Tafseer of The Bee · An-Nahl · 16:47
Or that He would not seize them gradually [in a state of dread]? But indeed, your Lord is Kind and Merciful.
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.
His word أَوْ يَأْخُذَهُمْ عَلَى تَخَوُّفٍ — this means: or He destroys them through takhawwuf, that is to say: through the diminishing of their outermost regions and edges, one after another, until they have all perished. One says: takhawwafa mālu fulānin al-infāq — when expenditure made his wealth dwindle. The word takhawwuf in the meaning of tanaqqus (diminution) is found in the poet's verse:
Takhawwafa al-sayru minhā tāmikan qariḍan kamā takhawwafa ʿūda al-nabʿati al-safanu
(The journey diminished her high, swelling hump, as the plane diminishes the wood of the bow.)
By takhawwafa al-sayru he means: it diminished her hump. We have already mentioned that al-Haytham ibn ʿAdī said that this is a well-known expression among the tribe of Azd Shanūʾah. Likewise the poet's verse:
Takhawwafa ʿadwuhum mālī wa-ahdā salāsila fī l-ḥulūqi lahā ṣalīlu
(Their assault diminished my wealth and brought chains into the throats that clanged.)
Al-Farrāʾ said: "The Arabs say: taḥawwaftuhu, that is to say: I diminished it, lessened it — taḥawwufan: that is to say: I took from it from its edges and extremities. So is it as I heard; in the tradition this also occurs with a ḥāʾ, but both variants have the same meaning." He said: "Compare with that what is read in two ways: inna laka fī l-nahāri sabḥan — and sabkhan."
In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes of the Scripture also spoke.
Mention of who said this:
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us; he said: his father related to us, on the authority of al-Masʿūdī, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn ʿĀmir ibn Masʿūd, on the authority of a man, on the authority of ʿUmar — that he asked them about this verse: أَوْ يَأْخُذَهُمْ فِي تَقَلُّبِهِمْ فَمَا هُمْ بِمُعْجِزِينَ * أَوْ يَأْخُذَهُمْ عَلَى تَخَوُّفٍ. They said: "We see it as nothing other than the diminishing of the signs that He keeps repeating." ʿUmar said: "I see it as nothing other than what He diminishes of you for the transgressions against Allah." He said: "Then a man among those present with ʿUmar departed and met a Bedouin Arab, whom he asked: O so-and-so, what did your Lord do? He said: I have diminished it — that is to say: I have made it decrease. He returned to ʿUmar and informed him, whereupon ʿUmar said: Allah had already so decreed this."
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me; he said: my father related to me; he said: my uncle related to me; he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: أَوْ يَأْخُذَهُمْ عَلَى تَخَوُّفٍ — he said: "If He wills, He strikes him after the death of his companion, and this one is thereby seized by fear."
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 ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: عَلَى تَخَوُّفٍ — he said: "diminution and terror."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me; he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us; he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: أَوْ يَأْخُذَهُمْ عَلَى تَخَوُّفٍ — "by gradual diminution."
Al-Ḥārith related to me; he said: al-Ḥasan related to us; he said: Warqāʾ related to us; and al-Muthanná related to me; he said: Isḥāq informed us; he said: ʿAbdullāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: عَلَى تَخَوُّفٍ — he said: "diminution."
Al-Muthanná related to me; he said: Abū Ḥudhayfah related to us; he said: Shibil related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — to the same effect.
Bishr related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: أَوْ يَأْخُذَهُمْ عَلَى تَخَوُّفٍ — "then He punishes them, or He lets it be."
Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word أَوْ يَأْخُذَهُمْ عَلَى تَخَوُّفٍ: he said: "It was said: al-takhawwuf is al-tanaqqus — diminution; He causes the towns to decrease from their edges."
It was related to me from al-Ḥusayn; he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us; he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word أَوْ يَأْخُذَهُمْ عَلَى تَخَوُّفٍ: he means: "He strikes one group with the punishment and leaves another at peace; He destroys one town and leaves the one adjacent to it at peace."
His word فَإِنَّ رَبَّكُمْ لَرَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ — He says: if your Lord did not strike these people who devised evil schemes with an untimely punishment, but struck them with death and the gradual diminishing of some after others, He is indeed kind toward His creatures and merciful to them. And out of His kindness and mercy toward them, He did not cause the earth to be struck down upon them, nor did He hasten the punishment for them; but He brings fear upon them and diminishes them through death.
