Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:103
And if they had believed and feared Allah, then the reward from Allah would have been [far] better, if they only knew.
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.
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ آمَنُوا وَاتَّقَوْا لَمَثُوبَةٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ (103)
(And if only they had believed and been God-fearing, then a reward from Allah would have been better, if only they had known) (103)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His word — exalted be His praise — "and if only they had believed and been God-fearing" He means: if those who learned from the two angels that by which they brought about separation between a man and his wife had "believed," that is, had held Allah and His Messenger to be true, as well as that which He brought to them from their Lord, and had "been God-fearing" toward their Lord, that is, had feared Him and feared His punishment and so obeyed Him by fulfilling His obligations and avoiding His acts of disobedience — then Allah's requital of them and His reward to them for their belief in Him and their God-fearing toward Him would have been better for them than the sorcery and that which they acquired thereby. "If only they had known," namely that Allah's reward to them for that is better for them than the sorcery and than that which they acquired thereby. By His word "if only they had known" He denied them knowledge, namely that they would be knowers concerning the extent of Allah's reward and the measure of His requital for obeying Him.
* * *
And "al-mathūba" in the language of the Arabs is a verbal noun (maṣdar) from the saying of the one who says: "athabtuhu ithābatan wa-thawāban wa-mathūbatan" (I rewarded him with a reward). Its origin is: "thāba ilayka l-shayʾ," in the meaning of: it returned. Then one says: "athabtuhu ilayka," that is: I caused it to return to you and gave it back to you. The meaning of "the rewarding of one man by another for a gift and the like" is thus: causing something to come to him as a replacement for it and returning it to him as recompense for it. Then everyone who recompenses another for his labor, his gift, or a prior benefit conferred upon him by him was called a "muthīb" (rewarder). From this is derived the "thawāb" (reward) of Allah, Mighty and Exalted, to His servants for their deeds, in the meaning of His giving them the recompense and requital for it, until a replacement comes to them for their labor which they performed for Him.
* * *
Some of the grammarians of Basra claimed that His word "and if only they had believed and been God-fearing, then a reward from Allah would have been better" belongs to that in which one — through the indication that lies in the wording upon the meaning — has dispensed with mentioning the second clause (the response to the conditional). Its meaning would be: "and if only they had believed and been God-fearing, then they would have been rewarded," but one could — through the indication of the statement concerning the reward — state it without the words "then they would have been rewarded."
* * *
And some of the grammarians of the people of Basra rejected that and held that the response to His word "and if only they had believed and been God-fearing" is "a reward," and that "law" (if) was indeed answered with "al-mathūba" (a reward), even though He reported about it with the completed (perfect) form of the verb, on account of the nearness of its meaning to the meaning of "laʾin," since both are conditional particles — for both are a response to belief. Thus the response of each of the two was applied to the other: so "law" was answered with the response of "laʾin," and "laʾin" with the response of "law," for that reason, even though their responses differ, for it is the rule and the portion of "law" that it be answered with the completed (perfect) form of the verb, and it is the rule and the portion of "laʾin" that it be answered with the future (imperfect) form of the verb — on account of the nearness between the two which we have described. He thus understood the meaning of His word "and if only they had believed and been God-fearing" as: "and indeed, if they believe and are God-fearing, then a reward from Allah is better."
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning the interpretation of "al-mathūba" the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
1717 – 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 "a reward from Allah," he says: a reward (thawāb) from Allah.
1718 – Yūnus related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and if only they had believed and been God-fearing, then a reward from Allah" — as for "al-mathūba," that is the reward (thawāb).
1719 – 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: "and if only they had believed and been God-fearing, then a reward from Allah would have been better," he says: a reward from Allah.
* * *
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَقُولُوا رَاعِنَا
(O you who believe, do not say "rāʿinā")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation differed concerning the interpretation of His word "do not say rāʿinā." Some of them said: its interpretation is: do not say contradiction (khilāfan).
* Mention of who said that:
1720 – Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, concerning His word "do not say rāʿinā," he said: do not say contradiction.
1721 – 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: "do not say rāʿinā," do not say contradiction.
1722 – And 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, the same.
1723 – Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Ahwāzī related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
1724 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
* * *
And others said: its interpretation is: "lend us your hearing" (arʿinā samʿaka), that is: listen to us and we listen to you.
