He says: and when the boy of whom the glad tidings had been given to Ibrāhīm reached, together with Ibrāhīm, the age for labor — and that is the striving (al-saʿy) — and that was when he was able to help him in his work. And the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed over the meaning of that. Some of them said something along the lines of what we have said about it. * Mention of who said that: ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words: { فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ } ("And when he reached with him the age of striving"), he says: the work. Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His words: { فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ } ("And when he reached with him the age of striving"), he said: when he grew up so that his working reached the working of Ibrāhīm in labor. Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same, except that he said: when he grew up until he reached his [capacity for] working. Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid: { فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ } ("And when he reached with him the age of striving"), he said: the working of Ibrāhīm. Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Sahl ibn Yūsuf related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid: { فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ } ("And when he reached with him the age of striving"): the working of Ibrāhīm. Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His words: { فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ } ("And when he reached with him the age of striving"), he said: the striving (al-saʿy) here is religious devotion (al-ʿibāda). And others said: its meaning is: when he walked along with Ibrāhīm. * Mention of who said that: Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: { فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ } ("And when he reached with him the age of striving"): that is, when he walked along with his father. And His words: { قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَى فِي الْمَنَامِ أَنِّي أَذْبَحُكَ } ("He said: O my little son, I see in the dream that I am slaughtering you"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Ibrāhīm, the intimate friend of the Most Merciful, said to his son: { يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَى فِي الْمَنَامِ أَنِّي أَذْبَحُكَ } ("O my li …
… order to strengthen your heart thereby and to give you courage, so that you may exercise patience toward what has reached you of harm from your people for the sake of Allah, and that … know that those before you among the messengers of Allah - when they exercised patience toward what befell them therein, accepted forgiveness, enjoined the good, and turned away from the ignorant - attained the victory, were supported …
The explanation of the word of Allah, the Exalted: { ذَلِكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهِ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا كُنْتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ أَجْمَعُوا أَمْرَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَمْكُرُونَ } (102) Abū Jaʿfar said: the Exalted says: this report which We have related to you concerning the history of Yūsuf and his father Yaʿqūb and his brothers, and all the rest in this sūra { من أنباء الغيب } — He says: belongs to the reports of the unseen (al-ghayb) which you did not witness nor see with your own eyes; but We reveal it to you and make it known to you in order to strengthen your heart thereby and to give you courage, so that you may exercise patience toward what has reached you of harm from your people for the sake of Allah, and that you may know that those before you among the messengers of Allah — when they exercised patience toward what befell them therein, accepted forgiveness, enjoined the good, and turned away from the ignorant — attained the victory, were supported with aid, were established in the land, and got the better of those whom they pursued among their enemies and the enemies of the religion of Allah. Allah, blessed and exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: take them, O Muḥammad, as an example, and follow in their footsteps. { وما كنت لديهم إذ أجمعوا أمرهم وهم يمكرون } — He says: you were not present with the brothers of Yūsuf when they were of one mind and in agreement, and their resolve was firmly determined, that they would cast Yūsuf into the depth of the well. And that was their plotting concerning which Allah ﷻ said: { وهم يمكرون }, as: 19951 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yūnus related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: { وما كنت لديهم } — by it he means Muḥammad ﷺ — He says: you were not with them while they cast him into the depth of the well; { وهم يمكرون } — that is to say: against Yūsuf. 19952 — al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: { وما كنت لديهم إذ أجمعوا أمرهم وهم يمكرون } — the Āya — he said: those are the sons of Yaʿqūb.
… Allah." And His word: { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ } - He says: and they have enjoined one another to abide by patience (sabr) in acting in obedience to Allah. In line with what we have said about this … saying: Saʿid related to us, on the authority of Qatada, concerning { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ }: he said: "Al-sabr (patience) is obedience to Allah." ʿImran ibn Bakkar al-Kulaʿi related to me, saying: Khattab ibn ʿUthman related …
{ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ } — He says: except those who have affirmed Allah and honored Him in His Oneness (tawḥīd), and who have acknowledged His Oneness and His obedience, and who have performed righteous deeds, and who have fulfilled what was imposed upon them of His obligatory ordinances (farāʾiḍ), and who have abstained from what He has forbidden them of acts of disobedience to Him. He has excepted the believers from "man," because "man" (al-insān) has the meaning of the plural, not the meaning of the singular. And His word: { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ } — He says: and they have enjoined one another to abide by acting in accordance with what Allah has sent down in His Book, of His commands, and avoiding what He has forbidden therein. In line with what we have said about this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken. * Mention of who said this: Bishr related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ }: "Al-ḥaqq (the Truth) is the Book of Allah." Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ }: he said: "Al-ḥaqq is the Book of Allah." ʿImrān ibn Bakkār al-Kulāʿī related to me, saying: Khaṭṭāb ibn ʿUthmān related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sinān Abū Rūḥ al-Sukūnī — a man from Ḥimṣ whom I met in Armenia — related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḥasan say concerning { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ }: "Al-ḥaqq is the Book of Allah." And His word: { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ } — He says: and they have enjoined one another to abide by patience (ṣabr) in acting in obedience to Allah. In line with what we have said about this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken. * Mention of who said this: Bishr related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ }: he said: "Al-ṣabr (patience) is obedience to Allah." ʿImrān ibn Bakkār al-Kulāʿī related to me, saying: Khaṭṭāb ibn ʿUthmān related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sinān Abū Rūḥ related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḥasan say concerning the word: { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ }: "Al-ṣabr is obedience to Allah." Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning { وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ }: he said: "Al-ṣabr is obedience to Allah." End of the tafsīr of Sūrat Wa-l-ʿAṣr.
… your forgiveness toward whoever did you wrong the wrongdoing of the wrongdoer, and by your patience toward them the detestable thing that you experience from them and what befalls you from their side … بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ} ("Repel by that which is better"), he said: Allah has commanded the believers to patience at the moment of anger, and to forbearance and forgiveness at the moment of wrongdoing; and when …
And His statement: {وَلا تَسْتَوِي الْحَسَنَةُ وَلا السَّيِّئَةُ} ("And the good deed and the evil deed are not equal"). The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: and not equal are the good deed of those who said "Our Lord is Allah" and then remained steadfast, and who acted well in their word and in their giving ear to and turning toward that to which He called them of His obedience, and who called the servants of Allah to the like of that in which they gave ear to their Lord — and the evil deed of those who said: {لا تَسْمَعُوا لِهَذَا الْقُرْآنِ وَالْغَوْا فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَغْلِبُونَ} ("Do not listen to this Qurʾān, and make clamor amid it, that perhaps you may prevail"). Thus their states and their ranks with Allah are not equal, but they differ, just as the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, has described that He has distinguished between the two. And the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, said: {وَلا تَسْتَوِي الْحَسَنَةُ وَلا السَّيِّئَةُ} ("And the good deed and the evil deed are not equal"), and He repeated "lā" (not); and the meaning is: not equal are the good deed and the evil deed. For everything that is not equal to a thing, to it that thing to which it is not equal is in turn not equal — just as everything that is equal to a thing, to which that other is in turn equal, is equal to it. One says: so-and-so is equal to so-and-so, and so-and-so is equal to him; likewise: so-and-so is not equal to so-and-so, nor is so-and-so equal to him. For this reason "lā" was repeated with "the evil deed"; and even had it not been repeated with it, the sentence would have been correct. And one of the grammarians of Basra used to say: it is permissible to say that the second "lā" is redundant, by which he means: not equal are ʿAbd Allāh and Zayd, "lā" having been added for emphasis, as He said: {لِئَلا يَعْلَمَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ أَلا يَقْدِرُونَ} ("so that the People of the Book may know that they have no power"), that is to say: so that they may know; and as He said: {لا أُقْسِمُ بِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ * وَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ} ("I swear by the Day of Resurrection * and I swear by the self-reproaching soul"). And some of them rejected this statement concerning {لِئَلا يَعْلَمَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ} ("so that the People of the Book may know") and concerning His statement {لا أُقْسِمُ} ("I swear"), and they said: the second "lā" in His statement {لِئَلا يَعْلَمَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ} ("so that the People of the Book may know") — namely "an lā yaqdirūn" ("that they have no power") — is restored to its own place, for the negation attaches only to "yaqdirūn" (they have power), not to "the knowing," just as one says: "I do not think that Zayd does not stand up," in the meaning: "I think that Zayd does not stand up." He said: and sometimes they reinforce the expression and place it both at the front and at the rear; and sometimes they suffice with the first in place of the second. And it has been related — as heard from the Arabs: "mā ka- …
… indeed, just as We dealt with Nuh as a reward for his obedience to Us and his patience under the harm of his people for the sake of Our good pleasure - and We saved … reward those who do good and obey Us, and abide by Our command, and exercise patience under the harm that they undergo for Our sake …
And His statement ( إِنَّا كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ ) — "Indeed, thus do We reward the doers of good" — the Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: indeed, just as We dealt with Nūḥ as a reward for his obedience to Us and his patience under the harm of his people for the sake of Our good pleasure — and We saved him and his family from the tremendous distress, and We made his progeny the survivors, and We left behind him a good name among the later generations — ( كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي ): thus do We reward those who do good and obey Us, and abide by Our command, and exercise patience under the harm that they undergo for Our sake.
… Those who exercised patience under the persecution of the polytheists (mushrikin) in this world, and under what they had to endure from them, and who exercised patience in rendering obedience to Allah and in that …
Those who exercised patience under the persecution of the polytheists (mushrikīn) in this world, and under what they had to endure from them, and who exercised patience in rendering obedience to Allah and in that which pleases Him, and in the struggle against His enemies — {And upon their Lord they place their trust} (wa-ʿalā Rabbihim yatawakkalūn) with regard to their sustenance and the struggle against their enemies, so that they do not shrink back before them, out of trust on their part that Allah exalts His word and weakens the cunning of the unbeliever (kāfir), and that what has been allotted to them of sustenance will never escape them.
… therein according to His obedience. "Then that belongs to the matters of firm resolve," He says: that patience and that God-fearingness belong to that which Allah has firmly resolved upon and which … said: Allah informed the believers that He would test them, so that He might see how their patience would be in their religion. Then He said: "And you will surely hear from those who were …
The explanation of His word: {لَتُبْلَوُنَّ فِي أَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَنْفُسِكُمْ وَلَتَسْمَعُنَّ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا أَذًى كَثِيرًا وَإِنْ تَصْبِرُوا وَتَتَّقُوا فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الأُمُورِ} (186) (You will surely be tested in your possessions and yourselves, and you will surely hear from those who were given the Book before you and from those who associated partners much hurtful harm; but if you are patient and God-fearing, then that belongs to the matters of firm resolve.) (3:186) Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means by His word "You will surely be tested in your possessions": you will surely be tested with calamity in your possessions. "And yourselves," that is: and through the perishing of the near kinsmen and the fellow tribesmen among those who support you and who belong to your religious community. "And you will surely hear from those who were given the Book before you," that is: from the Jews, and their saying: {إِنَّ اللَّهَ فَقِيرٌ وَنَحْنُ أَغْنِيَاءُ} (Indeed, Allah is poor and we are rich), and their saying: {يَدُ اللَّهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ} (The hand of Allah is fettered), and what resembles that of their fabrications about Allah. "And from those who associated partners," by this the Christians are meant. "Much hurtful harm" — and the hurtful harm of the Jews is what we have mentioned, and of the Christians their saying: {الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ اللَّهِ} (The Messiah is the son of Allah), and what resembles that of their unbelief (kufr) toward Allah. "But if you are patient and God-fearing," He says: and if you are patient for the sake of the command of Allah which He has imposed upon you concerning them and others, namely obedience to Him. "And God-fearing," He says: and if you fear Allah in that which He has commanded you and forbidden you, so that you act therein according to His obedience. "Then that belongs to the matters of firm resolve," He says: that patience and that God-fearingness belong to that which Allah has firmly resolved upon and which He has commanded you. * * * And it was said: that all of this was revealed concerning Finḥāṣ the Jew, the chief of the Banū Qaynuqāʿ, as in the following: 8316 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: ʿIkrima said concerning His word: "You will surely be tested in your possessions and yourselves, and you will surely hear from those who were given the Book before you and from those who associated partners much hurtful harm," he said: this verse was revealed concerning the Prophet ﷺ, and concerning Abū Bakr — may Allah be pleased with him — and concerning Finḥāṣ the Jew, the chief of the Banū Qaynuqāʿ. He said: the Prophet ﷺ sent Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq — may Allah have mercy on him — to Finḥāṣ to ask him for support, and he wrote him a letter, and he said to Abū Bakr: "Do not undertake anything on your own against me until you return." Abū Bakr came, …
… what he had taken upon himself, and counted him among His mentioned servants, together with those whose patience in obedience to Allah was praised. In accordance with what we have said are the reports … then {كُلٌّ مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ} was begun anew, with the meaning: they all were among the people of patience in what befell them in the service of Allah …
By Ismāʿīl, Allah the Exalted means: Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm, the one true to his promise; and by Idrīs: Akhnūkh (Enoch); and by Dhū al-Kifl: a man who, before one of the people — whether a prophet or a righteous king — took upon himself a pledge concerning one of the good works, and fulfilled it after him. Allah praised him for his faithfulness to what he had taken upon himself, and counted him among His mentioned servants, together with those whose patience in obedience to Allah was praised. In accordance with what we have said are the reports of the early scholars. Mention of the reports concerning that: Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith: that a prophet from among the prophets said: "Who will guarantee me that he will fast by day, pray by night, and not become angry?" Then a young man stood up and said: "I." The prophet said: "Sit down." Then he repeated it, and the young man stood up again and said: "I." He said: "Sit down." Then he repeated it once more; the young man stood up and said: "I." He said: "You fast by day, pray by night, and do not become angry." That prophet died, and the young man took his place as judge among the people. He never became angry. Then the devil came in the form of a man to make him angry while he was fasting and wishing to sleep; he knocked violently on the door. "Who is there?" — "A man who is in need." He sent someone with him, but he said: "I am not content with this man." He sent another; he said: "I am also not content." Then he himself went out, took him by the hand and walked with him; but when they were in the marketplace he let him go and vanished. Thus he was named Dhū al-Kifl (the Guarantor). Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAffān ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Wuhaib related to us, saying: Dāwud related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: When al-Yasaʿ grew old he said: "Let me appoint someone to rule over the people on my behalf during my lifetime." He gathered the people and said: "Who will guarantee me three things so that I may appoint him? He fasts by day, prays by night, and does not become angry." A man stood up who seemed lowly in the eyes, and said: "I." He said: "You fast by day, pray by night, and do not become angry?" He said: "Yes." He sent them away that day; the next day he repeated the same; the people kept silent, but that man stood up and said: "I." He appointed him. Iblīs said to the devils: "Take hold of so-and-so," but he rendered them powerless. Then he said: "Leave him to me." He went to him in the form of a needy old man, at the moment when he lay down for the midday nap — for he slept neither by day nor by night except at that hour. He knocked on the door. "Who is there?" — "An old, wronged man." He got up, opened the door, and the man began his tale: "Between me and my people ther …
… deprived him of the worldly life - so that We might test the poor one by his patience with what was withheld from him that was given to the rich, and the king by his patience …
This is an argument from Allah, exalted is His mention, in favor of His Prophet against the polytheists of his people who said: { مَالِ هَذَا الرَّسُولِ يَأْكُلُ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشِي فِي الأَسْوَاقِ } — and a reply to them. He says to them, glorious is His praise: What is strange, O Muḥammad, that these speakers — "What ails this Messenger that he eats food and walks in the markets?" — object to your eating food and walking in the markets while you are a Messenger of Allah? For indeed they know that We did not send any messengers before you but that they ate food and walked in the markets — just as you eat and walk — so that they have no argument against you with what they say about that. If someone asks: "But the word min is not in the recitation — how then can you say that the meaning of the words is: except that they ate food?" — then we answer: the hāʾ and the mīm in His word "innahum" are substitute markers for names that are not mentioned, and they must necessarily refer back to the one whose name they substitute. The omission of the word min and its not being uttered is a consequence of the reference to the word { مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ } which already indicates it — just as in His word { وَمَا مِنَّا إِلا لَهُ مَقَامٌ مَعْلُومٌ } the min is not uttered but the meaning is unmistakable: "And there is none of us but he has a known station" — just as in { وَإِنْ مِنْكُمْ إِلا وَارِدُهَا } which has the meaning: "And there is none of you but he will come to it." Thus His word { إِنَّهُمْ لَيَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ } stands as a further qualification of the omitted man, just as one says in ordinary speech: "I have not sent anyone of the people to you but that he brings you the message" — where "he brings you the message" is the further qualification of man. And His word { وَجَعَلْنَا بَعْضَكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ فِتْنَةً } — Allah, exalted is His mention, says: We have made you, O people, a trial for one another: We made this one a prophet and chose him for the mission, and made that one a king and favored him with the worldly life, and made that one poor and deprived him of the worldly life — so that We might test the poor one by his patience with what was withheld from him that was given to the rich, and the king by his patience with the honor that the Messenger received, and how each person is content with what was given and apportioned to him, and how he obeys his Lord while he was withheld from what another was given. He says: for this reason I did not give Muḥammad the worldly life and made him seek his livelihood in the markets, and so that I might test you, O people, and test your obedience to your Lord and your response to His Messenger in what he called you to — without expecting any worldly benefit that Muḥammad would give you if you followed him, for had I given him the worldly life, many of you would have hastened to follow him out of greed for his world, to obtain something of it. In the same manner as we have explained concerning that meani …
… them that vexes people. But endure that from them and count upon the reward for your patience toward them, just as they had patience with you in your childhood and raised you." In accordance with …
By this He means, exalted be His remembrance, the decree of your Lord, O Muḥammad, with His command to you — that you worship Allah alone, for none deserves to be worshipped other than Him. The scholars of exegesis differed in their wording when explaining {وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ}, even though the meaning of all of them is the same. What they said concerning this is mentioned here: ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to me, saying: ʿAbdullāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: {وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ} — he said: "(He) commanded." Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: al-Ḥakam ibn Bashīr related to us, saying: Zakariyyāʾ ibn Salām related to us, who said: A man came to al-Ḥasan and said: "I have divorced my wife thrice." Al-Ḥasan said: "You have disobeyed your Lord and your wife is separated from you." The man said: "Allah decreed this concerning me." Al-Ḥasan — who was eloquent — said: "Allah did not decree it — that is to say: Allah did not command it." And he recited this verse: {وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ}. At this the people said: "Al-Ḥasan has spoken concerning divine predestination." Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the word {وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ}: "That is to say: your Lord commanded that you worship none other than Him. This is the decree of Allah in this world. And it used to be said in some of the sayings of wisdom: whoever pleases his parents pleases his Creator; and whoever displeases his parents has displeased his Lord." Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: {وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ} — he said: "He commanded that you worship none other. And in the reading of Ibn Masʿūd it reads: {وَصَّى رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ} ('your Lord has enjoined')." Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn ʿĪsā related to us, saying: Nuṣayr ibn Abī al-Ashʿath related to us, saying: Ibn Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit related to me, on the authority of his father, who said: "Ibn ʿAbbās gave me a manuscript and said: 'This is in accordance with the reading of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb.'" Abū Kurayb said: Yaḥyā said: "I saw the manuscript with Nuṣayr; in it was written: {وَوَصَّى رَبُّكَ} — that is to say: {وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ}." Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: {وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ} — he said: "Your Lord has enjoined." Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning the word {وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ}: "He commanded that you worship none other." Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Hushaym related …
… تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فاتكم} ("so that you should not grieve over what has escaped you"), he said: patience at the calamity, and gratitude at the blessing. Ibn Humayd related to us, saying: Mihran related … that he grieves and rejoices, but rather whoever a calamity befalls, let him turn it into patience, and whoever good befalls, let him turn it into gratitude. Yunus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed …
The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, means: no calamity befalls you, O people, in your possessions nor in your souls, except that it is in a book in which that has already been written, before We created your souls, {لِكَيْلا تَأْسَوا} ("so that you should not grieve"), He says: so that you should not mourn, {عَلَى مَا فَاتَكُمْ} ("over what has escaped you") of the worldly life, such that you have not attained it thereof, {وَلا تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتَاكُمْ} ("and not rejoice over what He has given you") thereof. The meaning of His statement: {بِمَا آتَاكُمْ} ("over what He has given you"), when the alif therein is pronounced long, is: over that which your Lord has given you, has placed in your possession, and has allotted to you; and when the alif is pronounced short, its meaning is: over that which has come to you thereof. And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken. * Mention of who said that: ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: {لِكَيْ لا تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فاتكم} ("so that you should not grieve over what has escaped you") of the worldly life, {وَلا تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتَاكُمْ} ("and not rejoice over what He has given you") thereof. It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn Yazīd al-Ṭaḥḥān, saying: Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr related to us, on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: {لِكَيْ لا تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فاتكم} ("so that you should not grieve over what has escaped you"), he said: patience at the calamity, and gratitude at the blessing. Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Simāk al-Bakrī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: {لِكَيْ لا تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فاتكم} ("so that you should not grieve over what has escaped you"), he said: there is none but that he grieves and rejoices, but rather whoever a calamity befalls, let him turn it into patience, and whoever good befalls, let him turn it into gratitude. Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the statement of Allah, Mighty and Exalted: {لِكَيْ لا تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلا تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتاكم} ("so that you should not grieve over what has escaped you and not rejoice over what He has given you"), he said: do not mourn over what has escaped you of the worldly life, and do not rejoice over what has come to you thereof. The reciters differed over the reading of His statement: {بِمَا آتَاكُمْ} ("over what He has given you"). Most of the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Kufa read it: {بِمَا آتَاكُمْ} ("over what He has given you") with a long alif, and some of the reciters of Basra read it: {بِما أتاكُمْ} ("over what has come to you") with a short alif. It is as though whoever read it with a short alif preferred his reading thereof …
… descended to them and said: { إِنَّكُمْ مَاكِثُونَ }. When they heard that they said: then be patient, perhaps patience will benefit us as it benefited the people of the world in obedience to Allah. They were … patient and their patience was long, then they called out: { سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْنَا أَجَزِعْنَا أَمْ صَبَرْنَا مَا لَنَا مِنْ مَحِيصٍ } - that is to say: no escape. Iblis then stood up and addressed them with a speech …
The Qurʾān reciters (al-qurrāʾ) differed concerning the reading of this. Most of the reciters of Medina and Baṣra and some of the reciters of Kufa read it as: { غَلَبَتْ عَلَيْنَا شِقْوَتُنَا } — with a kasra under the shīn and without an alef. Most of the reciters of Kufa read it as: "shaqāwatunā" — with a fatḥa on the shīn and an alef. The most correct opinion concerning this is that they are two well-known readings, each of which has been transmitted by scholars among the reciters with the same meaning. Whichever reading the reader chooses, it is correct. The explanation of the text is: they said: our Lord, that which in Your foreknowledge was decreed for us and was recorded for us in the Mother of the Scriptures (umm al-kitāb) has overwhelmed us. In accordance with what we have said the exegetes spoke. Mention of those who said that: Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his word: { غَلَبَتْ عَلَيْنَا شِقْوَتُنَا } — he said: that which was written against us. Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his word { غَلَبَتْ عَلَيْنَا شِقْوَتُنَا }: that which was written against us. Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — similar to that. Ibn Jurayj said: it has been transmitted to us that the people of the Fire called out to the keepers of Hell (jahannam): { ادْعُوا رَبَّكُمْ يُخَفِّفْ عَنَّا يَوْمًا مِنَ الْعَذَابِ } — but they did not answer them for as long as Allah pleased. When they answered them after some time they said: { فَادْعُوا وَمَا دُعَاءُ الْكَافِرِينَ إِلا فِي ضَلالٍ }. He said: then they called out to Mālik: { يَا مَالِكُ لِيَقْضِ عَلَيْنَا رَبُّكَ } — and Mālik, the keeper of Hell (jahannam), kept silent before them for forty years, then he answered them and said: { إِنَّكُمْ مَاكِثُونَ }. Then the wretched ones called out to their Lord and said: { رَبَّنَا غَلَبَتْ عَلَيْنَا شِقْوَتُنَا وَكُنَّا قَوْمًا ضَالِّينَ * رَبَّنَا أَخْرِجْنَا مِنْهَا فَإِنْ عُدْنَا فَإِنَّا ظَالِمُونَ } — and [Allah] kept silent toward them for an age equal to the world, then He answered them: { اخْسَئُوا فِيهَا وَلا تُكَلِّمُونِ }. He said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abī Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who said: the people of the Fire call out to the people of the Garden (janna), but they do not answer them for as long as Allah pleases. Then it is said: answer them — and the bond of blood and mercy is then severed. The people of the Garden say: O people of the Fire, upon you is the wrath of Allah; O people of the Fire, upon you is the …
… smashed his head with it until he killed him. Musa saw something terrible against which no patience could be summoned - a small child without any guilt. {قَالَ أَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَكِيَّةً بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ}: that … account of the burden of the imposed trouble for something for which he could summon no patience. Musa said: {لَوْ شِئْتَ لاتَّخَذْتَ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا}: that is to say: they asked us for food …
The explanation of the meaning of His word: {فَوَجَدَا عَبْدًا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا آتَيْنَاهُ رَحْمَةً مِنْ عِنْدِنَا}: "We bestowed upon him a mercy from Us" — {وَعَلَّمْنَاهُ مِنْ لَدُنَّا عِلْمًا}: "and We likewise taught him knowledge from Us." As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said concerning {مِنْ لَدُنَّا عِلْمًا}: "That is to say: from Us — knowledge." The reason for the journey of Mūsā ﷺ and his young companion, and for his meeting with this learned man whom Allah mentions in this passage, was — as it is related — that Mūsā was asked: "Is there anyone on earth more learned than you?" To which he answered: "No" — or his soul tempted him to that. Allah deemed this unworthy of him and wished to make him understand that He has among His servants on earth someone more learned than he, and that it did not befit him to make a pronouncement about something of which he had no knowledge, but that he should have left that to the One Who knows it. Others said: the reason for that was that he asked Allah the Praised and Exalted to lead him to a learned man with whom he might increase his knowledge through that man's knowledge. Narration of those who said this: Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Hārūn ibn ʿAntura, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "Mūsā asked his Lord and said: 'Lord, which of Your servants is most beloved to You?' He said: 'The one who remembers Me and does not forget Me.' He said: 'Which of Your servants judges most justly?' He said: 'The one who judges according to the truth and does not follow his desire.' He said: 'O Lord, which of Your servants is the most learned?' He said: 'The one who seeks the knowledge of the people to add to his own knowledge — perhaps he comes upon a word that leads him to guidance or holds him back from ruin.' He said: 'Lord, is there anyone on earth [more learned than I]?' He said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Lord, who is he?' He said: 'Al-Khaḍir.' He said: 'And where do I seek him?' He said: 'On the coast, by the rock where the fish escapes.' Mūsā went to seek him, and there happened that which Allah has mentioned, until he reached him at the rock. They greeted one another, and Mūsā said to him: 'I would like you to take me as a companion.' He said: 'You will not be able to bear my company.' He said: 'Yes [I will].' He said: 'If, then, you follow me, do not ask me about anything until I myself make mention of it to you.' {فَانْطَلَقَا حَتَّى إِذَا رَكِبَا فِي السَّفِينَةِ خَرَقَهَا قَالَ أَخَرَقْتَهَا لِتُغْرِقَ أَهْلَهَا لَقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْئًا إِمْرًا * قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ إِنَّكَ لَنْ تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِيَ صَبْرًا * قَالَ لا تُؤَاخِذْنِي بِمَا نَسِيتُ وَلا تُرْهِقْنِي مِنْ أَمْرِي عُسْرًا * فَانْطَلَقَا حَتَّى إِذَا لَقِيَا غُلامًا فَقَتَلَهُ قَالَ أَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَكِيَّةً بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ لَقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْئًا نُكْرًا}... up to His word {لاتَّخَذْتَ عَل …
… than they, without sincerity, without reflection and without consideration; and they do not remember how the patience of their fathers toward Me was, and how their devotion to My affair was when the changers changed … they gave themselves and their blood, and showed patience and were sincere, until My affair became mighty and My religion prevailed. I have been patient with these people, that they might perhaps give heed …
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to the Children of Israel, concerning what He imposed upon them in the Torah: {If you do good} — O Children of Israel, that is to say: when you obey Allah, set your affairs in order, and hold to His command and His prohibition — {then you do good} and perform what you perform thereof {for yourselves}, for by those deeds of yours you benefit only yourselves, in this life and in the Hereafter. As for this life: Allah wards off from you the evil of those who wrong you, increases your possessions for you, and adds to your strength yet more strength. And as for the Hereafter: Allah, the Exalted, rewards you for that with His gardens. {And if you do evil} — He says: and when you disobey Allah and do what He has forbidden you — then it is against yourselves that you do evil, for thereby you arouse against yourselves the wrath of your Lord. Thus in this life He gives your enemy power over you, enables those who wrong you to harm you, and lets you abide forever in the Hereafter in the humiliating punishment (ʿadhāb). And He, whose praise is exalted, said: {And if you do evil, then it is for it (falahā)}, and the meaning is: then it is against it (ilayhā), as He said: {because your Lord revealed to it (lahā)}, the meaning of which is: revealed to it (ilayhā). And His word {And when the promise of the latter time comes} — He says: and when the promise of the latter of the two times that you cause corruption on the earth comes, O Children of Israel — {that they may bring evil to your faces (liyasūʾū)} — He says: that the coming of that promise for the latter time may bring evil to your faces and disfigure them. The reciters of the Qurʾān differed over the reading of His word {liyasūʾū wujūhakum}. Most of the reciters of the people of Medina and Basra read it {liyasūʾū wujūhakum} ("that they may bring evil to your faces"), with the meaning: that the servants of great might, whom Allah will set against you, may bring evil to your faces. Those who read it thus adduced, in support of the correctness of their reading, His word: {and that they may enter the mosque (wa-li-yadkhulū)}, and they said: that is a report concerning all, so likewise His word {liyasūʾū} ought to be. Most of the reciters of Kufa read it {liyasūʾa wujūhakum} ("that it may bring evil to your faces"), in the singular and with the yāʾ. This admits two interpretations: one is what I have already mentioned, and the other of them is: that Allah may bring evil to your faces. Whoever directs its interpretation to "that the coming of the promise may bring evil to your faces" makes the answer to His word "and when (fa-idhā)" omitted, while one could dispense with it through what is apparent; and that omitted word is "came (jāʾa)", so that the interpretation of the statement reads: and when the promise of the latter time comes that it may bring evil to your faces, it came. And whoever directs its interpretation to "that Allah may bring evil to your faces", i …
… away from it completely and is cut off by it; he does not endure its trial with patience, he does not count on its reward, and he does not hope for its good outcome …
أو كصيب من السماء (Or like a rainstorm from the sky) Exposition of the explanation of His words, the Exalted: { أو كصيب من السماء } (Or like a rainstorm from the sky). Abū Jaʿfar said: The word *al-ṣayyib* is of the form *al-faʿīl*, derived from your expression: "the rain *ṣāba*, *yaṣūbu*, *ṣawban*" — when it comes down and descends, as the poet said: "You do not belong to a human being, but to an angel, who descends from the expanse of the sky, plunging down (*yaṣūb*)." And as ʿAlqama ibn ʿAbada said: "It is as if over them a cloud rained down (*ṣāba*), whose lightning-flashes have for their birds a creeping motion. So do not equate me with a fool; the water-streams of the cloud are made to drink when it plunges down (*taṣūb*)." He means: when it descends. In its origin the word is *ṣayyūb*, but when the *wāw* was preceded by a quiescent (sukūn-bearing) *yāʾ*, the two together became a single doubled *yāʾ*, as one says *sayyid* from *sāda yasūdu*, and *jayyid* from *jāda yajūdu*. Thus the Arabs do with the *wāw* when it is mobile and a quiescent *yāʾ* precedes it: they make the two together into a single doubled *yāʾ*. And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken. 342 — Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Aḥmasī related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd related to us, saying: Hārūn ibn ʿAntara related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words: { أو كصيب من السماء } (Or like a rainstorm from the sky), he said: The rain. 343 — And ʿAbbās ibn Muḥammad related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: ʿAṭāʾ said to me: *Al-ṣayyib* is the rain. 344 — And al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: *Al-ṣayyib* is the rain. 345 — And Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a report he traced back on the authority of Abū Mālik and of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and of Murra, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and of some people among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ: *Al-ṣayyib* is the rain. * And Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father Saʿd related to me, saying: My uncle al-Ḥusayn related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the like of that. 346 — And Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda: { أو كصيب } (Or like a rainstorm), he said: The rain. * And al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, the like of that. 347 — And Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr al-Bāhilī and ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to me, both of them saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā ibn Maymūn related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī …
… reward be great, O Lord, as You have spoken and said to them, for long is Your patience, abundant Your favors, and You forgive sins and do not cast into ruin; and You keep …
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: "He said: 'Then it shall be forbidden to them for forty years; they shall wander about in the land'" (5:26). Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning what grammatically places "the forty" in the accusative. Some of them said: What places it in the accusative is His saying "forbidden" (muḥarrama). For Allah, the Mighty and Exalted, forbade to the people who disobeyed Him and opposed His command — from the people of Mūsā, who refused to fight the tyrants (the jabbārīn) — the entering of their city for forty years; then He opened it to them and made them dwell therein, and He destroyed the tyrants after a battle which they waged against them, after the forty years had passed and they had come out of the wilderness of wandering. 11690 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, who said: When the people said to them what they said, and Mūsā prayed against them, Allah revealed to Mūsā: "It shall be forbidden to them for forty years; they shall wander about in the land, so do not grieve over the corrupt people (al-qawm al-fāsiqīn)." On that day, according to what is related, they were six hundred thousand fighters. He made them "corrupt" (fāsiqīn) on account of the disobedience they committed. Thus they remained for forty years within a region of six farsakh, or less than that: each day they would journey diligently to get out of it, until they grew weary and halted, and behold, they would find themselves in the dwelling-place from which they had set out. They complained to Mūsā about what had befallen them, whereupon the manna and the quails (al-mann wa-l-salwā) were sent down upon them, and they were given clothing which remained with them; and if a child grew up, it grew along with it in the same measure as that clothing. Mūsā asked his Lord to give them drink, and a stone from the Ṭūr was brought, a white stone; whenever the people halted, he would strike it with his staff, and from it would come forth twelve springs, for each tribe of them a spring, so that each one knew his drinking-place. Until, when the forty years were over — which was a punishment for their transgression and disobedience — He revealed to Mūsā: Command them to journey to the Holy Land, for Allah has protected them against their enemy; and say to them, when they come to the mosque: that they enter through the gate, and prostrate themselves when they enter, and say: "Ḥiṭṭa" — and their saying "Ḥiṭṭa" means: that He remove their sins from them. But most of the people refused and disobeyed; they fell prostrate upon their cheek and said: "Ḥinṭa" (wheat). Then Allah, whose praise is exalted, said: "But those who did wrong changed the word for something other than what was said to them" up to "because of what they used to commit of corruption" (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:59). * …
… idolatry, his pure devotion of worship to Allah, his call to dissociate from the idols, and his patience with what he underwent from them of harm and torment, was treading the path of his father …
Allah, exalted be His remembrance, says: We delivered Ibrāhīm and Lūṭ from their enemies — Nimrūd and his people — out of the land of Iraq {إِلَى الأَرْضِ الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا لِلْعَالَمِينَ} (to the land which We have blessed for the peoples of the worlds) — that is the land of the Levant (al-Shām). He departed — may the blessings of Allah be upon him — from his people and their religion, and emigrated to the Levant. This story which Allah has told concerning the message of Ibrāhīm and his people is a reminder to the people of Muḥammad ﷺ from the Quraysh: that in their worship of idols and their tormenting of Muḥammad because of his forbidding of their worship and his call to the pure worship of Allah, they were treading the path of the enemies of their father Ibrāhīm, and were rejecting his religion. And that Muḥammad ﷺ, in his dissociation from their idolatry, his pure devotion of worship to Allah, his call to dissociate from the idols, and his patience with what he underwent from them of harm and torment, was treading the path of his father Ibrāhīm. And that Allah would lead him out from among them just as He removed Ibrāhīm from his people, after they persisted in their error, to his land of emigration in the land of the Levant. And by this Allah consoled His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ for what he underwent from his people of aversion and torment, and taught him that He would deliver him from them, just as He delivered his father Ibrāhīm from the unbelievers of his people. The exegetes differed concerning the land that Allah mentioned as that to which He delivered Ibrāhīm and Lūṭ, and which He described as that which He had blessed for the peoples of the worlds. Mention of who said this: Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ḥurayth al-Marwazī Abū ʿAmmār related to us, saying: al-Faḍl ibn Mūsā related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Abī al-ʿĀliya, on the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, concerning {وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ وَلُوطًا إِلَى الأَرْضِ الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا لِلْعَالَمِينَ}: he said: the Levant — and there is no sweet water that does not spring forth from that rock in Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis). Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Furāt al-Qazzāz, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word {إِلَى الأَرْضِ الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا}: he said: the Levant. Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word {وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ وَلُوطًا إِلَى الأَرْضِ الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا لِلْعَالَمِينَ}: they were in the land of Iraq, and were delivered to the land of the Levant. Concerning the Levant it was said: it is the chief pillar of the house of emigration. What is lacking in the earth is supplied in the Levant, and what is lacking in the Levant is supplied in Palestine. And it was said: it is the land of the gathering and the resurrection, and i …
… explanation of the word of the Exalted: { وَرَبَطْنَا عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ } - the Exalted says: We inspired them with patience and strengthened their hearts with the light of faith (iman), so that their souls were turned away …
The discourse on the explanation of the word of the Exalted: { وَرَبَطْنَا عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ } — the Exalted says: We inspired them with patience and strengthened their hearts with the light of faith (īmān), so that their souls were turned away from that which they possessed — the ease and comfort of life. As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda, concerning { وَرَبَطْنَا عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ }: "by means of faith (īmān)." His word: { إِذْ قَامُوا فَقَالُوا رَبُّنَا رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ } — He says: when they stood before the tyrant Diqyānūs and he reproached them for abandoning the worship of his gods, they said to him: { رَبُّنَا رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ } — He says: they said: our Lord is the King of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. Your gods are themselves created and governed, and it is not permissible for us to abandon the worship of the Lord and to worship the created. { لَنْ نَدْعُوَ مِنْ دُونِهِ إِلَهًا } — He says: we will never call upon any god besides the Lord of the heavens and the earth, for there is no god other than Him, and everything except Him is His creation. { لَقَدْ قُلْنَا إِذًا شَطَطًا } — the Exalted says: if we were to call upon a god other than the god of the heavens and the earth, then by that calling upon another as god we would have spoken true excess (shaṭaṭan) — what is meant is: a gross lie, going far beyond all bounds in its nullity and excess. As the poet said: "Hear now, O my people! My reproachers have gone too far with me, while they claim that my right has vanished through my vanity." One says: so-and-so exceeded the bounds in his pricing (ashṭṭa fī al-sawm) when he goes beyond the bounds and exaggerates the price — yashshuṭṭu ishṭāṭan wa-shaṭaṭan. As for being far, one says: the dwelling of so-and-so is far (shaṭṭa manzilu fulānin yashiṭṭu shuṭūṭan); and as for being tall: the girl has grown tall (shaṭṭati al-jāriyatu tashiṭṭu shiṭāṭan wa-shiṭāṭatan) — when she grew tall. In accordance with what we said concerning the explanation of { شَطَطًا } the exegetes spoke. Mention of who said that: Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda, concerning { لَقَدْ قُلْنَا إِذًا شَطَطًا } — he said: "a lie." Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning { لَقَدْ قُلْنَا إِذًا شَطَطًا }: "then we would have uttered error." He said: al-shaṭaṭ is error in speech.
