Tafseer of Abraham · Ibrahim · 14:7
And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.' "
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Abū Jaʿfar says: Allah, glorious be His praise, says: and remember also when your Lord made known to you.
"Taʾadhdhana" is the taʿfaʿal-pattern of "ādhana." The Arabs sometimes use "taʿfaʿal" in place of "afʿala," as they say: "awʿadtuhu" and "tawaʿʿadtuhu" with the same meaning. "Ādhana" means "to make known," as al-Ḥārith ibn Ḥilliza said:
آذَنَتْنَا بِبَيْنِهَا أَسْمَاءُ رُبَّ ثَاوٍ يُمَلُّ مِنْهُ الثَّوَاءُ
By his word "ādhanatanā" he means: "she made us know."
From Ibn Masʿūd — may Allah be pleased with him — it is related that he read وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ as "wa-idh qāla rabbukum" (and when your Lord said):
Al-Ḥārith related this to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on his authority.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ : "And when your Lord said — that is the taʾadhdhun."
His word لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ (if you are grateful, I will surely increase you) means: if you are grateful to your Lord by obeying Him in what He has commanded you and forbidden you, I will surely give you more of His favors and benefits beyond what He has already given you of rescue from the people of Pharaoh and deliverance from their torment.
Concerning this another opinion has been voiced:
Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us: he said: I heard ʿAlī ibn Ṣāliḥ say concerning the word of Allah, glorious and exalted: لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ : he said: "That is to say: of My obedience."
Al-Muthanná related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us: he said: I heard ʿAlī ibn Ṣāliḥ — and he mentioned the like of it.
Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, concerning لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ : he said: "Of My obedience."
Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Mālik ibn Mighwal related to us, on the authority of Abān ibn Abī ʿAyyāsh, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ : he said: "Of My obedience."
Abū Jaʿfar says: for this interpretation there is no intelligible motive, because obedience has not been mentioned earlier in this place such that one would say: "if you are grateful to Me for it, I will give you more of it." For only the report has been given about the favors of Allah toward the people of Mūsā by His word وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ , after which they were informed that Allah let them know: if they are grateful to Him for this favor, He gives them more. The required rational understanding is therefore that the meaning is: more of His favors — not more of something not previously mentioned such as "obedience" — unless one means: if you are grateful and thereby obedient to Me through your gratitude, I will give you more of the means to gratitude that help you toward it; then that would be an acceptable interpretation.
His word وَلَئِنْ كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِي لَشَدِيدٌ (and if you are ungrateful, My punishment is surely severe) means: and if you, O people, deny the favor of Allah and reject it by neglecting gratitude toward Him, transgressing His command, violating His prohibition, and committing disobedience to Him — "My punishment is surely severe" — I will punish you just as I have punished those of My creatures who are ungrateful to Me.
Some of the Basrans said concerning the meaning of His word وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ : "And when your Lord made it known" — and they said: "idh" is an added particle. We have demonstrated in an earlier place the incorrectness of this position.