* Mention of who said that:
1725 – Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, on the authority of ʿIkrima, or on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his word "rāʿinā," that is: lend us your hearing.
1726 – 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, Mighty and Exalted: "O you who believe, do not say rāʿinā," do not say: listen to us and we listen to you.
1727 – And it was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His word "rāʿinā," he said: a man of the polytheists (mushrikīn) used to say: "lend me your hearing."
* * *
Then the people of interpretation differed concerning the reason why Allah forbade the believers from saying "rāʿinā." Some of them said: it was a word that the Jews used to say by way of mockery and insult, and therefore Allah — exalted be His mention — forbade the believers from saying it to the Prophet ﷺ.
* Mention of who said that:
1728 – Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "O you who believe, do not say rāʿinā" — a saying which the Jews used to say by way of mockery, and Allah restrained the believers from saying as they said.
1729 – Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, on the authority of Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya: "do not say rāʿinā," he said: some people of the Jews said: "lend us your hearing!" until some people of the Muslims said it; and Allah found detestable for them what the Jews said and therefore said: "O you who believe, do not say rāʿinā" as the Jews and the Christians said.
1730 – 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 "do not say rāʿinā but say unẓurnā," he said: they used to say: "lend us your hearing!", and the Jews came and said something like it by way of mockery, and therefore Allah said: "do not say rāʿinā but say unẓurnā."
1731 – And it was related to me on the authority of al-Minjāb, saying: Bishr ibn ʿUmāra related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word "do not say rāʿinā," he said: they used to say to the Prophet ﷺ: "lend us your hearing!", and "rāʿinā" is only equivalent to your saying "give us attention" (ʿāṭinā).
1732 – And Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word "O you who believe, do not say rāʿinā but say unẓurnā," he said: "rāʿinā" is the saying which the people uttered; they said: سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا وَاسْمَعْ غَيْرَ مُسْمَعٍ وَرَاعِنَا لَيًّا بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَطَعْنًا فِي الدِّينِ [Surah al-Nisāʾ: 46] (We hear and we disobey, and listen, may you not be heard, and rāʿinā — twisting with their tongues and slandering the religion). He said: "this is al-rāʿin" — and al-rāʿin is error (al-khaṭāʾ). He said: He therefore said to the believers: do not say error, as the people said, but say: unẓurnā (give heed to us) and listen. He said: they would look at the Prophet ﷺ and speak with him, and he would listen to them, and they would ask him and he would answer them.
* * *
And others said: no, it was a word which the Anṣār used to say in the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya), and Allah forbade them in Islam from saying it to His Prophet ﷺ.
* Mention of who said that:
1733 – Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, concerning His word "do not say rāʿinā," he said: it was a manner of speech among the Anṣār in the time of ignorance, and then this verse was revealed: "do not say rāʿinā, but say unẓurnā," to the end of the verse.
1734 – Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, he said: "do not say rāʿinā," he said: it was a manner of speech among the Anṣār.
1735 – Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, the same.
1736 – And al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Jaʿfar, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, concerning His word "do not say rāʿinā," he said: the polytheists of the Arabs used to, when one of them spoke to another, that one would say to his companion: "lend me your hearing!", and therefore that was forbidden to them.
1737 – Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: "rāʿinā" is the saying of the mocker, and thus He forbade them from mocking the speech of Muḥammad ﷺ.
* * *
And some of them said: no, it was the saying of a particular Jew, named Rifāʿa ibn Zayd. He addressed the Prophet ﷺ with it by way of insult toward him, and the Muslims took it over from him, and therefore Allah forbade the believers from saying it to the Prophet ﷺ.
* Mention of who said that:
1738 – Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "O you who believe, do not say rāʿinā but say unẓurnā" — there was a man of the Jews — of a tribe of the Jews called Banū Qaynuqāʿ — who was called Rifāʿa ibn Zayd ibn al-Sāʾib — Abū Jaʿfar said: this is an error, it is rather Ibn al-Tābūt, not Ibn al-Sāʾib — he used to come to the Prophet ﷺ, and when he met him and spoke with him, he would say: "lend me your hearing, and listen, may you not be heard," and the Muslims supposed that the prophets were honored thereby, and therefore some people among them said: "listen, may you not be heard," like your saying "listen without being diminished"; and that is what occurs in Surah al-Nisāʾ: مِنَ الَّذِينَ هَادُوا يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَنْ مَوَاضِعِهِ وَيَقُولُونَ سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا وَاسْمَعْ غَيْرَ مُسْمَعٍ وَرَاعِنَا لَيًّا بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَطَعْنًا فِي الدِّينِ [Surah al-Nisāʾ: 46] (Among the Jews are those who distort words from their places and say: we hear and we disobey, and listen, may you not be heard, and rāʿinā — twisting with their tongues and slandering the religion). He says: He means by His word only a slander against the religion. Then He turned to the believers and said: "do not say rāʿinā."
