Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:177
Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.
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 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; so Allah sent down upon them this verse, in which He informs them that piety is not the deed they perform, but rather it is what We have set forth in this verse.
* Mention of who said that:
2518 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: the Jews used to pray toward the west and the Christians used to pray toward the east, then there was sent down: "Piety is not that you turn your faces toward the east and the west".
2519 — 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: "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" — we were told that a man asked the Prophet of Allah ﷺ about piety, and Allah sent down this verse. And we were told that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ called the man and recited it to him. And before the obligations (were sent down), it was the case that when someone testified that there is no god but Allah and that Muḥammad is His servant and messenger, and then died upon that, one hoped for him and reckoned the good for him; then Allah sent down: "Piety is not that you turn your faces toward the east and the west". And the Jews used to turn toward the west and the Christians toward the east — "but pious is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day", the verse.
2520 — 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 ibn Anas, who said: the Jews used to pray toward the west and the Christians toward the east, then there was sent down: "Piety is not that you turn your faces toward the east and the west".
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The more preferable of these two statements for the interpretation of the verse is the statement made by Qatāda and al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas =: that by His statement "Piety is not that you turn your faces toward the east and the west" the Jews and the Christians are meant. For the verses before it have already rebuked and censured them, and informed about them and about what is prepared for them of painful punishment. And this is in line with what preceded it, since the matter was thus, — "Piety is not", — O Jews and Christians, that some of you turn your face toward the east and some toward the west, "but pious is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Book", the verse.
* * *
If someone asks: how then is it said "but pious is he who believes in Allah" (wa-lākinna al-birra man āmana), while you know that "al-birr" (piety) is an action and "man" (he who) is a noun — how can the action be the human being himself?
Then it is answered: the meaning of that is other than what you imagined. Its meaning is only: but piety is the piety of him who believes in Allah and the Last Day. So "man" was placed in the position of the action, contenting oneself with its indication and with the indication of the relative clause that is a quality of it, in place of the omitted action, just as the Arabs do that: they place the nouns in the position of the actions for which they are renowned, and say: "al-jūdu Ḥātim" (generosity is Ḥātim) and "al-shajāʿatu ʿAntara" (courage is ʿAntara), and "innamā al-jūdu Ḥātim wa-l-shajāʿatu ʿAntara" — and its meaning is: generosity is the generosity of Ḥātim. One contents oneself with the mention of "Ḥātim", since he was known for his generosity, in place of mentioning "generosity" again after what has already been mentioned, and places it in the position of "his generosity", because of the indication of the words upon what one has omitted, contenting oneself with what one has mentioned in place of what one has not mentioned. As it is said: وَاسْأَلِ الْقَرْيَةَ الَّتِي كُنَّا فِيهَا ("And ask the town in which we were") [Sūrat Yūsuf: 82], the meaning of which is: the people of the town. And as the poet said, namely Dhū al-Khiraq al-Ṭuhawī:
"You took the braying of my mount for (that of) a young goat!
But it is not that — woe to other than you — by the young goat."
He means: the braying of a young goat, or the sound of [a young goat], as one says: "I took my cry for your brother", by which is meant: I took my cry for the cry of your brother.
* * *
It is also possible that the meaning of the words is: but the pious one is he who believes in Allah; then "al-birr" would be a verbal noun (maṣdar) placed in the position of the noun (the agent).
* * *
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: وَآتَى الْمَالَ عَلَى حُبِّهِ ذَوِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ وَالسَّائِلِينَ وَفِي الرِّقَابِ ("and who gives wealth, in spite of his love for it, to the kinsfolk and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars, and for (the freeing of) the slaves").
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His statement — "and who gives wealth, in spite of his love for it" — He means, exalted is His mention: and who gave his wealth at the moment of his love for it, his avarice with it and his stinginess over it. As:
2521 — Abū Kurayb and Abū al-Sāʾib related to us, both saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard Layth, on the authority of Zubayd, on the authority of Murra ibn Sharāḥīl al-Bakīlī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd: "and who gives wealth, in spite of his love for it" — that is to say: he gives it while he is healthy and stingy, hoping for life and fearing poverty.
2522 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us — and al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us — both together, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Zubayd al-Yāmī, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh: "and who gives wealth, in spite of his love for it" — he said: while you are healthy, hoping for life and fearing poverty.
2523 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Zubayd al-Yāmī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, that he said concerning this verse: "and who gives wealth, in spite of his love for it" — he said: while you are covetous and stingy, hoping for riches and fearing poverty.
2524 — Aḥmad ibn Niʿma al-Miṣrī related to us, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: al-Layth related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Aʿyan related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba ibn al-Ḥajjāj, on the authority of Zubayd al-Yāmī, on the authority of Murra al-Hamdānī, who said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd said concerning the statement of Allah: "and who gives wealth, in spite of his love for it, to the kinsfolk" — he said: covetous and stingy, hoping for riches and fearing poverty.
2525 — Abū Kurayb and Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, both saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Sālim informed us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, I heard him being asked: is there upon the man an obligation in his wealth other than the zakāh? He said: yes! And he recited this verse: "and who gives wealth, in spite of his love for it, to the kinsfolk and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for (the freeing of) the slaves, and who performs the prayer and gives the zakāh".