… informs about the words of the learned one to Musa: "And how can you, O Musa, exercise patience with what you will see of my actions - actions of whose grounds for their correctness you have …
The explanation of the meaning of the words of Allah the Exalted: {وَكَيْفَ تَصْبِرُ عَلَى مَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِ خُبْرًا} (verse 68) Allah the Exalted informs about the words of the learned one to Mūsā: "And how can you, O Mūsā, exercise patience with what you will see of my actions — actions of whose grounds for their correctness you have no knowledge — and how can you remain with me while you see this? For you indeed judge the correctness of the one who acts correctly and the error of the one who acts wrongly on the basis of the outward appearance that you have before your eyes and on the basis of the extent of your knowledge. My actions, however, take place without an outwardly identifiable proof of their correctness before your own eyes, for they begin from causes that will become reality in the future and not now — causes of which you have no knowledge because they are matters of the unseen, and you do not encompass the knowledge of the unseen — that is to say: as conscious knowledge."
… indicate what is omitted, namely: "But they grew weary of that and said: we will not have patience with a single kind of food, and they exchanged what was less for what was better …
The explanation of His word: {وَقَطَّعْنَاهُمُ اثْنَتَيْ عَشْرَةَ أَسْبَاطًا أُمَمًا} ("And We divided them into twelve tribes, communities"). Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: We divided them — that is, the people of Mūsā among the children of Israel. Allah divided them and made them into different tribes, twelve tribes. * * * We have already explained earlier the meaning of "the tribes" (al-asbāṭ), and who they are. * * * The grammarians of Arabic differed concerning the reason why "the twelve" (al-ithnatā ʿashrata) is in the feminine form, while "the tribes" (al-asbāṭ) is a masculine plural. Some grammarians of Basra said: He meant twelve groups (firqa), and then He informed that the groups were "tribes," and He did not let the number relate to "tribes." * * * Some of them considered this explanation weak (yastakhillu) and said: the number can only relate to the word that follows it; but "the groups" (al-firaq) precedes "the twelve," so that "the twelve" is in the feminine form in conformity with the word that precedes it. Then the expression reads: "And We divided them into twelve groups, tribes" — thus the feminine form is correct because of what preceded it. * * * Some grammarians of Kufa said: He said "the twelve" in the feminine form, while "the tribe" (al-sibṭ) is masculine, because the expression is directed toward "the communities" (al-umam), so that the feminine form prevailed, even though "the tribe" is masculine. This is like the word of the poet: "And verily these Kilāb are ten bellies (ʿashr abṭun) / and you are innocent of her ten tribes." He let "the belly" (al-baṭn) relate to the tribe (qabīla) and the sub-tribe (faṣīla), and therefore he made the plural of "the belly" feminine. * * * Yet others among the grammarians of Kufa said: "The twelve" was made feminine, while "the tribe" is masculine, because of the mention of "the communities." * * * Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view in this matter, in my judgment, is that "the twelve" was made feminine because of the feminine form of "the portion" (al-qiṭʿa), and the meaning of the expression is: "And We divided them into twelve portions," after which He designated "the portions" (al-qiṭaʿ) as "the tribes." It is not permissible for "the tribes" to be a specification (tamyīz) of "the twelve," since it is a plural, for the specification with numbers above "ten" up to "twenty" occurs in the singular and not in the plural. And "the tribes" is a plural without a singular. This is as one says: "I have twelve woman (imraʾa, singular)." One does not say: "I have twelve women (niswa, plural)." This makes clear that "the tribes" is not a specification of "the twelve," and that the view in this matter is as we have said. * * * As for "the communities" (al-umam), these are the groupings. And "the tribe" (al-sibṭ) among the children of Israel is like "the generation" (al-qarn). * * * It has been said: They were divided into tribes only because of thei …
… whose trial was heavy. Their grief had lasted long. He began to say: Rejoice and have patience - then you will be rewarded; this has a reward, this has a recompense. They said: O young …
The explanation of the word of Allah, the Exalted: { وَدَخَلَ مَعَهُ السِّجْنَ فَتَيَانِ قَالَ أَحَدُهُمَا إِنِّي أَرَانِي أَعْصِرُ خَمْرًا وَقَالَ الآخَرُ إِنِّي أَرَانِي أَحْمِلُ فَوْقَ رَأْسِي خُبْزًا تَأْكُلُ الطَّيْرُ مِنْهُ نَبِّئْنَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ إِنَّا نَرَاكَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ } (And there entered the prison with him two young men. One of them said: I see myself pressing wine. And the other said: I see myself carrying bread upon my head, from which the birds eat. Tell us its interpretation; truly we see you to be among the doers of good.) [12:36] Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, the Exalted, says: Two young men entered the prison together with Yūsuf. By this He refers to something that has been omitted in the text, namely: { ثُمَّ بَدَا لَهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا رَأَوُا الآيَاتِ لَيَسْجُنُنَّهُ حَتَّى حِينٍ } — so they imprisoned him and brought him into the prison. And two young men entered the prison together with him. One contented oneself with the indication in His word { وَدَخَلَ مَعَهُ السِّجْنَ فَتَيَانِ } regarding the bringing of Yūsuf into the prison, without mentioning it explicitly. The two young men were — according to what is reported [note 37] — two slaves of the great king of Egypt; one was his cupbearer and the other his cook. As follows: 19266 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: He — meaning Yūsuf — was thrown into the prison. { وَدَخَلَ مَعَهُ السِّجْنَ فَتَيَانِ } — two slaves of the great king Al-Rayyān ibn al-Walīd; one was his cupbearer and the other his cook — who had fallen into disgrace with him. The name of the one was "Mujlith" and the other "Nabū" — and "Nabū" was the one in charge of the drink. 19267 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazid related to us, saying: Saʿid related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — { وَدَخَلَ مَعَهُ السِّجْنَ فَتَيَانِ } — that he said: "One was the king's baker over his food, and the other his cupbearer over his drink." The reason the king imprisoned the two young men — according to what is reported — was: 19268 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: "The king had become angry with his baker; it had reached him that he intended to poison him, so he imprisoned him. And he also imprisoned the cupbearer, thinking that he had conspired with the baker. Thus he imprisoned them both; that is the word of Allah: { وَدَخَلَ مَعَهُ السِّجْنَ فَتَيَانِ }." { قَالَ أَحَدُهُمَا إِنِّي أَرَانِي أَعْصِرُ خَمْرًا } — it is reported that Yūsuf ﷺ, after he had been brought into the prison, asked the prisoners there what his work was; they asked him: "I interpret dreams." Then one of the two young men who had entered the prison together with him said to his companion: "Come, let us put him to the test." As follows: 19269 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: "Whe …
… adversity and in distress"). Abu Jaʿfar said: And we have already set forth previously the interpretation of "patience" (al-sabr). The meaning of the words is thus: and those who restrain themselves - in adversity …
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: { لَيْسَ الْبِرَّ أَنْ تُوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ وَلَكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَالْمَلائِكَةِ وَالْكِتَابِ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ } ("Piety is not that you turn your faces toward the east and the west, but pious is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Book and the prophets"). Abū Jaʿfar said: The scholars of interpretation differed concerning the interpretation of His statement about this. Some of them said that the meaning of this is: piety is not the prayer alone, but piety consists of the qualities that I set forth for you. 2513 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "Piety is not that you turn your faces toward the east and the west" — he means: the prayer. He says: piety is not that you perform the prayer but do not act. This was from the time he migrated from Mecca to Medina, and the obligations were sent down and the prescribed penalties (ḥudūd) were established. So Allah commanded the obligations and the acting upon them. 2514 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "Piety is not that you turn your faces toward the east and the west" — rather piety is what is established in the hearts of obedience to Allah. 2515 — Al-Qāsim related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same. 2516 — Al-Qāsim related to me, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: this verse was sent down in Medina: "Piety is not that you turn your faces toward the east and the west" — he means: the prayer. He says: piety is not that you perform the prayer and do nothing other than that. Ibn Jurayj said: and Mujāhid said: "Piety is not that you turn your faces toward the east and the west" — he means the prostration, but piety is what is established in the heart of obedience to Allah. 2517 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Tumayla related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim, that he said concerning it: he says: piety is not that you perform the prayer and do nothing other than that. And this was when he migrated from Mecca to Medina, and Allah sent down the obligations and established the prescribed penalties (ḥudūd) in Medina, and commanded that the obligations be observed. * * * Others said: Allah meant by it the Jews and the Christians. That is because the Jews pray turning toward the west, and the Christians pray turning toward the east …
… Allah, excellent it is, O son of Adam, the gulp that you swallow down out of patience while you are angry and while you are wronged. 7841 - Musa ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman related …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, exalted is His praise: {الَّذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ فِي السَّرَّاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ} (134) (Those who spend in prosperity and in adversity, and those who restrain their anger, and those who pardon the people; and Allah loves those who do good.) Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by His statement: "those who spend in prosperity and in adversity": the Paradise (janna), whose breadth encompasses the heavens and the earth, is prepared for the God-fearing, and they are those who spend their possessions in the way of Allah — whether by expending it upon someone in need, or by strengthening one who is too weak to rise up for his jihād in the way of Allah. * * * As for His statement "in prosperity" (fī al-sarrāʾ), by it He means: in a state of joy, with abundance of wealth and ease of livelihood. * * * "al-sarrāʾ" (prosperity) is a verbal noun, derived from their statement "this matter gladdened me (sarranī) with a gladdening (masarra) and joy (surūr)". * * * "al-ḍarrāʾ" (adversity) is a verbal noun, derived from their statement "so-and-so was brought into distress (ḍurra), such that he is harmed (yuḍarr)", when injury (ḍurr) befalls him, and that is when hardship and toil in his livelihood befall him. * * * 7838 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "those who spend in prosperity and in adversity", he says: in difficulty and in ease. * * * Thus He, exalted is His praise, announced that the Paradise whose attributes He has described is destined for whoever fears Him and spends his wealth in a state of ease and abundance, and in a state of hardship and privation, in His way. * * * And His statement: "and those who restrain their anger" (wa-l-kāẓimīna al-ghayẓ), means: and those who swallow down their anger when their souls are full of it. * * * It is said of this: "so-and-so restrained his anger (kaẓama)", when he swallows it down, and thus withholds himself from carrying out what he is able to carry out — by exercising power over the one who angered him and avenging himself upon the one who wronged him. The origin of this comes from "the filling of the waterskin" (kaẓm al-qirba). It is said of this: "I filled the waterskin (kaẓamtu al-qirba)", when I filled it with water. And "so-and-so is kaẓīm and makẓūm" when he is full of grief and sorrow. And from this comes the statement of Allah, mighty and exalted: {وَابْيَضَّتْ عَيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْحُزْنِ فَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ} [Sūrat Yūsuf: 84] (and his eyes turned white from grief, for he was filled with sorrow), which means: full of grief. And from this the watercourses are called "al-kaẓāʾim", because of their being filled with water. And from this comes the statement: "I seized …
… fair word of your Lord was fulfilled toward the Children of Israel, because of their patience; and We destroyed what Pharaoh and his people had made and what they had been erecting …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: {وَأَوْرَثْنَا الْقَوْمَ الَّذِينَ كَانُوا يُسْتَضْعَفُونَ مَشَارِقَ الأَرْضِ وَمَغَارِبَهَا الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ الْحُسْنَى عَلَى بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ بِمَا صَبَرُوا وَدَمَّرْنَا مَا كَانَ يَصْنَعُ فِرْعَوْنُ وَقَوْمُهُ وَمَا كَانُوا يَعْرِشُونَ} (137) ("And We made the people who were oppressed inherit the eastern parts of the land and its western parts, which We had blessed; and the fair word of your Lord was fulfilled toward the Children of Israel, because of their patience; and We destroyed what Pharaoh and his people had made and what they had been erecting." (7:137)) Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: And We made the people who were oppressed by Pharaoh and his people inherit — those who slaughtered their sons, kept their women alive, and set them to labor in servitude and as slaves, namely the Children of Israel — the eastern part of the land, [that is] al-Shām (Syria), and that is what lies on its eastern side; "and its western part which We had blessed," He says: for whose inhabitants We made the good lasting and enduring. The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, said only "and We made inherit" (wa-awrathnā), because He made the Children of Israel inherit that through the destruction of the ʿAmālīq (Amalekites) who were there. * * * And in accordance with what we have said concerning His statement "the eastern part of the land and its western part," so have the scholars of interpretation spoken. * Mention of who said that: 15043 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Furāt al-Qazzāz, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement "and We made the people who were oppressed inherit the eastern part of the land and its western part which We had blessed," he said: al-Shām. 15044 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Isrāʾīl informed us, on the authority of Furāt al-Qazzāz, saying: I heard al-Ḥasan say — and he mentioned something similar. 15045 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Qabīṣa related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Furāt al-Qazzāz, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, "the land which We had blessed," he said: al-Shām. 15046 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement "and We made the people who were oppressed inherit the eastern part of the land and its western part which We had blessed," it is the land of al-Shām. 15047 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement "the eastern part of the land and its western part which We had blessed," he said: that which He blessed, [is] al-Shām. * * * Some of the scholars of Arabic claimed that "the eastern …
… possess only knowledge of the outward aspect of matters - you will therefore not be able to muster patience with what you will see of his actions, as we have mentioned in the narration …
The explanation of the meaning of the words of Allah the Exalted: {قَالَ إِنَّكَ لَنْ تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِيَ صَبْرًا} (verse 67) Allah the Exalted says: The learned one said: "You will not be able to bear patiently in accompanying me." And that was because he acts upon hidden knowledge that Allah had taught him, while you possess only knowledge of the outward aspect of matters — you will therefore not be able to muster patience with what you will see of his actions, as we have mentioned in the narration of Ibn ʿAbbās previously: that he was a man who acted upon the unseen, and had been taught therein.
… صَبْرًا جَمِيلا فَكِلانَا مُبْتَلى (My camel complains to me of the length of the night journey - beautiful patience, for we are both tried.) He said: 'The camel does not complain; but one speaks thus …
The explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: { فَانْطَلَقَا حَتَّى إِذَا أَتَيَا أَهْلَ قَرْيَةٍ اسْتَطْعَمَا أَهْلَهَا فَأَبَوْا أَنْ يُضَيِّفُوهُمَا فَوَجَدَا فِيهَا جِدَارًا يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَنْقَضَّ فَأَقَامَهُ قَالَ لَوْ شِئْتَ لاتَّخَذْتَ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا } (18:77) Allah the Exalted says: Mūsā and the learned one journeyed on { حَتَّى إِذَا أَتَيَا أَهْلَ قَرْيَةٍ اسْتَطْعَمَا أَهْلَهَا } — they asked them for food but were not fed; they asked for hospitality { فَأَبَوْا أَنْ يُضَيِّفُوهُمَا فَوَجَدَا فِيهَا جِدَارًا يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَنْقَضَّ } — they found in the village a wall that was about to fall and collapse. One says: "inqaḍḍat al-dār" when a house collapses and falls; hence also "inqiḍāḍ al-kawkab" — the falling down of a star, its dropping away from its place; hence the verse of Dhū al-Rumma: فَانْقَضَّ كَالكَوكَبِ الدُّرِّيِّ مُنْصَلِتًا (He shot down like a brilliant star, swift as an arrow.) It is related from Yaḥyā ibn Yaʿmar that he read: "yanqāḍḍ" (with ā). The Arabic language scholars differed about its meaning when read in this way. Some of the Baṣran scholars said: the meaning of "yanqāḍḍ" is "breaking loose from its root and cracking" — as one says: "inqāḍḍat al-sinn" (the tooth has split), that is: split from its root. One says: "a separation like the splitting of a tooth" — that is: without coming back together. Some of the Kūfan scholars said: "al-inqiyāḍ" is the crack along the length of the wall, in the lining of a well, and in a person's tooth — one says: "inqāḍḍat sinnu-hu" when a tooth splits lengthwise. It has been said that the village whose inhabitants Mūsā and his companion asked for food but who refused them hospitality was al-Ayla. Those who said this are mentioned below: Al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Dharrāʿ related to me, saying: ʿImrān ibn al-Muʿtamir, the companion of al-Karābīsī, related to us, saying: Ḥammād Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn. He said: "Visit al-Ayla, for whoever comes to it rarely returns empty-handed; it is the land whose people refused hospitality; it is the land of Allah furthest removed from the heaven." Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning { فَانْطَلَقَا حَتَّى إِذَا أَتَيَا أَهْلَ قَرْيَةٍ } — and he recited up to { لاتَّخَذْتَ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا }: "The worst of villages is the village that offers the traveler no hospitality and does not recognize the traveler's right." The Arabic language scholars differed about the meaning of Allah's word { يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَنْقَضَّ }. Some of the Baṣran scholars said: a wall has no will, nor does the inanimate; but when it is in this state of decay, that is its "will" — as the Arabs say about other things: يُرِيدُ الرُّمْحُ صَدْرَ أبِي بَرَاءٍ وَيَرْغَبُ عَنْ دِمَاءِ بَنِي عُقَيْلِ (The lance wills the breast of Abū Barāʾ — but desires nothing of the blood of Banū ʿUqayl.) Another scholar among them said: people were addressed i …
… meaning of His statement: (and to make firm thereby the feet) is: and He pours upon them patience and sends it down upon them, so that they hold firm against their enemy. And that …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: {When He caused the slumber to descend upon you as a reassurance from Him, and sent down upon you water from the sky to purify you thereby, and to remove from you the defilement (rijz) of the devil, and to fortify your hearts and make firm thereby your feet} (11). Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: {and that your hearts might thereby be set at ease}, "when He caused the slumber to descend upon you." And by His statement (He caused the slumber to descend upon you) He means: He cast the slumber over you — (as a reassurance — amana), He says: as a securing from Allah for you against your enemy, that he might overcome you; and likewise slumber during war is a reassurance from Allah, Mighty and Exalted. * * * 15758 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abī Razīn, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, who said: slumber during battle is a reassurance from Allah, Mighty and Exalted, and during the prayer (ṣalāh) it is from the devil. 15759 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us concerning His statement: "the slumber covers you as a reassurance from Him," on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abī Razīn, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, with something similar, he said: ʿAbdallāh said — and he mentioned the like of it. 15760 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abī Razīn, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, with something similar. * * * And "al-amana" is a maṣdar of the statement of one who says: "amintu min kadhā amanatan, wa-amānan, wa-amnan," and all of that has one and the same meaning. * * * And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken. * Mention of who said that: 15761 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: (as a reassurance from Him), a securing from Allah, Mighty and Exalted. 15762 — . . . . he said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: (as a reassurance), he said: a securing from Allah. 15763 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb related to us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: (when He caused the slumber to descend upon you as a reassurance from Him), he said: Allah, Mighty and Exalted, caused the slumber to descend as a reassurance against the fear that befell them on the day of Uḥud. And he recited: {Then He sent down upon you, after the distress, reassurance — a slumber} [Sūra Āl ʿImrān: 154]. * * * And the reciters differed in the reading of His statement: "when He caused the slumber to descend upon you …
… deceit of the unbeliever (kafir) shall be weakened, urging him to diligence in his cause and to patience in his worship, and so that he - amid that which befalls him from his enemies, both …
The exposition of the exegesis of the word of Allah the Exalted: { وَهَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ مُوسَى } (verse 9) Allah, exalted be His remembrance, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ — consoling him for the hardships he endured from the polytheists (mushrikīn) among his people, instructing him concerning the clarity of his cause and their cause, that he shall be raised above them and that the deceit of the unbeliever (kāfir) shall be weakened, urging him to diligence in his cause and to patience in his worship, and so that he — amid that which befalls him from his enemies, both the mushrikīn among his people and others, and amid that which the exertion in obedience to Him costs him — may keep before his eyes what befell his brother Mūsā, peace be upon him, from his enemy, then from his people and from the Children of Israel, and what trial and hardships he underwent therein as a small child, then as a growing youth, then as a grown man: { وَهَلْ أَتَاكَ } — O Muḥammad — { حَدِيثُ مُوسَى } — the son of ʿImrān?