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view concerning Allah's forbidding — exalted be His praise — the believers from saying "rāʿinā" to His Prophet, is that one says: it is a word that Allah found detestable for them to say to His Prophet ﷺ, comparable to what has been transmitted concerning the Prophet ﷺ, that he said:
1739 – "Do not call the grapevine al-karm (the noble one), but say: al-ḥabala."
1740 – And: "Do not say 'my slave' (ʿabdī), but say: 'my boy' (fatāya)."
And what resembles that, of the two words which in the language of the Arabs are used with one and the same meaning, where the disapproval or the prohibition pertains to the use of the one and to the preferring of the other above it in address.
* * *
If someone were to say to us: we now know the meaning of the Prophet's ﷺ prohibition concerning the "grapevine" (al-ʿinab) being called "al-karm," and concerning the "slave" (al-ʿabd) being called "ʿabd," what then is the meaning that lies in His word "rāʿinā," on account of which Allah's prohibition — exalted be His praise — came to the believers against saying it, such that He commanded them to prefer His word انْظُرْنَا (unẓurnā)?
Then it is answered: that which lies in it is comparable to what lies in the saying of the one who says "al-karm" for the grapevine, and "al-ʿabd" for the slave. That is because the saying of the one who says "my slave" (ʿabdī) applies to all the servants of Allah (ʿibād Allah), and therefore it was found detestable for the Prophet ﷺ that one of Allah's servants — in the meaning of slavery/servitude (ʿubūdiyya) — should be ascribed to other than Allah, and it was commanded that this be ascribed to other than Him with a meaning other than that by which it is ascribed to Allah, Mighty and Exalted, and so one says "my boy" (fatāya). Likewise the reason for His prohibition concerning the "grapevine" being called "al-karm," is out of fear of the supposition that one describes it with nobility (al-karam), even if the word is pronounced with a sukūn (vowel-less mark), for the Arabs sometimes make some of the vowel-movements rest when they follow one another of one kind. Thus it was found detestable that the grapevine be described thereby. Likewise Allah, Mighty and Exalted, forbade the believers from saying "rāʿinā," because the saying of the one who says "rāʿinā" carries within it the possibility of meaning: "watch over us and we watch over you, observe us and we observe you," from the saying which the Arabs direct to one another: "raʿāka llāh," in the meaning of: may Allah watch over you and protect you — and carries within it the possibility of meaning: "lend us your hearing," from their saying: "arʿaytu samʿī irʿāʾan" — or "rāʿaytuhu samʿī riʿāʾan or murāʿātan" — in the meaning of: I freed it to listen to his speech. As al-Aʿshā Maymūn ibn Qays said:
"He lends his ear (yurʿī) to the speech of the chiefs of men, when they show him the decisive matter, or what he wished, he newly devised."
By his word "yurʿī" he means: he inclines his hearing toward it and frees it for it.
And Allah — exalted be His praise — had commanded the believers to revere and magnify His Prophet ﷺ, such that He — exalted be His mention — forbade them, among the things He forbade them, from raising their voices above his voice and from speaking loudly to him as they speak loudly to one another, and He made them fear that thereby their deeds would come to nothing. Thus He turned to them with the reproof not to say to him any saying in which there is roughness, and commanded them to prefer, for addressing him, the most beautiful wordings and the finest meanings. And among that was their saying "rāʿinā," on account of the possibility of the meaning "watch over us, we watch over you" that lies in it, since the reciprocal verbal form (mufāʿala) proceeds only from two parties, like the one who says: "ʿāṭinā (give us), ḥādithnā (converse with us), jālisnā (sit with us)," in the meaning of: do with us and we do with you — and on account of the meaning "lend us your hearing, so that we may understand you and you understand us." Allah — exalted be His mention — thus forbade the companions of Muḥammad from saying that in that manner, and from limiting their request to him to his granting them waiting and delay so that they might gain understanding from him, with reverence and magnification on their part toward him, and not to ask him that in that manner by way of roughness and sharpness on their part toward him, nor with harshness and coarseness, in imitation of those of the Jews in their addressing the Prophet of Allah ﷺ with their saying to him: "listen, may you not be heard, and rāʿinā."