… Your victory over them, speedily, for truly, You do not break the promise; but we have no patience with Your delay and Your forbearance toward them, so hasten [for them] their humiliation …
Exposition of the interpretation of His word: { رَبَّنَا وَآتِنَا مَا وَعَدْتَنَا عَلَى رُسُلِكَ وَلا تُخْزِنَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّكَ لا تُخْلِفُ الْمِيعَادَ } (194) ("Our Lord, grant us what You have promised us through Your messengers, and do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection. Truly, You do not break the promise.") Abū Jaʿfar said: If a speaker were to ask us: what is the meaning of these people asking their Lord to grant them what He has promised them, when they knew that Allah fulfills His promise and that it is not permissible for any breaking of the promise to proceed from Him? Then the answer is: the people of investigation (the scholastic thinkers) differ about that. Some of them said: it is a statement which takes the form of a request, but whose meaning is an assertion. They said: for the interpretation of the words is: { رَبَّنَا إِنَّنَا سَمِعْنَا مُنَادِيًا يُنَادِي لِلإِيمَانِ أَنْ آمِنُوا بِرَبِّكُمْ فَآمَنَّا رَبَّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَكَفِّرْ عَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا وَتَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الأَبْرَارِ } ("Our Lord, truly, we heard a caller calling to faith (īmān): 'Believe in your Lord', and we believed. Our Lord, then forgive us our sins and wipe away from us our evil deeds and let us die with the righteous") — that You may grant us what You have promised us through Your messengers and may not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection. They said: and it is not that they said: "If You let us die with the righteous, then fulfill for us what You have promised us", for they knew that Allah does not break the promise, and that what He has promised through His messengers He does not grant by means of the supplication, but rather He grants it out of grace, by taking the initiative to it, and then fulfills it. * * * And others said: no, it is a statement of its speakers in the sense of a request and a supplication to Allah, that He may make them among those to whom He has granted the honorable treatment which He promised them through His messengers — not that they themselves had earned the rank of honorable treatment with Allah and then asked Him to grant them what He had promised them after they knew that they had earned it for themselves, such that this would be a request from them to their Lord not to break His promise. They said: and if the people had only asked their Lord to grant them what He has promised the righteous, then they would have purified themselves and testified for themselves that they were among those who had earned the honorable treatment of Allah and His reward. They said: and that is not the characteristic of the people of excellence among the believers. * * * And others said: no, they made this statement in the sense of a request and a longing on their part to Allah, that He might grant them what He has promised them of victory over their enemies among the people of unbelief (kufr), and triumph over them, and the raising of the word of truth above falsehood, so that He might hasten that for th …
… that which they accomplished in obedience to Allah, and follow their example, and tread their path in patience regarding what befalls you for the sake of Allah, and in persevering in conveying His message …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: { وَاذْكُرْ إِسْمَاعِيلَ وَالْيَسَعَ وَذَا الْكِفْلِ وَكُلٌّ مِنَ الأَخْيَارِ } (And remember Ismāʿīl, al-Yasaʿ, and Dhū al-Kifl; and all were among the best) (38:48). He, exalted is His mention, says to His Prophet, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him: Remember, O Muḥammad, Ismāʿīl, al-Yasaʿ, and Dhū al-Kifl, and that which they accomplished in obedience to Allah, and follow their example, and tread their path in patience regarding what befalls you for the sake of Allah, and in persevering in conveying His message. And we have previously, in what has already passed in this book of ours, set forth the reports concerning Ismāʿīl, al-Yasaʿ, and Dhū al-Kifl, in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it here. And "al-kifl" in the language of the Arabs means: the portion and the good fortune.
… servants and their interests = "Forbearing," he says: possessor of forbearance toward His creatures, and possessor of patience in His leaving off hastening to punish them for the injustice which some of them …
The discourse on the explanation of His saying: { وَلَكُمْ نِصْفُ مَا تَرَكَ أَزْوَاجُكُمْ إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُنَّ وَلَدٌ فَإِنْ كَانَ لَهُنَّ وَلَدٌ فَلَكُمُ الرُّبُعُ مِمَّا تَرَكْنَ مِنْ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ يُوصِينَ بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ } ("And for you is half of what your wives leave behind, if they have no child. But if they have a child, then for you is a fourth of what they leave, after a bequest they have made or a debt"). Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by this: "and for you," O people, = "is half of what your wives leave behind," after their death, of property and inheritance, = "if they have no child" on the day death befalls them, neither male nor female, = "but if they have a child," that is to say: if your wives, on the day death befalls them, have a child, male or female, = "then for you is a fourth of what they leave" of property and inheritance, as a portion of inheritance for you from her, = "after a bequest they have made or a debt." He says: that is for you as a portion of inheritance from her, out of that which remains of her estates and properties, after the discharge of her debts with which they die and which rest upon her, and after the carrying out of her valid bequests, if they have made any. * * * The discourse on the explanation of His saying: { وَلَهُنَّ الرُّبُعُ مِمَّا تَرَكْتُمْ إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَكُمْ وَلَدٌ فَإِنْ كَانَ لَكُمْ وَلَدٌ فَلَهُنَّ الثُّمُنُ مِمَّا تَرَكْتُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ تُوصُونَ بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ } ("And for them is a fourth of what you leave, if you have no child. But if you have a child, then for them is an eighth of what you leave, after a bequest you make or a debt"). Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by His saying: "and for them is a fourth of what you leave if you have no child" — and for your wives, O people, is a fourth of what you leave behind after your death, of property and inheritance, if the event of death befalls one of you and he has no child, neither male nor female, = "but if you have a child," he says: if the event of death befalls one of you and he has a child, male or female, whether the child is one or a group, = "then for them is an eighth of what you leave," he says: then for your wives at that time, out of your properties and your estates which you leave behind after your death, is the eighth, after the discharge of your debts with which the event of death befalls you and which rest upon you, and after the carrying out of your valid bequests which you make. * * * And it was only said: "after a bequest made therewith or a debt," with the mention of the bequest placed before the mention of the debt, because the meaning of the wording is: indeed, that which I have prescribed for whomever of you I have prescribed it in these verses, that is for him only after the setting aside of whichever of these two matters was in the possession of the deceased among you, whether of a bequest or of a debt. Therefore it is the same whether the mentio …
… مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ } He intends to remove the notion of haste from Himself, and to describe Himself with patience and forbearance. Since this is so, the interpretation of the words is: one day of the days …
Allah, the Exalted, says: and they seek to hasten you, O Muhammad—the polytheists of your people—with that which you promise them of the punishment of Allah on account of their associating partners with Him and their rejection of you in what you have brought them from Allah's side, in the worldly life. But Allah will never break His promise which He made to you concerning them—namely, that He would send down upon them His punishment and His vengeance. And He accomplished this, and fulfilled His promise to them, so that He killed them on the Day of Badr. The exegetes differed concerning the day of which Allah, exalted is His praise, says: { وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ } (And indeed, one day with your Lord is like a thousand years of what you count.) Which day is that? Some said: it is one of the days in which Allah created the heavens and the earth. Mention is made of those who said that: Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: { وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ }—he said: it is one of the days in which Allah created the heavens and the earth. Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words: { وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ }... the entire āya—he said: this is the same as what is in (Alif-Lām-Mīm, the Revelation), it is identical, it is the same āya. Others said: no, it is one of the days of the Hereafter. Mention is made of those who said that: Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the measure of the reckoning on the Day of Resurrection is a thousand years. Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Saʿīd al-Jurayrī related to us, on the authority of Abū Naḍra, on the authority of Sumayr ibn Nahār, who said: Abū Hurayra said: the poor Muslims will enter the Garden (janna) before the rich, with a lead of half a day. I said: what is half a day? He said: do you not read the Qurʾān? I said: yes. He said: { وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ }. Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me, saying: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Mujāhid: { وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ }—he said: they are the days of the Hereafter. Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said concerning this āya: { وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ }—he said: these are the days of the Hereafter. And as for the wor …
… does not hasten the sinners among them with punishment, but He is possessor of forbearance and patience toward them, so that whoever of them repents may repent, and whoever of them turns away from …
The statement concerning the explanation of His word, the Exalted: {turjī man tashāʾu minhunna wa-tuʾwī ilayka man tashāʾu wa-mani ibtaghayta mimman ʿazalta fa-lā junāḥa ʿalayka dhālika adnā an taqarra aʿyunuhunna wa-lā yaḥzanna wa-yarḍayna bi-mā ātaytahunna kulluhunna wa-llāhu yaʿlamu mā fī qulūbikum wa-kāna llāhu ʿalīman ḥalīman} ("You may put off whom you will of them and take to yourself whom you will; and whomever you desire of those you have set aside, there is no blame upon you. That is most fitting that their eyes should be cooled and that they should not grieve and that they should all be content with what you give them. And Allah knows what is in your hearts, and Allah is All-Knowing, Forbearing" (33:51)). The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the explanation of His word {turjī man tashāʾu minhunna wa-tuʾwī ilayka man tashāʾu} ("You may put off whom you will of them and take to yourself whom you will"). Some of them said: by His word "turjī" is meant: you put off, and by His word "tuʾwī" is meant: you take to yourself. * Mention of who said that: ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word {turjī man tashāʾu minhunna} ("You may put off whom you will of them"), he says: you put off. Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his word {turjī man tashāʾu minhunna} ("You may put off whom you will of them"), he said: you set aside, without divorce (ṭalāq), whom you will of your wives. {wa-tuʾwī ilayka man tashāʾu} ("and take to yourself whom you will"), he said: you bring her back to yourself. Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word {turjī man tashāʾu minhunna wa-tuʾwī ilayka man tashāʾu} ("You may put off whom you will of them and take to yourself whom you will"), he said: Allah made it permitted to him that he leave aside whom of them he willed and come to whom of them he willed without apportionment (of the turns), even though the Prophet of Allah used to keep to an apportionment. Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū Razīn: {turjī man tashāʾu minhunna wa-tuʾwī ilayka man tashāʾu} ("You may put off whom you will of them and take to yourself whom you will"), he said: when they feared that he would put them away, they said: "O Prophet of Allah, make of your property and your person for us what you will." Among those whom he put off were Sawda bint Zamʿa, Juwayriya, Ṣafiyya, Umm Ḥabība and Maymūna; and among those whom he took to himself were ʿĀʾisha, Umm Salama, Ḥafṣa and Zaynab. It was r …
… beneficence which Allah, exalted is His mention, has commanded alongside the justice which we have described, is: patience for the sake of Allah in obedience to Him regarding what He commanded and forbade - in prosperity …
Allah, exalted is His mention, says: Allah commands in this Book which He has sent down upon you, O Muḥammad — justice (al-ʿadl). And justice is fairness. Among fairness is: acknowledgment of the One who has favored us with His grace, gratitude to Him for His beneficence, and ascribing praise to its rightful owner. And since that is justice, and since the idols and graven images have no claim to praise with us — inasmuch as they bestow no favor that one should thank them, nor bring any benefit that one should worship them — it was folly on our part to praise and worship them. Therefore it was obligatory upon us to bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, without partner. For this reason whoever said it said: al-ʿadl in this place is the testimony that there is no god but Allah. Mention of the one who said that: Al-Muthannā and ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to me — both of them said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning His words {إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ} — he said: "The testimony that there is no god but Allah." As for His words concerning al-iḥsān (beneficence): the beneficence which Allah, exalted is His mention, has commanded alongside the justice which we have described, is: patience for the sake of Allah in obedience to Him regarding what He commanded and forbade — in prosperity and adversity, in the disagreeable and the agreeable. That is the fulfillment of His obligatory duties (farāʾiḍ). As Al-Muthannā and ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to me — both of them said: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning {وَالإِحْسَانِ} — he said: "The fulfillment of the obligatory duties." As for His words {وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى} (And the giving to kinsfolk): that is to say, giving to the kinsfolk the due that Allah has imposed upon you on account of the tie of kinship (raḥim). As Al-Muthannā and ʿAlī related to me — both of them said: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning {وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى} — he said: "The blood relatives." As for His words {وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ} (And He forbids the indecent): al-faḥshāʾ in this place is fornication (zinā). Mention of the one who said that: Al-Muthannā and ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to me — both of them said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning {وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ} — he said: "Fornication (zinā)." We have previously expounded the meaning of al-faḥshāʾ with attestations. As for His words {وَالْبَغْيِ} (And transgression): it has been said that al-baghī in this place means pride (kibr) and wrongdoing (ẓulm). Mention of the one who said that: Al-Muthannā and ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to me — both of them said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣā …
… like of what you will be afflicted with, so do not be less than any woman in patience!" She said: Then I wept. Then he said: "You are the mistress of the women …
The explanation of His word: {وَإِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلائِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَاكِ وَطَهَّرَكِ وَاصْطَفَاكِ عَلَى نِسَاءِ الْعَالَمِينَ} (42) (And when the angels said: "O Maryam, indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds." (3:42)) Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means by it: {وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ * إِذْ قَالَتِ امْرَأَةُ عِمْرَانَ رَبِّ إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لَكَ مَا فِي بَطْنِي مُحَرَّرًا} (And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing * when the wife of ʿImrān said: "My Lord, indeed I have dedicated to You what is in my womb, freed for Your service") — "and when the angels said: O Maryam, indeed Allah has chosen you." The meaning of His word "has chosen you (iṣṭafāki)" is: He has selected you and singled you out for His obedience and for the honour with which He has distinguished you. And His word "and purified you (wa-ṭahharaki)" means: He has purified your religion of doubt and of the blemishes that are found in the religions of the women of the children of Adam. = "and chosen you above the women of the worlds" means: He has preferred you above the women of the worlds in your time, through your obedience to Him, and thus He has raised you above them, as is related from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he said: "The best of her women is Maryam, the daughter of ʿImrān, and the best of her women is Khadīja, the daughter of Khuwaylid." — by "the best of her women" he means: the best of the women of the inhabitants of paradise. 7026 — This was related to me by al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣudāʾī, he said: Muḥāḍir ibn al-Muwarriʿ related to us, he said: Hishām ibn ʿUrwa related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar, who said: I heard ʿAlī in Iraq saying: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying: "The best of her women is Maryam, the daughter of ʿImrān, and the best of her women is Khadīja." 7027 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: al-Mundhir ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥizāmī related to me, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The best of the women of paradise is Maryam, the daughter of ʿImrān, and the best of the women of paradise is Khadīja, the daughter of Khuwaylid." 7028 — Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "and when the angels said: O Maryam, indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds": We were told that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ used to say: "It suffices you among the women of the worlds: Maryam, the daughter of ʿImrān, and the wife of Pharaoh, and Khadīja, the daughter of Khuwaylid, and Fāṭima, the daughter of Muḥammad." = Qatāda said: We were told that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ used to say: "The best women who have ridden camels are the righteous women of Qura …
… dwelling among the dwellings of Paradise (janna); { بِمَا صَبَرُوا } - that is to say: on account of their patience in these deeds and their enduring of the burden thereof. His word { وَيُلَقَّوْنَ فِيهَا تَحِيَّةً وَسَلامًا …
Allah the Exalted says: these of My servants whose qualities I have described — from the beginning of His word { وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الأَرْضِ هَوْنًا } ... up to His word { وَالَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَاجِنَا } ... the verse — { يُجْزَوْنَ } — that is to say: they are rewarded for these deeds which they performed in the world; { الْغُرْفَةَ } — that is an exalted dwelling among the dwellings of Paradise (janna); { بِمَا صَبَرُوا } — that is to say: on account of their patience in these deeds and their enduring of the burden thereof. His word { وَيُلَقَّوْنَ فِيهَا تَحِيَّةً وَسَلامًا }: the Qurʾān-reciters have differed among themselves over its reading. The majority of the Qurʾān-reciters of Medina and Basra read it as { وَيُلَقَّوْنَ } — with a closed yāʾ and a doubled qāf — in the meaning of: the angels greet them therein with the greeting. The majority of the Qurʾān-reciters of Kufa read that as "wa-yalqawna" — with an open yāʾ and a single qāf. The most appropriate utterance concerning this is to say: they are two well-known readings among the reciters in the great cities, with one meaning; whoever of the two recites has done well. However, the reading which is most pleasing to me to recite is "wa-yalqawna fīhā" — with an open yāʾ and a single qāf. For the Arabs, when they say it with the doubling, use: "so-and-so is greeted (yutalaqqā) with the peace (al-salām) and with the good" and "we greet (natalaqqā) them with the peace" — they then add the yāʾ to it. Rarely do they say: "so-and-so has the peace bestowed upon him (yulqā al-salām)." Therefore, the correct formulation, were it with the doubling, would be: "they are greeted (yutalaqqawna) therein with the greeting and the peace." We chose this reading just as one is permitted to say "I seized the bridle" and "I seized the bridle." We have already expounded the meaning of the greeting (taḥiyya) and the peace (salām) elsewhere, so that there is no need to mention this here again.
… harm that befell you for the sake of Allah. { وَمَا صَبْرُكَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ } - Allah says: Your patience - if you are patient - is only through the support of Allah and His guidance toward it. { وَلَا تَحْزَنْ …
Allah, the Exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Be patient, O Muḥammad, regarding the harm that befell you for the sake of Allah. { وَمَا صَبْرُكَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ } — Allah says: Your patience — if you are patient — is only through the support of Allah and His guidance toward it. { وَلَا تَحْزَنْ عَلَيْهِمْ } — Allah says: and do not grieve over these polytheists who belied you and rejected what you brought them, when they turned away from you and refused what you brought them of good counsel. { وَلَا تَكُ فِي ضَيْقٍ مِمَّا يَمْكُرُونَ } — Allah says: and let not your breast be straitened by what they say of foolishness, and by their ascribing of what you brought them to sorcery, poetry, or soothsaying — of what they devise of schemes and deceit to turn away from the path of Allah the one who wishes to believe in you and to affirm what Allah has sent down to you. The Qurʾān reciters differed concerning the reading of this. Most of the reciters of Iraq read { وَلَا تَكُ فِي ضَيْقٍ } with an open d (fatḥa on the ḍād) — in conformity with the meaning that I have explained above. Some of the reciters of the people of Medina read it { وَلَا تَكُ فِي ضِيقٍ } with a closed d (kasra on the ḍād). The reading that is, in our view, the most correct is that of the one who read it with fatḥa on the ḍād in "ḍayq" — for Allah, the Exalted, forbade His Prophet ﷺ from his breast being straitened by what he received of harm from the polytheists in conveying to them the revelation and the sending down of Allah. He said to him: { فَلَا يَكُنْ فِي صَدْرِكَ حَرَجٌ مِنْهُ لِتُنْذِرَ بِهِ } — and He said: { فَلَعَلَّكَ تَارِكٌ بَعْضَ مَا يُوحَى إِلَيْكَ وَضَائِقٌ بِهِ صَدْرُكَ أَنْ يَقُولُوا لَوْلَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَيْهِ كَنْزٌ أَوْ جَاءَ مَعَهُ مَلَكٌ إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ نَذِيرٌ }. Since that is so — what He forbade him — the open ḍād is the well-known mode of expression in Arabic for that meaning. The Arabs say: "In my breast, on account of this matter, there is a straitness (ḍayq)." The kasra on the ḍād is used only for sustenance, the narrowness of a dwelling place, a garment, and the like. When "al-ḍayq" with fatḥa on the ḍād occurs in the position of "al-ḍīq" with kasra, then that is — for something that is sometimes spacious and sometimes narrow through the smallness of one of two aspects — either as a plural of "al-ḍayqa," as the poet Aʿshā Banī Thaʿlaba said: Would that your Lord, through His mercy, Had removed from us the straitness (al-ḍayqa) and given relief. Or it is as a lightening of "al-ḍayyiq" (the straitened), just as "al-hayyin al-layyin" is lightened so that one says: "He is hayyn layyn (light and easy)."
… they would have dispersed from around you," he said: He mentioned his gentleness toward them and his patience with them = because of their weakness and the smallness of their endurance of harshness, had it issued …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: {فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ لِنْتَ لَهُمْ وَلَوْ كُنْتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ الْقَلْبِ لانْفَضُّوا مِنْ حَوْلِكَ} (By a mercy from Allah you were gentle toward them; and had you been harsh and hard of heart, they would have dispersed from around you) Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means by His word "by a mercy from Allah": by a mercy from Allah, and "mā" is a connective particle (ṣila). I have already explained the manner in which it enters into the statement in connection with His word: {إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَسْتَحْيِي أَنْ يَضْرِبَ مَثَلا مَا بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا} [Surah Al-Baqarah: 26] (Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to present an example, even of a mosquito or what is above it). The Arabs place "mā" as a connective particle with both the definite and the indefinite, as He said: {فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِمْ مِيثَاقَهُمْ} [Surah An-Nisāʾ: 155; Surah Al-Māʾida: 13] (because of their breaking of their covenant), and the meaning is: because of their breaking of their covenant. And this is with the definite. And He said concerning the indefinite: {عَمَّا قَلِيلٍ لَيُصْبِحُنَّ نَادِمِينَ} [Surah Al-Muʾminūn: 40] (after a little while they will surely become regretful), and the meaning is: after a little while. And sometimes it is made into a noun, while having the position of a connective particle, so that what follows it is sometimes put in the nominative by way of connection, and put in the genitive by making it follow what precedes it, as the poet said: Indeed, it suffices us as an excellence above others than us that the Prophet Muḥammad loves us. When you do not take "ghayr" as a connective particle, you put it in the nominative by omitting "huwa"; and when you put it in the genitive, you make it follow "man," and you decline it thus. That, then, is its rule, in accordance with what we have described concerning the indefinite cases. As for the case in which the connected word is definite: then the most eloquent form of the statement is to make it follow, as has been said: {فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِمْ مِيثَاقَهُمْ}, while the nominative is permissible in Arabic. * * * And in accordance with what we have said concerning His word "by a mercy from Allah you were gentle toward them," a group of the exegetes have spoken. *Mention of who said that: 8119 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "by a mercy from Allah you were gentle toward them," he says: by a mercy from Allah you were gentle toward them. * * * As for His word "and had you been harsh and hard of heart, they would have dispersed from around you": He means by "the harsh" (al-faẓẓ) the rough one, and by "the hard of heart" the one whose heart is hard, without mercy and without compassion. And such was not his character ﷺ, but rather as Allah has described him: {بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ} [Surah At-Tawba: 128] (toward the believers full of c …
… opinion - then upon you is the care of your own soul! Truly, after you come days of patience; for whoever holds fast on that day to that which you now hold fast, there …
Explanation of the saying of the Exalted: {يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ لا يَضُرُّكُمْ مَنْ ضَلَّ إِذَا اهْتَدَيْتُمْ} (O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance.) Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls, so set them in order, strive to deliver them from the punishment of Allah, the Exalted whose remembrance is exalted, and attend to that which brings them nearer to their Lord. For truly: "he who errs cannot harm you" — He says: he who disbelieves and treads a path other than that of the truth cannot harm you, when you follow the right guidance, believe in your Lord, and obey Him in what He has commanded and forbidden you, so that you forbid what He has forbidden and permit what He has permitted. * * * He put the word "your own souls" (أنفسكم) in the accusative because of incitement (al-ighrāʾ). The Arabs incite with certain particles by means of "ʿalayka" (upon you), "ʿindaka" (with you), "dūnaka" (before you) and "ilayka" (toward you). (4) The scholars of interpretation differed concerning the explanation of this. Some of them said, the meaning of it is: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls" — when you enjoin good and forbid evil and it is not accepted from you. * Mention of who said that: 12848 - Sawwār ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: my father related to us, saying: Abū al-Ashhab related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: that this verse was recited to Ibn Masʿūd: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance." Then Ibn Masʿūd said: "This is not yet its time; speak it out as long as it is accepted from you, but when it is rejected from you, then upon you is the care of your own souls." (5) 12849 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Ashhab, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: in the presence of Ibn Masʿūd "O you who believe" was mentioned, and then he mentioned something similar. 12850 - Yaʿqūb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Yūnus, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: A man said to Ibn Masʿūd: Has Allah not said: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance"? He said: This is not yet its time; speak it out as long as it is accepted from you, but when it is rejected from you, then upon you is the care of your own souls. (7) 12851 - Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Shabāba ibn Sawwār related to us, saying: al-Rabīʿ ibn Ṣabīḥ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān ibn ʿUqqāl, he said: It was said to Ibn ʿUmar: Could you not stay at home during these days and neither enjoin nor forbid, for Allah, the Exalted whose remembrance is exalted, says: "upon you is the care …
… Allah and His abundant reward. {Truly, that is among the matters of firm resolve} - He says: that patience of his and that pardoning of the sin of the one who wronged him belongs …
Explanation of the statement of the Exalted: {Whoever is patient and forgives — truly, that is among the matters of firm resolve} (42:43) The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: And whoever patiently endures the wrong done to him, and pardons the wrongdoer for his offense against him and does not take revenge on him, while he would be capable of taking revenge on him — all of this out of seeking the Face of Allah and His abundant reward. {Truly, that is among the matters of firm resolve} — He says: that patience of his and that pardoning of the sin of the one who wronged him belongs to the steadfast matters to which He has urged His servants, and the performance of which with resolve He has enjoined upon them. ---------------- The footnotes: (5) Thus it stands in the base manuscripts. Probably there is here a scribal error of the copyist, and the original wording read: "to which He has urged," based on what follows.
… full, without reckoning) - the Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: indeed, Allah gives to the people of patience, for what they endured therein in the worldly life, their reward in the hereafter without reckoning …
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: { قُلْ يَا عِبَادِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةٌ وَأَرْضُ اللَّهِ وَاسِعَةٌ إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ } (Say: "O My servants who believe, fear your Lord. For those who do good in this worldly life there is a good [reward]. And Allah's earth is wide. Indeed, the patient will be given their reward in full, without reckoning") (10). The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says to His prophet Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: ( قُلْ ) (Say), O Muḥammad, to My servants who believe: ( يَاعِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ) (O My servants who believe) in Allah and who held His messenger to be truthful, ( اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمُ ) (fear your Lord) by obeying Him and avoiding the committing of sins against Him; ( لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَة ) (for those who do good in this worldly life there is a good [reward]). Then the people of interpretation differed concerning the explanation of that. Some of them said: its meaning is: for those who obeyed Allah there is a good [reward] in this worldly life; and they held that "في" (in) is connected to ḥasana (the good reward), and they made the meaning of al-ḥasana: health and well-being. * Mention of who said that: Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, ( لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةٌ ) (For those who do good in this worldly life there is a good [reward]): he said: well-being and health. And others said: "في" (in) is connected to aḥsanū (doing good), and the meaning of al-ḥasana is: paradise (al-janna). And His word: ( وَأَرْضُ اللَّهِ وَاسِعَةٌ ) (And Allah's earth is wide) — the Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: and Allah's earth is spacious and wide, so emigrate from the land of polytheism (shirk) to the abode of Islam. As Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: ( وَأَرْضُ اللَّهِ وَاسِعَةٌ ) (And Allah's earth is wide): so emigrate and remove yourselves from the idols. And His word: ( إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ) (Indeed, the patient will be given their reward in full, without reckoning) — the Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: indeed, Allah gives to the people of patience, for what they endured therein in the worldly life, their reward in the hereafter without reckoning; he says: their reward is without reckoning. And just as we have said this, so too said the people of interpretation. * Mention of who said that: Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, ( إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَج …
… endure from the unbelievers of his people for the sake of Allah, and to exhort him to patience in what befell him therein: "And thus have We made for every prophet an enemy." He says …
The statement concerning the explanation of His saying, the Exalted: { وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِيٍّ عَدُوًّا شَيَاطِينَ الإِنْسِ وَالْجِنِّ يُوحِي بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَى بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ الْقَوْلِ غُرُورًا } ("And thus have We made for every prophet an enemy: the satans of mankind and of the jinn, who inspire one another with embellished speech as a delusion") Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted says — praised be His mention — to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, in order to console him thereby concerning what he had to endure from the unbelievers of his people for the sake of Allah, and to exhort him to patience in what befell him therein: "And thus have We made for every prophet an enemy." He says: And just as We have tried you, O Muḥammad, by making for you out of the polytheists of your people enemies — satans who inspire one another with embellished speech in order to turn them, through their disputes with you about it, away from following you and from belief in you and in what you have brought them from your Lord — so did We try the prophets and messengers before you, by making for them out of their people enemies who tormented them with disputes and quarrels. He says: That with which I have tried you, I have not reserved for you alone, but I have made all of them undergo it in common with you, so that I might try them and put them to the test — despite My power to restrain whoever tormented them from their tormenting — and I did that only so that I might know among them the steadfast of resolve (ūlū al-ʿazm) from the rest. He says: So be patient, as the steadfast of resolve among the messengers were patient. * * * And as for "the satans of mankind and of the jinn": these are their rebellious ones (maradatuhum), and we have already explained from which verb this designation is derived, so that repeating it is superfluous. * * * And "the enemy" (al-ʿaduww) and "the satans" (al-shayāṭīn) are in the accusative because of His word "We have made (jaʿalnā)." * * * And as for His word "who inspire one another with embellished speech as a delusion": He means thereby that the one among them who utters it speaks the word which he has bedecked and embellished with falsehood to his companion, so that whoever hears it is deluded by it and thereby strays from the path of Allah. * * * Then the exegetes differed concerning the meaning of His word "the satans of mankind and of the jinn." Some of them said: Its meaning is: the satans of mankind, who are with mankind, and the satans of the jinn, who are with the jinn, and mankind have no satans. * Mention of who said that: 13765 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And thus have We made for every prophet an enemy: the satans of mankind and of the jinn, who inspire one another with embellished speech as a delusion; and had your Lord willed, they would not have done it." As for "the satans of mankind": these …
… mention: Allah gave to those whom He described with that which He described concerning them-namely, patience in obedience to Allah after the killing of their prophets, and in the struggle against their enemy …
The discourse on the exegesis of His statement: {فَآتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ ثَوَابَ الدُّنْيَا وَحُسْنَ ثَوَابِ الآخِرَةِ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ} (3:148) (And Allah gave them the reward of this world and the most excellent reward of the Hereafter, and Allah loves those who do good.) Abū Jaʿfar said: By this He means, exalted is His mention: Allah gave to those whom He described with that which He described concerning them—namely, patience in obedience to Allah after the killing of their prophets, and in the struggle against their enemy, and the seeking of help from Allah in their affairs, and the following of the ways of their leader in that with which they tested themselves for Allah—"the reward of this world" (thawāb al-dunyā), that is to say: a recompense in this world, and that is: the victory over their enemy and the enemy of Allah, and the triumph, and the conquest which He bestowed upon them, and the establishment of their position in the lands. "And the most excellent reward of the Hereafter" means: and the best recompense of the Hereafter for what they sent ahead in this world of their good works, and that is: the Garden (janna) and its felicity, as in: 7994 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: {وَمَا كَانَ قَوْلَهُمْ إِلا أَنْ قَالُوا رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا} (And their word was nothing but that they said: Our Lord, forgive us our sins), and he recited until he reached: "and Allah loves those who do good," that is to say: by Allah, Allah granted them the conquest and the upper hand and the establishment and the victory over their enemy in this world. "And the most excellent reward of the Hereafter," he says: the most excellent reward in the Hereafter, which is the Garden. 7995 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His statement: {وَمَا كَانَ قَوْلَهُمْ} (And their word was nothing...), and he then mentioned something similar. 7996 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His statement: "Allah gave them the reward of this world," he said: the victory and the spoils of war (ghanīma). "And the most excellent reward of the Hereafter," he said: the good pleasure of Allah and His mercy. 7997 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "Allah gave them the reward of this world," the upper hand over their enemy. "And the most excellent reward of the Hereafter," the Garden and what is prepared therein. And His statement: "and Allah loves those who do good," He says, exalted is His mention: Allah did that with them because of their doing good, for He loves those who do good, and they are those who act as He described concerning them that they acted when their p …
… answered it, and they answered it in a good manner and held fast to it with patience. Allah informs you about the believer among mankind, how he spoke, and about the believer among the jinn …
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, exalted is He: {rabbanā innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni an āminū bi-rabbikum fa-āmannā rabbanā fa-ghfir lanā dhunūbanā wa-kaffir ʿannā sayyiʾātinā wa-tawaffanā maʿa al-abrār} (193) (Our Lord, we have heard a caller calling to faith: "Believe in your Lord", whereupon we believed. Our Lord, forgive us our sins and efface from us our evil deeds, and cause us to die together with the righteous) (3:193). Abū Jaʿfar said: The scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have differed concerning the interpretation of "the caller" (al-munādī) whom Allah, exalted is He, has mentioned in this verse. Some of them said: "the caller" in this place is the Qurʾān. * Mention of those who said that: 8361 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Qabīṣa ibn ʿUqba related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUbayda, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb: "innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni" (we have heard a caller calling to faith), he said: it is the Book; not all of them met the Prophet ﷺ. 8362 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Manṣūr ibn Ḥakīm related to us, on the authority of Khārija, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUbayda, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī concerning His word: "rabbanā innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni", he said: not all people heard the Prophet ﷺ, but the caller is the Qurʾān. * * * Others said: no, it is Muḥammad ﷺ. * Mention of those who said that: 8363 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His word: "innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni", he said: it is Muḥammad ﷺ. 8364 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "rabbanā innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni", he said: that is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. * * * Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most correct of the two statements herein is the statement of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb, namely that "the caller" is the Qurʾān. For many of those whom Allah has described with this attribute in these verses do not belong to those who saw the Prophet ﷺ or beheld him and thus heard his call to Allah, blessed and exalted is He, and his summons; rather it is the Qurʾān. And that is comparable to His word, exalted is His praise, in which He informs about the jinn when they heard the Word of Allah recited to them, that they said: {innā samiʿnā qurʾānan ʿajaban * yahdī ilā al-rushd} [Surah al-Jinn: 1, 2] (we have heard a wondrous Qurʾān that guides to right conduct). And in the same sense: 8365 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "rabbanā innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni", up to His word: "wa-tawaffanā maʿa al-abrār": they heard a call from Allah and answered it, and they answered it in a good manner an …
… Messenger and upon the believers"). The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: thus Allah sent down patience, serenity, and dignity upon His Messenger and upon the believers, when those who disbelieved displayed the fury …
The explanation of His word, the Exalted: {إِذْ جَعَلَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الْحَمِيَّةَ حَمِيَّةَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَعَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَأَلْزَمَهُمْ كَلِمَةَ التَّقْوَى وَكَانُوا أَحَقَّ بِهَا وَأَهْلَهَا وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمًا} (26) ("When those who disbelieved had placed in their hearts the partisan fury, the fury of ignorance (jāhilīya), Allah sent down His tranquility upon His Messenger and upon the believers, and bound them to the word of God-fearingness (taqwā); and they had more right to it and were the ones worthy of it. And Allah is All-Knowing of all things.") The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, means by His word {إِذْ جَعَلَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الْحَمِيَّةَ حَمِيَّةَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ} ("When those who disbelieved had placed in their hearts the partisan fury, the fury of ignorance"): when Suhayl ibn ʿAmr placed in his heart the fury, so that he refused to allow it to be written in the treaty of settlement that was drawn up between the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the polytheists: "In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful (bismillāhi al-raḥmāni al-raḥīm)," and refused that it be written therein: "Muḥammad, the Messenger of Allah"; and he and his people prevented the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from entering that year. And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (taʾwīl) have spoken. * Mention of who said that: Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, who said: Their fury which Allah mentioned, when He said that those who disbelieved placed in their hearts the fury, the fury of ignorance, was that they did not acknowledge "In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful," and placed themselves between [the Muslims] and the House (the Sanctuary). Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, with something similar. ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad al-ʿUthmānī related to me, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Uways related to us, saying: my brother related to me, on the authority of Sulaymān, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, that Abū Hurayra informed him that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "I have been commanded to fight the people until they say: there is no god but Allah. Whoever then says: there is no god but Allah, has thereby protected from me his property and his life, except by its right, and his reckoning rests with Allah." And Allah sent down in His Book, and He mentioned a people who behaved arrogantly, and said: {إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لا إِلَهَ إِلا اللَّهُ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ} ("Indeed, when it was said to them: there is no god but Allah, they behaved arrogantly"). And Allah sa …
… what was in their hearts and so sent down tranquility upon them"): that is to say the patience and the dignity. And His saying { وَأَثَابَهُمْ فَتْحًا قَرِيبًا } ("and He rewarded them with a near victory …
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: { لَقَدْ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ يُبَايِعُونَكَ تَحْتَ الشَّجَرَةِ فَعَلِمَ مَا فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ فَأَنْزَلَ السَّكِينَةَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَثَابَهُمْ فَتْحًا قَرِيبًا } (18) ("Indeed, Allah was well pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to you under the tree; He knew what was in their hearts and so sent down tranquility (sakīna) upon them, and He rewarded them with a near victory.") (18) The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Indeed, Allah, O Muḥammad, has found pleasure in the believers { إِذْ يُبَايِعُونَكَ تَحْتَ الشَّجَرَةِ } ("when they swore allegiance to you under the tree") — He means the oath of allegiance (bayʿa) of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to the Messenger of Allah at al-Ḥudaybiya, when they swore allegiance to him to declare armed combat against Quraysh and not to flee and not to turn their backs to them, under the tree. Their oath of allegiance to him took place there, according to what has been transmitted, under a tree. The occasion of this oath of allegiance was, according to what is said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had sent ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, may Allah be pleased with him, with his message to the leading men of Quraysh, and ʿUthmān remained away for some time, so that it was thought that he had been killed. Thereupon he called his Companions to renew the oath of allegiance to fight them, in the manner I have described, and they swore allegiance to him upon that. This is the oath of allegiance that is called the Bayʿat al-Riḍwān (the Oath of Good Pleasure). Those who swore this oath to him were, according to what is transmitted in the statement of some: one thousand four hundred; in the statement of some: one thousand five hundred; and in the statement of some: one thousand three hundred. Mention of the transmission concerning what we have described about the occasion of this oath of allegiance: Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, saying: some scholars related to me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called Khirāsh ibn Umayya al-Khuzāʿī and sent him to Quraysh in Mecca, and mounted him on a camel of his that was called al-Thaʿlab, so that he might convey to their leading men that for which he had come. That was when he halted at al-Ḥudaybiya. They mutilated the camel of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and wanted to kill him, but the Aḥābīsh restrained them from him, so that they released him, until he reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, saying: someone whom I do not suspect of lying related to me, on the authority of ʿIkrima, the freedman of Ibn ʿAbbās: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ called ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb to send him to Mecca, so that he might convey on his behalf to the leading men of Quraysh that for which he had come. He said: O Messenger of Allah, I fear Quraysh for my life, and in Mecca there is none of the Banū ʿAdī ibn …
… word of Allah: { وكان الإنسان عجولا } ("And the human is hasty") (17:11). He said: impatient, without patience in prosperity or adversity. He said: When the breathing was completed in his body, he sneezed …
**Sūrah al-Baqarah (2:30) — { وإذ قال ربك } ("And when your Lord said")** The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: { وإذ قال ربك } ("And when your Lord said"). Abū Jaʿfar said: Some of those who are credited with knowledge of the languages of the Arabs, from among the people of Basra, claimed that the meaning of His word { وإذ قال ربك } ("And when your Lord said") is: "And your Lord said," and that "إذ" ("when") belongs to the superfluous particles and that its meaning is omission. He supported the position which we have described from him with the verse of al-Aswad ibn Yaʿfur: *Fa-idhā wa-dhālika lā mahāha li-dhikrihi — wa-l-dahru yuʿqibu ṣāliḥan bi-fasādi* (And behold, and that has no savour left at the remembrance of it — and time causes the good to be followed by corruption.) Then he said: and the meaning of it is: "and that has no savour left at the remembrance of it." And with the verse of ʿAbd Manāf ibn Ribʿ al-Hudhalī: *Ḥattā idhā aslakūhum fī Qatāʾidatin — shallan kamā taṭrudu l-jammālatu l-shuradā* (Until, when they had driven them into [the pass of] Qatāʾida — driving them scattered as the camel-drivers drive the runaway beasts.) And he said: the meaning of it is: "Until they drove them." Abū Jaʿfar said: The matter in this case is other than what he said. That is because "إذ" is a particle which carries the meaning of requital (jazāʾ), and which points to an indefinite moment in time. It is not permissible to annul a particle which was an indication of a meaning in the utterance. For it is the same whether a speaker says that it carries the meaning of favouring, while in the utterance it is an indication of an intelligible meaning, or whether another says something about the entire utterance which he uttered as an indication of what was intended by it, while it carries the meaning of favouring. The one who claims the position which we have described concerning the verse of al-Aswad ibn Yaʿfur — that "إذا" carries the meaning of favouring — has no intelligible ground for it. On the contrary: if it were omitted from the utterance, then the meaning which al-Aswad ibn Yaʿfur intended by his words "Fa-idhā wa-dhālika lā mahāha li-dhikrihi" would be nullified. For he intended by his words "Fa-idhā" that in which we find ourselves, and what of our life has passed away. And he indicated by his words "dhālika" ("that") to what was previously described of the life in which he was, which has no savour left at the remembrance of it — that is to say: it has no savour and no excellence left, on account of the fact that time causes the good thereof to be followed by corruption. And likewise is the meaning of the words of ʿAbd Manāf ibn Ribʿ: "Ḥattā idhā aslakūhum fī Qatāʾidatin shallan…" — if "إذا" were omitted from it, the meaning of the utterance would be nullified. For its meaning is: "Until, when they drove them into Qatāʾida, they drove them scattered." Thus his words "and they drove them scattered" pointed …
… exalted, announced-alongside that which He mentioned that He will grant them on account of their steadfast patience under His trials, as a submission on their part to His decree, namely the forgiveness …