To the correctness of what we have said concerning that points His word: مَا يَوَدُّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ وَلا الْمُشْرِكِينَ أَنْ يُنَزَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ (Neither those who disbelieve among the People of the Book nor the polytheists wish that any good be sent down upon you from your Lord), by which He indicated that that for which He reproved them belonged to that which gladdens the Jews and the polytheists.
* * *
As for the interpretation transmitted on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His word "rāʿinā," namely that it has the meaning "contradiction" (khilāfan): that is something which is not comprehensible in the language of the Arabs. For "rāʿaytu" in the language of the Arabs is only in one of two ways: the one in the meaning of the form "fāʿaltu" derived from "al-riʿya," and that is watching and protecting; and the other in the meaning of freeing the hearing, in the meaning of "arʿaytuhu samʿī." But "rāʿaytu" in the meaning of "khālaftu" (I contradicted) has no comprehensible basis in the language of the Arabs. Unless he read it with tanwīn (nunation) and then directed it to the meaning of foolishness, ignorance, and error (al-ruʿūna), in the manner in which ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd spoke about it; then it would, on that account — even though it conflicts with the reading of the Qurʾān-reciters — have at that point a comprehensible meaning.
* * *
As for the other statement transmitted on the authority of ʿAṭiyya and on the authority of whoever transmits that from him: that His word "rāʿinā" was a word of the Jews with the meaning of insult and mockery, which the believers then used by taking it over from them — that is not permissible with respect to the description of the believers: that they would take over from the language of the people of shirk a word whose meaning they do not know, and then use it among themselves and in addressing their Prophet ﷺ. But it is permissible that it belongs to what is transmitted on the authority of Qatāda, namely that it was a correct, comprehensible word from the language of the Arabs, which coincided with a word from the language of the Jews in a language other than Arabic, which among the Jews was an insult, while among the Arabs it means: "lend me your hearing and free it so that you understand me." Allah — exalted be His praise — thus knew the meaning of the Jews in their uttering it to the Prophet ﷺ, and that its meaning among them differed from its meaning in the language of the Arabs, and therefore Allah, Mighty and Exalted, forbade the believers from saying it to the Prophet ﷺ, so that the one whose meaning therein deviated from the meaning of the believers therein would not dare to address the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with it. This, however, is an interpretation concerning which no transmission has come that it is so, by the way through which proof is established. And since that is so, that which is most fitting for the interpretation of the verse is what we have described, since that is the outwardly comprehensible meaning from the verse and nothing else.
* * *
And it is transmitted on the authority of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī that he read it as "lā taqūlū rāʿinan" with tanwīn, in the meaning of: do not say a saying which is "rāʿin" (foolish), derived from "al-ruʿūna," and that is foolishness and ignorance. This is a reading which conflicts with the reading of the Qurʾān-reciters of the Muslims, and therefore it is not permissible for anyone to read with it, on account of its anomaly and its deviation from the reading of the earlier and later ones, and its conflict with that by which the proof of the Muslims has come.
And whoever read "rāʿinā" with tanwīn, provided it with tanwīn on account of His word "lā taqūlū" (do not say), for that then grammatically governs it. And whoever did not provide it with tanwīn, omitted the tanwīn from it because it is a quoted command. For the people, as it were, said to the Prophet ﷺ: "rāʿinā," in the meaning of their request to him: either that he lend them his hearing, or that he watch over them and observe them — in accordance with what I have already expounded before. Then it was said to them: in your request to him do not say "rāʿinā." The indication of the imperative meaning in "rāʿinā" is then the dropping of the yāʾ which would be in "yurāʿīhi," and that yāʾ — I mean the dropped yāʾ — is indicated by the kasra of the ʿayn in "rāʿinā."