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: {أُولَئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ} (157) (They are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy, and they are the ones who are rightly guided) (157) Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, means by His words "They are the ones" (أولئك): these, the patient ones whom He has described and characterized. "Upon them" (عليهم) means: for them. "Blessings" (صلوات) means: forgiveness. And "the blessings of Allah" (صلوات الله) upon His servants is His forgiveness toward His servants, as has been related from the Prophet ﷺ, that he said: 2328 – "O Allah, bless the family of Abū Awfā." * * * That is to say: forgive them. We have already explained "the blessing" (al-ṣalāh) and its origin in another place. And His words: "and mercy" (ورحمة) mean: and for them there is, alongside the forgiveness by which He forgives and covers their sins, mercy from Allah and compassion. Then the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, announced—alongside that which He mentioned that He will grant them on account of their steadfast patience under His trials, as a submission on their part to His decree, namely the forgiveness and the mercy—that they are the ones who are rightly guided, who have hit upon the path of truth, who utter that which pleases Him, and who do that by which they have merited the abundant reward of Allah. We have already explained the meaning of "being rightly guided" (al-ihtidāʾ): it has the meaning of correct guidance toward what is right. * * * In agreement with what we have said concerning this, a group of the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke. * Mention of who said that: 2329 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words: "Those who, when a calamity strikes them, say: 'Verily, we belong to Allah, and verily, to Him we return.' They are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy, and they are the ones who are rightly guided." He said: Allah announced that when the believer entrusts the matter to Allah, turns to Him, and utters the istirjāʿ at the calamity (that is, "innā li-llāhi wa-innā ilayhi rājiʿūn"), three good qualities are recorded for him: the blessing of Allah, the mercy, and the attainment of the path of right guidance. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Whoever utters the istirjāʿ at the calamity, Allah restores his calamity for him, makes his final outcome good, and provides him with a righteous replacement that pleases him. 2330 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His words: "They are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy," he says: The blessings and the mercy are …
… this verse, only exhorted His servants to perseverance in the jihad in His way and to patience in the battle against the enemies of His religion. And He has encouraged them by instructing them …
The explanation of His word: {أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ خَرَجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ وَهُمْ أُلُوفٌ حَذَرَ الْمَوْتِ فَقَالَ لَهُمُ اللَّهُ مُوتُوا ثُمَّ أَحْيَاهُمْ} ("Have you not seen those who went out from their dwellings, while they were in their thousands, in fear of death? Then Allah said to them: 'Die!' Thereafter He brought them back to life.") Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted — Whose praise is sublime — means by "Have you not seen," that is to say: have you not known, O Muḥammad? This belongs to "seeing with the heart," not "seeing with the eye," for our Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ did not live among those whom Allah mentions in this report concerning them. And "seeing with the heart" means: that which he perceived inwardly and of which he had knowledge. Its meaning is therefore: have you not known, O Muḥammad, of those who went out from their dwellings while they were in their thousands? * * * The exegetes then differed concerning the explanation of His word: "while they were in their thousands" (wa-hum ulūf). Some said: it refers to the number, in the sense of the plural of "thousand" (alf). * Mention of who said this: 5596 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us — and ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us — saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Maysara al-Nahdī, on the authority of al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "Have you not seen those who went out from their dwellings while they were in their thousands, in fear of death": they were four thousand and they went out, fleeing from the plague. They said: "Let us go to a land where there is no death!" Until, when they had reached a certain place, Allah said to them: "Die!" Then one of the prophets passed by them, and he implored his Lord to bring them back to life, and He brought them back to life. And he recited this verse: {إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى النَّاسِ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لا يَشْكُرُونَ} ("Verily, Allah is full of grace toward mankind, but most of mankind are not grateful.") 5597 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Maysara al-Nahdī, on the authority of al-Minhāl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "Have you not seen those who went out from their dwellings while they were in their thousands, in fear of death." He said: they were four thousand and they went out, fleeing from the plague, and Allah caused them to die. Then one of the prophets passed by them and implored his Lord to bring them back to life so that they would worship Him, and He brought them back to life. 5598 — Muḥammad ibn Sahl ibn ʿAskar related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm informed us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to me that he heard Wahb ibn Munabbih say: Some people of the Children of Israel were stricken by tribulation and the hardship of the times …
… father of Yusuf said: { فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ وَاللَّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَى مَا تَصِفُونَ } (So [there is] beautiful patience - and Allah is the One whose help is sought against what you describe). Then I turned away …
The Exalted says: Those who have come with the lie and the slander — { عُصْبَةٌ مِنْكُمْ } (a band of you) — He says: a group of you, O people. { لا تَحْسَبُوهُ شَرًّا لَكُمْ بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ } (Do not consider it an evil for you; rather it is good for you) — He says: Do not think that the lie they have brought forth is an evil for you with Allah and with the people; on the contrary, it is good for you with Him and with the believers, for Allah makes it an expiation for the one against whom it was directed, and He reveals his innocence of what was laid to his charge, and He makes for him therein a way out. It has also been said: those whom Allah intended by His words { إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَاءُوا بِالإفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِنْكُمْ } were a group among whom were Ḥassān ibn Thābit, Misṭaḥ ibn Athātha, and Ḥamnah bint Jaḥsh. Thus ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to us; he said: my father related to us; he said: Abān al-ʿAṭṭār related to us; he said: Hishām ibn ʿUrwa related to us, on the authority of ʿUrwa, that he wrote to ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān: You wrote to me asking about those who brought forth the lie, and they are as Allah said: { إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَاءُوا بِالإفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِنْكُمْ }. None of them is known by name except Ḥassān ibn Thābit, Misṭaḥ ibn Athātha, and Ḥamnah bint Jaḥsh, while it is also said concerning others of whom I have no knowledge; but they are a band, as Allah said. Al-Qāsim related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us; he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His words: { جَاءُوا بِالإفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِنْكُمْ } — he said: They are the companions of ʿĀʾisha. Ibn Jurayj said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning His words { جَاءُوا بِالإفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِنْكُمْ } to the end of the verse: Those who fabricated lies about ʿĀʾisha were: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy — and he was the one who took the lead —, Ḥassān ibn Thābit, Misṭaḥ, and Ḥamnah bint Jaḥsh. It has been related to me from al-Ḥusayn; he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us; he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words: { الَّذِينَ جَاءُوا بِالإفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِنْكُمْ } — Those who ascribed the lie and the slander to ʿĀʾisha. Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His words: { إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَاءُوا بِالإفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِنْكُمْ لا تَحْسَبُوهُ شَرًّا لَكُمْ بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ } — he said: The evil for them was the lie they uttered and spoke about; and among them were those who had not spoken it but only heard it. Allah punished them and said first: { إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَاءُوا بِالإفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِنْكُمْ لا تَحْسَبُوهُ شَرًّا لَكُمْ بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ }; then He said: { وَالَّذِي تَوَلَّى كِبْرَهُ مِنْهُمْ لَهُ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ }. As for His words: { لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مِنْهُمْ مَا اكْتَسَبَ مِنَ الإثْمِ } (For each man of them is the recompense for the sin he earned) — He says: For each of those who brought forth the lie is the recompense for the …
… from Allah, mighty and exalted, an exhortation to His believing servants toward jihad against His enemy and patience in their fighting (qital) against them, and the dispelling of the fear of them from their breasts …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: {يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَقَالُوا لإِخْوَانِهِمْ إِذَا ضَرَبُوا فِي الأَرْضِ أَوْ كَانُوا غُزًّى لَوْ كَانُوا عِنْدَنَا مَا مَاتُوا وَمَا قُتِلُوا لِيَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ ذَلِكَ حَسْرَةً فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ} (O you who believe, be not like those who disbelieve and who said of their brethren, when these had journeyed through the land or had been on a military campaign: "Had they remained with us, they would not have died nor been killed." So that Allah might make that a remorse in their hearts) (3:156). Abū Jaʿfar said: By this He means, exalted is His praise: O you who held Allah and His Messenger to be truthful and acknowledged what Muḥammad ﷺ brought from Allah, be not like him who disbelieved in Allah and in His Messenger, and denied the prophethood of Muḥammad ﷺ, and said to his brethren among the people of disbelief — {إِذَا ضَرَبُوا فِي الأَرْضِ} "when these had journeyed through the land," that is to say: when they set out from their lands on a journey for trade — {أَوْ كَانُوا غُزًّى} "or had been on a military campaign," He says: or their departure from their lands took place as warriors, and they perished and died on their journey, or were killed on their campaign — {لَوْ كَانُوا عِنْدَنَا مَا مَاتُوا وَمَا قُتِلُوا} "Had they remained with us, they would not have died nor been killed." By this He gives news of the statement of these unbelievers, that they say concerning whoever among them went out to fight and was killed, or died on a journey he undertook in obedience to Allah or for trade: had they not departed from us and had they remained in their lands, they would not have died nor been killed — {لِيَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ ذَلِكَ حَسْرَةً فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ} "so that Allah might make that a remorse in their hearts." That is to say: they say that, so that Allah might make their statement a grief and sorrow in their hearts, while they do not know that this belongs to Allah, exalted is His praise, and lies in His hand. * * * It has been said: those whom Allah in this verse forbade the believers to imitate in that which He forbade them of evil conviction concerning Allah are ʿAbdallāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl and his companions. Mention of who said that: 8107 — Muḥammad related to me, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: {يا أيها الذين آمنوا لا تكونوا كالذين كفروا وقالوا لإخوانهم} "O you who believe, be not like those who disbelieve and who said of their brethren," the verse. He said: These are the hypocrites, the companions of ʿAbdallāh ibn Ubayy. 8108 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: {وقالوا لإخوانهم إذا ضربوا في الأرض أو كانوا غُزًّى} "and who said of their brethren, when these had journeyed through the land or had been on a military campaign": it is the stateme …
… Allah the Exalted { وَكَانَ الإنْسَانُ عَجُولا } (and man is hasty)." He said: this means "impatient, without patience in ease or in adversity …
Allah the Exalted says — while reminding His servants of His favors — that man prays for evil against himself, his children, and his property: he says "O Allah, destroy him and curse him" in his vexations and anger, just as he prays for good: that is, just as he prays to his Lord to grant him well-being and to give him safety in himself, his property, and his children. He says: if his prayer for evil against himself, his property, and his children were answered for him — as it is answered for him concerning the good — he would perish. But Allah, in His mercy, does not answer that for him. In accordance with what we have said, the exegetes spoke. * Mention of those who said that: Muhammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word { وَيَدْعُ الإنْسَانُ بِالشَّرِّ دُعَاءَهُ بِالْخَيْرِ وَكَانَ الإنْسَانُ عَجُولا } (Man prays for evil as he prays for good, and man is hasty): "This means that man says: 'O Allah, curse him and be wrathful against him' — were that given to him as swiftly as the good is given to him, he would perish." He also said: "It is also said: it is { وَإِذَا مَسَّ الإِنْسَانَ الضُّرُّ دَعَانَا لِجَنْبِهِ أَوْ قَاعِدًا أَوْ قَائِمًا } (When affliction touches man, he calls upon Us, lying on his side, sitting, or standing) so that He may relieve him of his affliction. Allah the Exalted says: if he remembered Me and obeyed Me and followed My command in times of ease, just as he calls upon Me in times of trial, that would be better for him." Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word { وَيَدْعُ الإنْسَانُ بِالشَّرِّ دُعَاءَهُ بِالْخَيْرِ وَكَانَ الإنْسَانُ عَجُولا } (Man prays for evil as he prays for good, and man is hasty): "He prays against his property, curses his property and his children — were Allah to answer him in that, it would ruin him." Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning { وَيَدْعُ الإنْسَانُ بِالشَّرِّ دُعَاءَهُ بِالْخَيْرِ } (Man prays for evil as he prays for good): "He prays against himself for something which, were it answered, would ruin him — and against his servant, or against his property." Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Husayn related to us, saying: Hajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning { وَيَدْعُ الإنْسَانُ بِالشَّرِّ دُعَاءَهُ بِالْخَيْرِ وَكَانَ الإنْسَانُ عَجُولا } (Man prays for evil as he prays for good, and man is hasty): "That is man's praying for evil against his children and his wife — he is hasty: he prays for it, while he does not want it to befall him." Concerning the explanation of { وَكَانَ الإنْسَانُ عَجُولا } (and man is hasty), opinions differed: Mujāhid and those whose wor …
… were patient in obedience to Him - in prosperity and adversity - on the Day of Resurrection for their patience with the best reward and the most abundant recompense for the best deeds that they performed …
As for His words {وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّ الَّذِينَ صَبَرُوا أَجْرَهُمْ بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ} (And We will surely give those who were patient their reward according to the best of what they used to do): Allah, exalted is His mention, says: Allah will reward those who were patient in obedience to Him — in prosperity and adversity — on the Day of Resurrection for their patience with the best reward and the most abundant recompense for the best deeds that they performed in the worldly life. That is: for their obedience to Allah in fulfilling His covenants and oaths, and not breaking them after their ratification.
… were before you among the messengers, when their people denied them, and follow their example in their patience with what they suffered from their people. And in a manner corresponding to this, those …
The explanation of His word: "And messengers before you were indeed denied, but they were patient with what was denied and with the harm done to them, until Our help came to them. And there is none who can change the words of Allah. And there has already come to you some of the tidings of the messengers" (6:34). Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a consolation from Allah, the Exalted whose mention is exalted, for His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, and a condolence to him over the grief that befell him on account of his people's denial of him regarding the truth which he had brought them from Allah. The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: If these polytheists (mushrikīn) from among your people deny you, O Muḥammad, and reject your prophethood and deny that the signs of Allah are from Him, then let that not grieve you, and be patient with their denial of you and with the harm you suffer from them for the sake of Allah, until the help of Allah comes. For messengers before you were already denied, whom I had sent to their communities, and they were afflicted with harm, but they were patient with their people's denial of them, and that did not prevent them from continuing with the affair of Allah which He had charged them with: the calling of their people to it, until Allah judged between them and them. "And there is none who can change the words of Allah," that is to say: there is none who can alter the words of Allah. And His "words," the Exalted whose mention is exalted, are that which Allah has sent down to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, of His promise to him of victory over whoever opposed and fought him, and triumph over whoever turned away from him and turned his back. "And there has already come to you some of the tidings of the messengers," that is to say: and there has already come to you, O Muḥammad, of the report of those who were before you among the messengers, and the report of their communities, and what I did with them — when they rejected my signs and persisted in their error and misguidance — tidings (anbāʾ). And the word "anbāʾ" (tidings) was omitted, because the word "min" (some of / from) indicates it. The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: You too should expect of victory and triumph the like of what proceeded from me toward those who were before you among the messengers, when their people denied them, and follow their example in their patience with what they suffered from their people. And in a manner corresponding to this, those of the exegetes who explained this verse have explained it. Mention of who said that: 13198 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "And messengers before you were indeed denied, but they were patient with what was denied" — He consoles His Prophet ﷺ as you hear, and informs him that the messengers before him were denied, and they were patient with what was denied, until Allah judged, and He is the be …
… that is His statement: "except by one who has been wronged"; but if he exercises patience, that is better for him. 10750 - Al-Muthanna related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allah related …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: {لا يُحِبُّ اللَّهُ الْجَهْرَ بِالسُّوءِ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ إِلا مَنْ ظُلِمَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ سَمِيعًا عَلِيمًا} (148) ("Allah does not love the open utterance of evil in speech, except by one who has been wronged; and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing"). Abū Jaʿfar said: The reciters differed concerning the recitation of this. The generality of the reciters of the cities read it with a ḍamma on the "ẓāʾ" (ẓulima – "one who has been wronged"). * * * And some of them read it: (إِلا مَنْ ظَلَمَ) (ẓalama – "one who has done wrong"), with a fatḥa on the "ẓāʾ". * * * Then those who read it with a ḍamma on the "ẓāʾ" differed concerning its explanation. Some of them said: The meaning of this is: Allah, exalted be His mention, does not love that any of us should openly utter an imprecation against another, and that, according to them, is "the open utterance of evil, except by one who has been wronged." He says: except one who has been wronged and then utters an imprecation against the one who wronged him, for Allah, exalted be His praise, does not deem that blameworthy for him, because He has permitted him that. * Mention of who said that: 10749 – Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "Allah does not love the open utterance of evil in speech," he says: Allah does not love that anyone should utter an imprecation against another, unless he has been wronged, for He has permitted him to utter an imprecation against the one who wronged him, and that is His statement: "except by one who has been wronged"; but if he exercises patience, that is better for him. 10750 – Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "Allah does not love the open utterance of evil in speech, except by one who has been wronged," for then He does love the open utterance of evil in speech. 10751 – Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "Allah does not love the open utterance of evil in speech, except by one who has been wronged; and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing," Allah excused the one wronged, as you hear: that he should utter an imprecation. 10752 – Al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: Abū ʿUbayd related to us, he said: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Yūnus, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: it is the man who is wronged by a man and then does not utter an imprecation against him, but rather lets him say: "O Allah, help me against him; O Allah, bring forth for me my right; O Allah, come between him and what he wants," and the like of such imprecations. * * * = So "man" ("one who") is, according to this …
… have charged you with the burden of warning all the villages together - so that, through your patience therein if you are patient, you may earn the honor that Allah is preparing for you with …
Allah — exalted be His praise — says: And had We willed, O Muḥammad, We would have sent into every city and every village a warner (nadhīr) who would warn them against Our punishment for their disbelief toward Us; then a great portion of the burdens with which We have charged you would have fallen away from you, and a tremendous load would thereby have been lifted from you. But We have charged you with the burden of warning all the villages together — so that, through your patience therein if you are patient, you may earn the honor that Allah is preparing for you with Him, and the lofty ranks that await with Him. So do not obey the disbelievers (kāfirūn) in that to which they call you — namely the worship of their gods — lest We make you taste the double punishment in life and the double punishment at death. Rather, strive against them by means of this Qurʾān with a tremendously great jihād (jihādan kabīran), until they yield to the acknowledgment of what it contains of the obligations of Allah, and are guided by it, and submit themselves wholly to it, willingly and by compulsion. In accordance with what we have said concerning His word {وَجَاهِدْهُمْ بِهِ} the exegetes spoke. Mention of who said that:
… servant, namely thankfulness for His favors when He bestows grace upon him, and his duty of patience at His trial when He tries him with adversity - for every greatly patient one, greatly thankful …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: {فَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا وَظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ فَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَحَادِيثَ وَمَزَّقْنَاهُمْ كُلَّ مُمَزَّقٍ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لِكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ} (19) (So they said: "Our Lord, lengthen the distances between our journeys," and they wronged themselves; so We made them tales and tore them utterly to pieces. Indeed, in that are signs for every greatly patient, greatly thankful one) (19) The reciters differed over the reading of His statement {رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا}. The general reciters of Medina and Kūfa read it as {رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا}, in the form of a supplication and a request, with the alif. And some of the people of Mecca and Basra read it as {بَعِّدْ}, with doubling (tashdīd) of the ʿayn, likewise in the form of a supplication. And it has been reported of the ancients that one read it as {رَبَّنَا بَاعَدَ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا}, in the form of a statement from Allah that Allah did that to them. And it is related of another that he read it as {رَبَّنَا بَعَّدَ}, likewise in the form of a statement, except that "the Lord" stands in the vocative (the one called upon). And the correct reading in this matter, according to us, is {رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ} and {بَعِّدْ}, for those are the two well-known readings in the reading of the great cities (al-amṣār), and what falls outside them is not known among them. Moreover, the explanation of the exegetes likewise confirms the reading of the one who read it in the form of a supplication and a request, and that too is something which removes the other reading still further from what is correct. Since, then, this is the correct reading, then the explanation of the statement is: so they said: "O our Lord, lengthen the distances between our journeys; so make between us and Shām (Syria) deserts and vast wildernesses, so that we may ride mounts therein and carry provisions with us." And this is one of the indications of the people's insolence toward the favor of Allah upon them and His beneficence toward them, and their ignorance of the worth of well-being. And indeed, their Lord hastened the answering for them, just as He hastened it for those who said {إِنْ كَانَ هَذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِنْدِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِنَ السَّمَاءِ أَوِ ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ} (If this is the Truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the heaven or bring us a painful punishment): He gave them what they desired and that for which they asked in their request. And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken. * Mention of those who said that: Abū Ḥaṣīn ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Yūnus related to me, saying: ʿAbthar related to us, saying: Ḥaṣīn related to us, on the authority of Abū Mālik, concerning this verse {فَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا}, he said: they had villages contiguous all the way to Yemen, one of which overlooked the othe …
… already preceded, O Muhammad, that He would not hasten the punishment of His creation, but would exercise patience until the Book reaches its appointed term - {لَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْ} - then a decision would already have been rendered …
The explanation of the word of Allah the Exalted: {وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَابَ فَاخْتُلِفَ فِيهِ وَلَوْلا كَلِمَةٌ سَبَقَتْ مِنْ رَبِّكَ لَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِنْهُ مُرِيبٍ} (110) Abū Jaʿfar says: Allah the Exalted speaks here, consoling His Prophet over the denial of the polytheists (mushrikīn) among his people toward that which he brought them from Allah, by pointing to what the Children of Israel did to Moses concerning that which he brought them from Allah. He says to him: Let not the denial of these polytheists toward you grieve you, O Muḥammad, and continue with what your Lord has commanded you of conveying His message — for what these people do to you in rejecting the counsel that you brought them is already the conduct of their like among the former peoples and one of their established customs. Then He informed him, exalted be His praise, of what the people of Moses had done to him, and said: {وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَابَ} — that is to say: the Torah, just as We have given you al-Furqān — {فَاخْتُلِفَ فِيهِ} — and the people of Moses were divided over that Book: a portion rejected it and a portion acknowledged its truth, just as your people have dealt with al-Furqān: a portion acknowledges it as true and a portion rejects it. {وَلَوْلا كَلِمَةٌ سَبَقَتْ مِنْ رَبِّكَ} — Allah the Exalted says: And were it not that a word from your Lord had already preceded, O Muḥammad, that He would not hasten the punishment of His creation, but would exercise patience until the Book reaches its appointed term — {لَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْ} — then a decision would already have been rendered between the rejecters and the affirmers among them, by Allah's destroying the rejecters and saving the affirmers. {وَإِنَّهُمْ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِنْهُ مُرِيبٍ} — He says: And the rejecters among them are indeed in doubt concerning its reality — that it is from Allah — {مُرِيبٍ}: that is to say: it casts them into doubt (mūrib), so that they do not know whether it is truth or falsehood — but they remain doubting therein. (4) -------------------- Notes: (4) See the explanation of "mūrib" in what was discussed earlier, p. 370, note 1.
… Prophet Muhammad ﷺ over the harm that the polytheists inflict upon him, and urging him to patience at the insults and accusations of lying they direct against him: If these polytheists charge you, O Muhammad …
Allah, exalted be His remembrance, says — while consoling His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ over the harm that the polytheists inflict upon him, and urging him to patience at the insults and accusations of lying they direct against him: If these polytheists charge you, O Muḥammad, with lying regarding the truth and proof you have brought them, and regarding what you promise them of punishment on account of their disbelief in Allah — then that is the custom of their brethren among the earlier peoples who charged the messengers of Allah with lying and ascribed partners to Allah, and their way of life in former times. So let that not hold you back, for the humiliating punishment awaits them behind their backs, and My victory — which I shall grant to you and your followers over them — comes upon them from behind that, just as My punishment came down upon their predecessors among the earlier peoples after respite until the appointed terms were reached. Before them — that is, before the polytheists of Quraysh — there had already charged with lying: the people of Nūḥ, the people of ʿĀd, and Thamūd.
… caused you to bring to them, and it has burdened you and you could not bear with patience the harm that befalls you from them - "Then seek, if you are able, a tunnel …
The explanation of His word: "And if their turning away is hard upon you, then seek, if you are able, a tunnel in the earth or a ladder to the heaven, so that you may bring them a sign" (6:35). Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: If it has become hard upon you, O Muhammad, that these polytheists turn away from you and turn aside from believing you concerning the truth that I have caused you to bring to them, and it has burdened you and you could not bear with patience the harm that befalls you from them — "Then seek, if you are able, a tunnel in the earth," that is to say: if you are able to make a passage in the earth like the nāfiqāʾ of the jerboa — that is one of its burrows — and depart through it, "Or a ladder to the heaven," that is to say: or an ascent by which you climb upward, like a stairway and the like, as the poet said: The man does not entrench himself in the far corners of the lands, nor are ladders built for him into the heavens. "So that you may bring them a sign" thereof — that is to say: with a sign and proof of the soundness of your word, other than what I have given you — then do that. And in accordance with what we have said about this, a number of the exegetes spoke. Mention of those who said that: 13201 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his word: "And if their turning away is hard upon you, then seek, if you are able, a tunnel in the earth or a ladder to the heaven" — and "al-nafaq" is the passage through which you depart, "so that you may bring them a sign," meaning: make for yourself a ladder to the heaven, and ascend by it, and bring them a sign more excellent than what we have brought them — then do that. 13202 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His word: "Then seek, if you are able, a tunnel in the earth," he said: a passage. "Or a ladder to the heaven," he said: he means the stairway. 13203 — Muhammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And if their turning away is hard upon you, then seek, if you are able, a tunnel in the earth or a ladder to the heaven" — as for "al-nafaq," that is the passage, and as for "al-sullam" (the ladder), that is the ascent. 13204 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his word: "a tunnel in the earth," he said: a passage. And the apodosis of the condition was omitted and not mentioned, because the wording indicates it and the hearers know its meaning. The Arabs do that at times with that whose meaning is understood by those to whom it is addressed. Thus …
… transgressions = and His saying "Forbearing (Halim)," that is to say that He is the One who has patience and does not hasten to punish His servants for their sins. ---------------- The footnotes: (42) This …
(42) The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: "And there is no blame (junāḥ) upon you in that whereby you allude to a proposal of marriage to the women." Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, means thereby: there is no blame upon you, O men, in that whereby you allude to a proposal of marriage to the women — namely to the women who are passing the waiting period (ʿiddah) on account of the death of their husbands — during their waiting period, so long as you do not expressly conclude a marriage contract. And the allusion (taʿrīḍ) that is permitted in this is that which: - 5098- Ibn Ḥumayd related it to us, he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his saying: "And there is no blame upon you in that whereby you allude to a proposal of marriage to the women." He said: The allusion is that he says: "I would like to marry," and: "Indeed, I would love a woman of such and such a nature," whereby he alludes to her in a proper manner (bil-maʿrūf) with his words. 5099- Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "There is no blame upon you in that whereby you allude to a proposal of marriage to the women." He said: "I would like to marry." 5100- Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The allusion is what he does so long as he does not address the proposal openly. (43) Mujāhid said: A man said to a woman at the funeral of her husband: "Do not pass me by with yourself!" She said: "That has already happened!" 5101- Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said concerning this verse: "And there is no blame upon you in that whereby you allude to a proposal of marriage to the women." He said: The allusion is what he does so long as he does not address the proposal openly. 5102- Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "in that whereby you allude to a proposal of marriage to the women." He said: The allusion is that he says to the woman in her waiting period: "Indeed, I do not wish to marry any other than you, if Allah wills," and: "I would wish that I might find a righteous woman," without addressing her openly so long as she is in her waiting period. 5103- Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his saying: "An …
… unattractiveness, or a (bad) character, or some of the things that you loathe of her, by exercising patience with her and giving her her rights in full and dealing with her in a fitting manner …
The explanation of His word: {وَإِنِ امْرَأَةٌ خَافَتْ مِنْ بَعْلِهَا نُشُوزًا أَوْ إِعْرَاضًا فَلا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا أَنْ يُصْلِحَا بَيْنَهُمَا صُلْحًا وَالصُّلْحُ خَيْرٌ} (And if a woman fears rebellion (nushūz) or aversion from her husband, then there is no sin upon the two of them that they bring about a reconciliation between themselves; and reconciliation is better.) Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means thereby: and if a woman fears from her husband — He says: knows from her husband — "rebellion (nushūz)," that is to say: that he exalts himself in his person above her toward another, with preference over her, and exalts himself away from her, whether out of dislike, or out of aversion to some of her qualities, or because of her unattractiveness, or because of her age and her old age, or something else of her circumstances — "or aversion (iʿrāḍ)," that is to say: a turning away from her with his face or with some of the services she formerly enjoyed from him — "then there is no sin upon the two of them that they bring about a reconciliation between themselves." He says: then there is no objection against the two of them, that is to say: against the woman who fears the rebellion of her husband or his aversion from her — "that they bring about a reconciliation between themselves," and that is that she cedes her day to him, or remits for him a portion of what is rightfully due to her, in order thereby to gain his favor and to perpetuate the continuance of her remaining in his marital bond, and to hold fast to the marriage contract that exists between her and him. He says: "and reconciliation is better," that is to say: and reconciliation by ceding a portion of her right in order to perpetuate the marital union and to hold fast to the marriage contract is better than seeking separation and divorce (ṭalāq). And in accordance with what we have said about that, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken. Mention of who said that: 10575 — Hannād ibn al-Sarī related to us, he said: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of Khālid ibn ʿArʿara: that a man came to ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — to consult him about a woman who feared rebellion or aversion from her husband. He said: it may be that the woman is with the man, and his eyes turn away from her because of her unattractiveness, or her old age, or her bad character, or her poverty, and she then loathes separation from him. If she then remits to him something of her bridal gift (mahr), that is permitted for him, and if she cedes to him something of her days, then there is no objection. 10576 — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Simāk ibn Ḥarb, on the authority of Khālid ibn ʿArʿara, who said: ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — was asked about: "And if a woman fears rebellion or aversion from her husband, then there is no sin upon the two of th …
… fear Allah, that is better for you), and {وَأَنْ تَصْبِرُوا خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ} ("and that you show patience is better for you") (Surat al-Nisaʾ: 25). * * * Another of them said: The accusative in "khayr" occurs because …
The explanation of His word, exalted is His praise: {يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءَكُمُ الرَّسُولُ بِالْحَقِّ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ فَآمِنُوا خَيْرًا لَكُمْ وَإِنْ تَكْفُرُوا فَإِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا} (170) ("O mankind, the Messenger has indeed come to you with the truth from your Lord; so believe, that is better for you. And if you remain disbelieving, then truly to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth, and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise." (4:170)) Abū Jaʿfar said: By His word, exalted is His praise, "O mankind," He means the polytheists (mushrikīn) of the Arabs and all the remaining kinds of disbelievers. "The Messenger has indeed come to you," that is to say: Muḥammad — the Prophet ﷺ —, he has come to you "with the truth from your Lord," that is to say: with the Islam that Allah has chosen as religion for His servants. By His word "from your Lord" He means: from with your Lord. "So believe, that is better for you," that is to say: affirm him as truthful and affirm what he has brought to you from your Lord of religion, for belief in it is better for you than disbelief in it. "And if you remain disbelieving," that is to say: and if you deny his message and declare him and that which he has brought to you from your Lord to be a lie, then that denial and that declaring of falsehood on your part will harm no one but yourselves; for its evil returns only upon yourselves, and not upon the One who commanded you with that with which He sent His messenger Muḥammad ﷺ to you. That is because to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth, in ownership and as creation, and your disbelief in that which you do not wish to believe of His command, and your disobedience to Him in that in which you disobey Him, will not diminish anything of His kingship and His dominion. "And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise," that is to say: "And Allah is All-Knowing" regarding that to which you will come, whether in obedience to Him in what He has commanded you and in what He has forbidden you, or in disobedience therein — with knowledge on His part of all of that from you, when He commanded you and forbade you. "All-Wise," that is to say: wise in His command to you of that which He has commanded you, and in His prohibition to you of that which He has forbidden you, and in all the rest of His disposing over you and over the rest of His creatures. * * * The Arabic linguists differed concerning the reason why His word "khayran lakum" (better for you) is in the accusative (naṣb). Some of the grammarians of Kūfa said: "khayran" is in the accusative on the grounds of departing from (al-khurūj) that which preceded it in the sentence structure, because that which precedes it already forms a complete sentence, namely His word "fa-āminū" (so believe). He said: I have heard the Arabs do this with every utterance that was complete and to which subsequently, after its completion, a new utterance was joined …
… true to what they covenanted with Allah}, that is: they fulfilled what they had promised Him of patience in adversity and calamity, and at the hour of battle. {Some of them have fulfilled their …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: {مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَضَى نَحْبَهُ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَنْتَظِرُ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَبْدِيلا} (23) (Among the believers are men who have been true to what they covenanted with Allah; some of them have fulfilled their vow (naḥb), and some of them are still waiting, and they have not altered anything in the least.) (23) He, exalted is His mention, says: {Among the believers} in Allah and His Messenger {are men who have been true to what they covenanted with Allah}, that is: they fulfilled what they had promised Him of patience in adversity and calamity, and at the hour of battle. {Some of them have fulfilled their vow (qaḍā naḥbahu)} He says: some of them completed the work that Allah had imposed upon them as a vow and had made obligatory for them toward Himself, so that some fell as martyrs on the day of Badr, and some on the day of Uḥud, and some in places other than these. {And some of them are still waiting} for its completion and accomplishment, like those of them who passed away in faithfulness to Allah concerning His covenant, and the help of Allah, and victory over His enemy. And "al-naḥb" in the language of the Arabs is: the vow. And "al-naḥb" in their language also has other meanings besides this, among them death, as the poet said: Qaḍā naḥbahu fī multaqā l-qawmi Hawbaru (Hawbar fulfilled his naḥb at the meeting place of the people) By it he means: his death and his soul. And among them also the great peril, as Jarīr said: Bi-Ṭakhfata jāladnā l-mulūka wa-khaylunā (At Ṭakhfa we crossed swords with the kings, and our horses) ʿAshiyyata Bisṭāmin jarayna ʿalā naḥbi (on the evening of Bisṭām ran upon naḥb) That is: upon a great peril. And among them also loud weeping (al-naḥīb); one says: "he naḥaba on his journey for a whole day," when he presses on and does not dismount by day or by night. And among them also wagering (al-tanḥīb), and that is the staking of a bet, as the poet said: Wa-idh naḥḥabat Kalbun ʿalā l-nāsi ayyuhum (And when Kalb wagered with the people over which of them) Aḥaqqu bi-tāji l-mājidi l-mutakawwimi (has more right to the crown of heaped-up glory) And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation have said. * Mention of who said that: Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, saying: Yazīd ibn Rūmān related to me: {Among the believers are men who have been true to what they covenanted with Allah}: that is: they truly fulfilled to Allah what they had promised Him. {Some of them have fulfilled their vow}, that is: he completed his work and returned to his Lord, like one who fell as a martyr on the day of Badr and the day of Uḥud. {And some of them are still waiting} for what Allah has promised of His help and martyrdom, after the example of that upon which his companions passed away. Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, …
… whom He has chosen on account of their hastening toward His good pleasure and their patience at what befell them in that. He says to them: Do not let yourselves be deceived by the position …
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, exalted be His remembrance: {And the Jews and the Christians said: 'We are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones.' Say: 'Why then does He punish you for your sins?'} (And the Jews and the Christians said: "We are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones." Say: "Why then does He punish you for your sins?"). Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a report from Allah, mighty and exalted is He, concerning a group of the Jews and the Christians, namely that they made this statement. * * * And it has been transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās the naming of those among the Jews who said that. 11613 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, who said: Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, the freedman of Zayd ibn Thābit, related to me, saying: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr or ʿIkrima related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: There came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ Nuʿmān ibn Aḍāʾ, Baḥrī ibn ʿAmr, and Shaʾs ibn ʿAdī; they spoke to him, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ spoke to them and called them to Allah and warned them of His vengeance. Thereupon they said: "With what do you instill fear in us, O Muḥammad?! We, by Allah, are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones!!" — like the statement of the Christians. Then Allah, mighty and exalted is He, revealed concerning them: "And the Jews and the Christians said: 'We are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones'", to the end of the verse. * * * And al-Suddī used to say concerning that what follows: 11614 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And the Jews and the Christians said: 'We are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones'" — as for "the sons of Allah," they said: Verily, Allah revealed to Israel that a portion of your offspring — He will make them enter the Fire, and they will remain therein forty days until it purifies them and consumes their sins; then a caller calls out: that all the circumcised of the offspring of Israel are to come out, and He brings them out. That is His word: {Het Vuur zal ons slechts een geteld aantal dagen raken} [Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: 24]. And as for the Christians: a portion of them said concerning the Masīḥ (the Messiah): the son of Allah. * * * And the Arabs sometimes let a statement go forth, when they boast, in the form of a report about the community, even though that of which they boasted was the deed of a single individual among them. Thus they say: "We are the noble, the generous," while the generous one among them is but a single one of them, and the one who did that is someone other than the speaker. As Jarīr said: We felled Abū Mandūsa, the smith (al-qayn), with the spears, and the blood of the neighbor of Baybah flowed, freshly shed. So he said "we felled," while the one who felled was a man of the people of Jarīr, someone other than him. He let the statement go forth in the fo …
… Jaʿfar said: The Exalted - praised be His mention - means: O you who believe, seek help through patience in obeying Me in the jihad against your enemy, in refraining from disobeying Me, and in fulfilling …
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: {وَلا تَقُولُوا لِمَنْ يُقْتَلُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتٌ بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ وَلَكِنْ لا تَشْعُرُونَ} (154) (And do not say of those who are killed in the way of Allah: "Dead!" Nay, they are living, but you perceive it not) (2:154) Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted — praised be His mention — means: O you who believe, seek help through patience in obeying Me in the jihād against your enemy, in refraining from disobeying Me, and in fulfilling all the remaining obligations that I have imposed upon you. And do not say of him who is killed in the way of Allah (fī sabīl Allāh): he is dead. For the dead one among My creatures is the one from whom I have taken away his life and whose senses I have removed, so that he no longer experiences any enjoyment nor perceives any bliss. Verily, whoever of you and of the rest of My creatures has been killed in My way, they are living with Me, in life and bliss, in a pleasant existence and in an exalted provision, rejoicing over what I have granted them of My favor and over the honor with which I have endowed them. As in: 2317 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "Nay, they are living" — with their Lord, they are provided with the fruit of the Garden (janna), and they smell its fragrance, while they are not within it. 2318 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, similar to this. 2319 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: "And do not say of those who are killed in the way of Allah: 'Dead!' Nay, they are living, but you perceive it not" — It was related to us that the souls of the martyrs recognize one another in the form of white birds that eat from the fruit of the Garden, and that their dwelling places are the Sidrat al-Muntahā, and that the warrior in the way of Allah possesses three good qualities: whoever of them is killed in the way of Allah becomes a living one who is provided for; whoever is overcome, Allah gives him a tremendous reward; and whoever dies, Allah provides him with a good provision. 2320 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: "And do not say of those who are killed in the way of Allah: 'Dead!' Nay, they are living" — he said: The souls of the martyrs are in the forms of white birds. 2321 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His saying: "And do not say of those who are killed in the way of Allah: 'Dead!' Nay, they are living" — in the forms of gree …
… which has been made into a taʾ; for it is an iftaʿala form derived from al-sabr (patience …
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: { إِنَّا مُرْسِلُو النَّاقَةِ فِتْنَةً لَهُمْ فَارْتَقِبْهُمْ وَاصْطَبِرْ } "We are going to send the she-camel as a trial for them, so watch them and be patient." (54:27) The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: We are going to send the she-camel which Thamūd asked Ṣāliḥ for, from the rocky hill from which they asked him to bring her forth, as a sign for them and as a proof for Ṣāliḥ of the truthfulness of his prophethood and the sincerity of his word. And His saying { فِتْنَةً لَهُمْ } "as a trial for them" — He says: as a trial and a test for them: will they believe in Allah and follow Ṣāliḥ and hold him to be truthful in that to which he calls them, namely the oneness of Allah, when He sends the she-camel, or will they declare him a liar and deny Allah? And His saying { فَارْتَقِبْهُمْ } "so watch them" — the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says to Ṣāliḥ: We are going to send the she-camel as a trial for them, so watch them and observe carefully what they will do with her. { وَاصْطَبِرْ } "and be patient" — He says to him: Be patient in watching them and do not be hasty, and wait to see what they will do with the she-camel of Allah. And it has been said: { وَاصْطَبِرْ } — the original ṭāʾ is a tāʾ, which has been made into a ṭāʾ; for it is an iftaʿala form derived from al-ṣabr (patience).