* * *
And it has been mentioned that the reading of Ibn Masʿūd was: "lā taqūlū rāʿūnā" (do not say rāʿūnā), in the meaning of quoting a command suitable for a group that they watch over them. If that is correct from his reading, the explanation is that the people, as it were, were forbidden from using that among themselves in addressing one another, whether it was their addressing of the Prophet ﷺ or of another. But we do not know that this is correct from the way by which transmissions are found to be correct.
* * *
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: وَقُولُوا انْظُرْنَا
(And say: unẓurnā — give heed to us)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His word — exalted be His praise — "and say: unẓurnā" He means: and say, O you believers, to your Prophet ﷺ: give heed to us and wait for us, so that we may understand and clearly perceive what you say to us and teach us, as:
1741 – 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: "and say: unẓurnā" — make us understand, make it clear to us, O Muḥammad.
1742 – 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 say: unẓurnā" — make us understand, make it clear to us, O Muḥammad.
1743 – 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, the same.
* * *
From this one says: "naẓartu l-rajula anẓuruhu naẓratan," in the meaning of: I waited for him and observed him. From this is the saying of al-Ḥuṭayʾa:
"And I waited for you as the evening-pasturing camels returning from the water to the fifth-day watering wait; long has my gentle driving and my hard urging endured."
And from this is the word of Allah, Mighty and Exalted: يَوْمَ يَقُولُ الْمُنَافِقُونَ وَالْمُنَافِقَاتُ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا انْظُرُونَا نَقْتَبِسْ مِنْ نُورِكُمْ [Surah al-Ḥadīd: 13] (On the day when the hypocrite men and the hypocrite women say to those who believe: wait for us, that we may borrow something from your light), by which He means: wait for us.
* * *
And one has read "anẓirnā" and "anẓirūnā," with a hamzat al-qaṭʿ (pronounced hamza) on the alif in both passages together. Whoever read that thus, meant: grant us respite, as Allah — exalted be His praise — said: قَالَ رَبِّ فَأَنْظِرْنِي إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ [Surah Ṣād: 79] (He said: my Lord, grant me respite then until the day when they are resurrected), that is: grant me respite. But there is no basis for reading that thus in this place. For the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ were commanded only to nearness to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, to listening to him, to addressing him kindly, and to humility — not to withdrawing from him, nor to requesting him to grant them respite from him. The correct view — since that is so — of the reading is thus the reading of whoever connected the alif (waṣl) in His word "unẓurnā" and did not pronounce it as hamzat al-qaṭʿ, in the meaning of: wait for us.
* * *
And it is said: the meaning of "anẓirnā" with hamzat al-qaṭʿ has the meaning: grant us respite. It has been related concerning some of the Arabs by way of heard transmission: "anẓirnī ukallimuka" (grant me respite, and I will speak to you), and the one who heard that from one of them mentioned that he asked him about its meaning, and he informed him that he meant: grant me respite. If that is correct concerning them, then "unẓurnā" and "anẓirnā" — with hamzat al-qaṭʿ and with the connecting of it — are close to each other in meaning. But even if it is so, the reading of which I deem no other permissible is the reading of whoever read: "and say: unẓurnā" with the connecting of the alif, in the meaning of: wait for us, on account of the unanimity of the proof concerning its correctness and their rejection of the remaining readings.
* * *
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: وَاسْمَعُوا وَلِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ (104)
(And listen; and for the disbelievers there is a painful punishment) (104)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His word — exalted be His praise — "and listen" He means: and listen to what is said to you and recited to you from the Book of your Lord, and preserve it and understand it, as:
1744 – Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and listen" — listen to what is said to you.
* * *
The meaning of the verse is thus: O you who believe, do not say to your Prophet: lend us your hearing and free it for us, so that we may understand you and you understand what we say. But say: wait for us and observe us, until we understand from you what you teach us and make clear to us. And listen to him, to what he says to you, and preserve it and retain it and understand it. Then He informed them — exalted be His praise — that for whoever of them and of others denies His signs, contradicts His command and prohibition, and calls His Messenger a liar, there is the painful punishment in the Hereafter, and He said: and for those who disbelieve in Me and in My Messenger there is a painful punishment. By His word "al-alīm" He means: the painful (al-mūjiʿ). And we have already mentioned before the indication upon that, as well as the transmissions that exist concerning it.