… does not desist from the wine, and leaves no remainder in his cup out of lack of patience, or out of poor endurance of its severity. (43) His diwan: 578, and Majaz al-Qurʾan …
Discussion of the interpretation of His word: "Then the angels called to him" Abū Jaʿfar said: The reciters differed over the reading of it. The general body of reciters of the people of Medina and some of the people of Kūfa and Basra read it: "fa-nādat-hu al-malāʾika" (then the angels called to him) in the feminine form with the tāʾ, by which is meant: the collective body of "the angels." And thus do the Arabs deal with a group of male beings when their verbs precede them: they then put their verbs in the feminine form, especially with those nouns in whose wording lies the feminine, as in their saying: "jāʾat al-Ṭalḥāt" (the Ṭalḥas [men] came). * * * A group of the people of Kūfa read it with the yāʾ, with the meaning: fa-nādāhu Jibrīl (then Jibrīl called to him), putting the [verb] in the masculine form on account of the interpretation [of the angels as Jibrīl], just as we have just mentioned that they put the verb of the masculine in the feminine form on account of the wording; thus likewise they put the verb of the feminine in the masculine form on account of the wording. And they based themselves in this, as I believe, upon a reading which is reported to be the reading of ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd, and that is what: 6945 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥajjāj related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥammād related to us, that the reading of Ibn Masʿūd is: (fa-nādāhu Jibrīl wa-huwa qāʾimun yuṣallī fī l-miḥrāb) (then Jibrīl called to him while he was standing praying in the prayer-niche). * * * And thus also a group of the interpreters explained His word "then the angels called to him." Mention of who said that: 6946 - Mūsā related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "then the angels called to him" — and that is Jibrīl = or: the angels said, and that is Jibrīl = "that Allah gives you glad tidings of Yaḥyā." * * * Abū Jaʿfar said: If a speaker were to say: How is it permissible according to this interpretation to say "then the angels called to him," while "the angels" is a plural and not a singular? — then it is said: That is permissible in the speech of the Arabs, that one reports about the singular in the form of the plural, as is said in speech: "so-and-so went out upon the mules of the postal couriers," while he rode only a single mule = "and he boarded the ships," while he boarded only a single ship. And as is said: "from whom did you hear this report?" to which the answer is: "from the people," while he heard it only from a single man. And it has been said that to this belongs His word: "Those to whom the people said: Verily, the people have gathered against you" [sūra Āl ʿImrān: 173], while the speaker — according to what is reported — was a single individual = and His word: "And when adversity touches the people" [sūra al-Rūm: 33], where "the people" has the meaning of a single individual. And that is permissible among them in that wherein the sin …
… just as We rewarded Musa for his obedience to Us and his doing of good - through his patience at Our command - so do We reward everyone who does good among Our messengers and servants …
The explanation of the word of the Most High: { وَلَمَّا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ وَاسْتَوَى آتَيْنَاهُ حُكْمًا وَعِلْمًا وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ } ("And when he reached his full maturity and was fully grown, We granted him judgment and knowledge. Thus do We reward the doers of good") (verse 14) The Most High says: { وَلَمَّا بَلَغَ } Mūsā { أَشُدَّهُ } — that is, his bodily strength and his powers reached their peak and increased and were completed. We have already expounded the meaning of "al-ashudd" (full maturity) elsewhere with its proofs, so that there is no need to repeat it here. As for { وَاسْتَوَى } ("and was fully grown"): that is, his youth reached its end, and his stature was completed and firmly established. Concerning the number of years at which adulthood (al-istiwāʾ) is attained, opinions differed. Some said: that is at forty years of age. Mention of who said that: Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning { وَاسْتَوَى }: he said: at forty years of age. Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning { وَلَمَّا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ }: he said: thirty-three years. Concerning { وَاسْتَوَى }: he said: he reached the age of forty years. Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — likewise. Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: { وَلَمَّا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ } — he said: somewhat more than thirty years. He said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: { وَلَمَّا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ } — he said: thirty-three years. Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: { أَشُدَّهُ وَاسْتَوَى } — he said: forty years; and "ashuddahu": thirty-three years. Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning { وَلَمَّا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ وَاسْتَوَى }: he said: my father used to say: "al-ashudd" is bodily strength, and "al-istiwāʾ" is forty years. Others said: that is at thirty years of age. As for { آتَيْنَاهُ حُكْمًا وَعِلْمًا } ("We granted him judgment and knowledge"): by "al-ḥukm" (judgment) is meant: understanding of the religion and the knowledge thereof. As Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, …
… kasra on the lam and a light (undoubled) mim, with the meaning: on account of their patience toward the world and its desires, and their striving in obedience to Us and acting according …
His statement: {And We made from among them leaders} (wa-jaʿalnā minhum aʾimma) — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and We made from among the children of Israel leaders. This (aʾimma) is the plural of imām. The imām is the one whom people follow as an example in good or in evil. In this place, what is meant by it is that He made from among them leaders in good, whom people follow as an example and by whose guidance people are guided. As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: {And We made from among them leaders who guide by Our command} — he said: chiefs in good. And His statement: {who guide by Our command} (yahdūna bi-amrinā) — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: they guide their followers and those among the people who accept, because We granted them permission for that and strengthened them in it. And His statement: {when they were patient} (lammā ṣabarū) — the reciters differed over the recitation of this. The majority of the reciters of Medina and Basra, and a portion of the people of Kufa, recited it as (lammā ṣabarū) with a fatḥa on the lām and a doubling (tashdīd) of the mīm, with the meaning: when they were patient, and at the time that they were patient. The majority of the reciters of Kufa recited it as (limā) with a kasra on the lām and a light (undoubled) mīm, with the meaning: on account of their patience toward the world and its desires, and their striving in obedience to Us and acting according to Our command. It has been mentioned that in the recitation of Ibn Masʿūd it reads (bimā ṣabarū). When the lām of (limā) is pronounced with a kasra, "mā" is in the position of a genitive (khafḍ); and when the lām is pronounced with a fatḥa and the mīm is doubled, then it has no grammatical position, for it is then a particle (adāt). The ruling on this, in my opinion, is that these are two well-known recitations that are close to one another in meaning. With each of the two the majority of the reciters has recited, so with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he has hit upon what is correct. The explanation of the statement, if this is recited with a fatḥa on the lām and a doubling of the mīm, is: and We made from among them leaders who guide their followers because We granted them permission and strengthened them toward guidance, when they were patient in obedience to Us and turned their souls away from the enjoyments of the world and its desires. And if it is recited with a kasra on the lām, then it is according to what we have described. And Ibn Wakīʿ has already related to us, saying: my father said: we heard concerning {And We made from among them leaders who guide by Our command when they were patient} — he said: toward the world. And His statement: {and they were certain of Our signs} (wa-kānū bi-āyātinā yūqinūn) — He says: and they were people of certainty regarding that to which Our proofs pointed them, and people of affirmation of wha …
… accomplished, for the sake of Allah, what they accomplished together with His Messenger, and had shown patience therein amid adversity and privation. * * * And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have …
The explanation of His saying: {لَقَدْ تَابَ اللَّهُ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ وَالْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَالأَنْصَارِ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوهُ فِي سَاعَةِ الْعُسْرَةِ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا كَادَ يَزِيغُ قُلُوبُ فَرِيقٍ مِنْهُمْ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ إِنَّهُ بِهِمْ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ} (117) (Assuredly, Allah has turned in mercy to the Prophet ﷺ and to the emigrants (Muhājirūn) and the helpers (Anṣār) who followed him in the hour of hardship, after the hearts of a group among them had almost swerved; then He turned in mercy to them. Indeed, He is toward them full of compassion, merciful) (117). Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Assuredly, Allah has granted to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ the returning to His command and His obedience, as well as to the emigrants (Muhājirūn), who left their dwellings and their tribe for the abode of Islam, and to the helpers (Anṣār) of His Messenger for the sake of Allah — those who followed the Messenger of Allah in the hour of their need for provisions, beasts of burden, sustenance, and water — {مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا كَادَ يَزِيغُ قُلُوبُ فَرِيقٍ مِنْهُمْ} (after the hearts of a group among them had almost swerved). He says: after the hearts of some of them had almost swerved from the truth, and one of them would doubt his religion and waver, on account of the hardship and discomfort that had befallen him on his journey and his expedition — {ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ} (then He turned in mercy to them). He says: then He — exalted be His praise — granted them the returning and the coming back to steadfastness in His religion, and the perceiving of the truth that had almost become obscure to them — {إِنَّهُ بِهِمْ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ} (indeed, He is toward them full of compassion, merciful). He says: indeed, your Lord is full of compassion toward those whose hearts that had filled, on account of what had befallen them on their journey of discomfort and hardship — {رَحِيمٌ} (merciful), so as not to destroy them and deprive them of faith after they had accomplished, for the sake of Allah, what they accomplished together with His Messenger, and had shown patience therein amid adversity and privation. * * * And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken. * Mention of who said that: 17423 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: {فِي سَاعَةِ الْعُسْرَةِ} (in the hour of hardship) — during the expedition of Tabūk. 17424 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAqīl: {فِي سَاعَةِ الْعُسْرَةِ} (in the hour of hardship) — he said: they set out on an expedition, with two and three men on one camel. And they set out in severe heat, and a severe thirst befell them that day, so that they began to slaughter their camels and squeeze out the contents of their stomachs and drink …
… denial of His messengers; and an exhortation from Him to His Prophet ﷺ to follow, in patience with them, the way (sunna) of the messengers who possessed resolve (ulu al-ʿazm); and an announcement from …
( And when he came to them with Our signs, behold, they laughed at them ) (43:47). He says: and when Mūsā came to Farʿawn and his chiefs with Our proofs and Our indications of the truthfulness of his word — concerning that to which he was calling them, namely the oneness of Allah (tawḥīd) and the disavowal of the worship of the idols — then Farʿawn and his people laughed at that with which Mūsā had come to them, the signs and the lessons; just as your people too mock that with which you have come to them of signs and lessons. This is a consolation from Allah, Mighty and Exalted is He, to His Prophet ﷺ for what he endured from the polytheists (mushrikīn) of his people, and a notification from Him to him that his people among the folk who ascribe partners (shirk) will not escape being just like all the remaining communities that followed their path in disbelief (kufr) toward Allah and in the denial of His messengers; and an exhortation from Him to His Prophet ﷺ to follow, in patience with them, the way (sunna) of the messengers who possessed resolve (ūlū al-ʿazm); and an announcement from Him to him that the outcome of their rebellious ones ends in destruction and ruin, in accordance with His established custom with those who rebelled against Him before them; and that He will grant him victory over them and raise up his cause, just as He did with Mūsā, peace be upon him, and his people who believed in him, by granting them victory over Farʿawn and his chiefs.
… sins of whoever repents of them, and refrains from disgracing him in the Hereafter. "forbearing", [full of patience, refraining from] punishing him for it, in that He envelops the one who repents of it with …
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: {O you who believe, do not ask about matters which, if they were disclosed to you, would displease you} Abū Jaʿfar said: It is mentioned that this verse was sent down to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ because of questions that certain people put to him, sometimes to test him and sometimes in mockery. One of them said to him: "Who is my father?", and another said to him, when his she-camel had strayed: "Where is my she-camel?" Then the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, said to them: Do not ask about such matters, like the question of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥudhāfa to him as to who his father was. "which, if they were disclosed to you, would displease you", He says: if We disclose to you the reality of that about which you ask, then its disclosure and revelation would displease you. And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the reports of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ have been transmitted in great number. Mention of the narration concerning that: 12794 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn Bughayl related to us, saying: Zuhayr ibn Muʿāwiya related to us, saying: Abū al-Juwayriya related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAbbās said to a bedouin of the Banū Sulaym: Do you know concerning what this verse was sent down: "O you who believe, do not ask about matters which, if they were disclosed to you, would displease you"? — until he brought the verse to its end. He said: There was a people who would ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ questions in mockery. A man would say: "Who is my father?" And a man's she-camel would stray, and then he would say: "Where is my she-camel?" Then Allah sent down upon them this verse. 12795 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀmir and Abū Dāwūd related to us, both of them saying: Hishām related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas, who said: The people kept asking the Messenger of Allah ﷺ questions until they wearied him with the asking. Then one day he ascended the pulpit and said: "Ask me nothing but I will explain it to you!" Anas said: Then I began to look to the right and to the left, and I saw that every man was wrapping his garment around himself and weeping. Then a man stood up who, when there was dispute, was attributed to other than his father, and he said: O Messenger of Allah, who is my father? He said: "Your father is Ḥudhāfa!" Then ʿUmar stood up and said: We are content with Allah as Lord, with Islam as religion, and with Muḥammad ﷺ as Messenger, and I seek refuge in Allah from the evil of trials! Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "I have never seen evil and good as I have today! Paradise and the Fire were depicted for me so that I saw them both behind the wall!" And Qatāda used to mention this narration with this verse: "do not ask about matters which, if they were disclosed to you, would displease you". 12796 - Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar al-Baḥrānī related to me, saying: Rawḥ ibn ʿUbāda related to us, sa …
… test thereby to see how their gratitude is in what they love and how their patience is in what they detest." ʿAli related to me, saying: Abu Salih related to us, saying: Muʿawiya related …
His words { كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ } — "Every soul shall taste death." Allah, exalted be His praise, says: every soul that is an ensouled soul among His creatures shall undergo the agonies of death and drink its cup. His words { وَنَبْلُوكُمْ بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً } — "And We test you with evil and good as a trial." Allah, exalted be His praise, says: We put you to the test, O people, with evil — that is the hardships with which We try you — and with good, that is ease, prosperity, and health, with which We put you to the test. In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes also spoke. Mention of those who said this: Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning the words { وَنَبْلُوكُمْ بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً }: "With prosperity and hardship; and both are a trial." Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the words { وَنَبْلُوكُمْ بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً }: "We try you with evil as a trial (balāʾ) and with good as a trial (fitna). { وَإِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ } — And to Us you shall be returned." Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the words { وَنَبْلُوكُمْ بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً وَإِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ }: "We try them with what they love and with what they detest; We put them to the test thereby to see how their gratitude is in what they love and how their patience is in what they detest." ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the words { وَنَبْلُوكُمْ بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ }: "We put you to the test with hardship and prosperity, with health and sickness, with wealth and poverty, with the lawful and the forbidden, with obedience and disobedience, with guidance and error." His words { وَإِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ } — "And to Us you shall be returned." He says: they are brought back to Us, whereupon We requite them for their deeds — the good and the evil.
وَٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱلْخَٰشِعِينَ
And seek help through patience and prayer, and indeed, it is difficult except for the humbly submissive [to Allah]
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ
O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient.
وَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا۟ لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِۦ قَالُوا۟ رَبَّنَآ أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًۭا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ
And when they went forth to [face] Goliath and his soldiers, they said, "Our Lord, pour upon us patience and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people."
وَمَا تَنقِمُ مِنَّآ إِلَّآ أَنْ ءَامَنَّا بِـَٔايَٰتِ رَبِّنَا لَمَّا جَآءَتْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَآ أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًۭا وَتَوَفَّنَا مُسْلِمِينَ
And you do not resent us except because we believed in the signs of our Lord when they came to us. Our Lord, pour upon us patience and let us die as Muslims [in submission to You]."
وَجَآءُو عَلَىٰ قَمِيصِهِۦ بِدَمٍۢ كَذِبٍۢ ۚ قَالَ بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًۭا ۖ فَصَبْرٌۭ جَمِيلٌۭ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَىٰ مَا تَصِفُونَ
And they brought upon his shirt false blood. [Jacob] said, "Rather, your souls have enticed you to something, so patience is most fitting. And Allah is the one sought for help against that which you describe."
قَالَ بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًۭا ۖ فَصَبْرٌۭ جَمِيلٌ ۖ عَسَى ٱللَّهُ أَن يَأْتِيَنِى بِهِمْ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ
[Jacob] said, "Rather, your souls have enticed you to something, so patience is most fitting. Perhaps Allah will bring them to me all together. Indeed it is He who is the Knowing, the Wise."
وَٱصْبِرْ وَمَا صَبْرُكَ إِلَّا بِٱللَّهِ ۚ وَلَا تَحْزَنْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا تَكُ فِى ضَيْقٍۢ مِّمَّا يَمْكُرُونَ
And be patient, [O Muhammad], and your patience is not but through Allah. And do not grieve over them and do not be in distress over what they conspire.
قَالَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِىَ صَبْرًۭا
He said, "Indeed, with me you will never be able to have patience.
وَكَيْفَ تَصْبِرُ عَلَىٰ مَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِۦ خُبْرًۭا
And how can you have patience for what you do not encompass in knowledge?"
قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِىَ صَبْرًۭا
[Al-Khidh r] said, "Did I not say that with me you would never be able to have patience?"
۞ قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِىَ صَبْرًۭا
[Al-Khidh r] said, "Did I not tell you that with me you would never be able to have patience?"
قَالَ هَٰذَا فِرَاقُ بَيْنِى وَبَيْنِكَ ۚ سَأُنَبِّئُكَ بِتَأْوِيلِ مَا لَمْ تَسْتَطِع عَّلَيْهِ صَبْرًا
[Al-Khidh r] said, "This is parting between me and you. I will inform you of the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience.
وَأَمَّا ٱلْجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلَٰمَيْنِ يَتِيمَيْنِ فِى ٱلْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُۥ كَنزٌۭ لَّهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَٰلِحًۭا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَن يَبْلُغَآ أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسْتَخْرِجَا كَنزَهُمَا رَحْمَةًۭ مِّن رَّبِّكَ ۚ وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُۥ عَنْ أَمْرِى ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَأْوِيلُ مَا لَمْ تَسْطِع عَّلَيْهِ صَبْرًۭا
And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure for them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. And I did it not of my own accord. That is the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience."
رَّبُّ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فَٱعْبُدْهُ وَٱصْطَبِرْ لِعِبَٰدَتِهِۦ ۚ هَلْ تَعْلَمُ لَهُۥ سَمِيًّۭا
Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them - so worship Him and have patience for His worship. Do you know of any similarity to Him?"
وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِنَ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ إِلَّآ إِنَّهُمْ لَيَأْكُلُونَ ٱلطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشُونَ فِى ٱلْأَسْوَاقِ ۗ وَجَعَلْنَا بَعْضَكُمْ لِبَعْضٍۢ فِتْنَةً أَتَصْبِرُونَ ۗ وَكَانَ رَبُّكَ بَصِيرًۭا
And We did not send before you, [O Muhammad], any of the messengers except that they ate food and walked in the markets. And We have made some of you [people] as trial for others - will you have patience? And ever is your Lord, Seeing.
فَٱصْبِرْ صَبْرًۭا جَمِيلًا
So be patient with gracious patience.
ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْمَرْحَمَةِ
And then being among those who believed and advised one another to patience and advised one another to compassion.
إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ
Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.