2526 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Suwayd ibn ʿAmr al-Kalbī related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, saying: Abū Ḥamza informed us, saying: I said to al-Shaʿbī: when the man pays the zakāh on his wealth, does his wealth become pure for him? Then he recited this verse: لَيْسَ الْبِرَّ أَنْ تُوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ ("Piety is not that you turn your faces toward the east and the west") up to "and who gives wealth, in spite of his love for it", to its end, and then he said: Fāṭima bint Qays related to me that she said: O Messenger of Allah, I possess seventy mithqāl of gold. He said: spend it on your kinsfolk.
2527 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, who said: Abū Ḥamza related to us, as far as I know — on the authority of ʿĀmir, on the authority of Fāṭima bint Qays, that she heard him (the Prophet ﷺ) say: in wealth there is indeed a due besides the zakāh.
2528 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥayyān, who said: Muzāḥim ibn Zufar related to me, saying: I was sitting with ʿAṭāʾ when a bedouin came to him and said to him: I possess camels; is there upon me in them a due after the alms-giving (ṣadaqa)? He said: yes! He said: and what is it? He said: lending the bucket (to draw water), letting the stallion mount, and the milk.
2529 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who reported it on the authority of Murra al-Hamdānī concerning: "and who gives wealth, in spite of his love for it" — he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd said: you give it while you are healthy and stingy, harboring long expectations and fearing poverty. And he likewise reported on the authority of al-Suddī that this is an obligatory matter in wealth, a due that rests upon the owner of the wealth to fulfill, besides what rests upon him of zakāh.
2530 — Al-Rabīʿ ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: Asad related to us, saying: Suwayd ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥamza, on the authority of ʿĀmir, on the authority of Fāṭima bint Qays, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, that he said: "In wealth there is a due besides the zakāh", and he recited this verse: "Piety is not" to the end of the verse.
2531 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Zubayd al-Yāmī, on the authority of Murra ibn Sharāḥīl, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning His statement: "and who gives wealth, in spite of his love for it" — he said: that the man gives it while he is healthy and stingy over it, hoping for life and fearing poverty.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The interpretation of the verse is thus: and who gave wealth — while he loves it, is covetous of amassing it, and is stingy with it — to his kinsfolk, and thereby maintained the ties of kinship with them.
I have said that by His statement "the kinsfolk" is meant: the kinsfolk of the one who gives away the wealth in spite of his love for it, because of the report that has been transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to Fāṭima bint Qays in his command to her =
2532 — and his statement ﷺ when he was asked: which alms is the most excellent? He said: the effort of the destitute (toward) a near kinsman who harbors enmity.
* * *
As for "the orphans" and "the needy", their meanings we have already set forth previously.
* * *
As for "the wayfarer" (ibn al-sabīl), that is the one who passes by the man (while traveling). Then the scholars differed about his description. Some of them said: he is the guest (ḍayf).
* Mention of who said that:
2533 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "and the wayfarer" — he said: he is the guest. He said: we were told that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ used to say: "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or let him be silent." And he said: the right of hospitality is three nights, and whatever he offers as hospitality after that is alms (ṣadaqa).
* * *
And some of them said: he is the traveler who passes by you.
* Mention of who said that:
2534 — Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar: "and the wayfarer" — he said: the one who travels from one land to another.
2535 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid and Qatāda, concerning His statement: "and the wayfarer" — he said: the one who passes by you while he is traveling.
2536 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of whom he mentioned, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid and Qatāda, the same.
* * *
The traveler is called only "ibn al-sabīl" (son of the road) because of his attachment to the road — and the road is "al-sabīl" — so because of his attachment to it during his travel he is called "its son", just as the waterfowl is called "ibn al-māʾ" (son of the water) because of its attachment to it, and the man over whom the ages have passed is called "ibn al-ayyām wa-l-layālī wa-l-azmina" (son of the days, the nights and the epochs). To this belongs the statement of Dhū al-Rumma:
"I arrived in the wild, while the Pleiades were as if,
at the top of the head, a high-flying son of the water."
* * *
As for His statement — "and the beggars" — by it He means: those who ask for food and request (gifts). As:
2537 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His statement: "and the beggars" — he said: the one who asks you for something.
* * *
As for His statement — "and for (the freeing of) the slaves (wa-fī al-riqāb)" — by it He means: and for the freeing of necks from slavery (al-ʿubūda), and these are the contract-slaves (mukātabūn) who strive to free their necks from slavery, by fulfilling their manumission contracts (kitābāt) on the basis of which they are separated from their masters.
* * *
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: وَأَقَامَ الصَّلاةَ وَآتَى الزَّكَاةَ وَالْمُوفُونَ بِعَهْدِهِمْ إِذَا عَاهَدُوا ("and who performs the prayer and gives the zakāh, and those who fulfill their covenant when they make a covenant").
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His statement — "and who performs the prayer (wa-aqāma al-ṣalāta)" — He means, exalted is His mention: he performed it constantly with its conditions, and by His statement "and who gives the zakāh" — he gave it as Allah has prescribed it for him.
* * *
If someone asks: is there a due that is obligatory in wealth and that must be discharged as an obligation, other than the zakāh?
Then it is answered: the scholars of interpretation differed about this:
Some of them said: in it dues are obligatory besides the zakāh = and they adduced for their statement this verse, and said: when Allah, blessed and exalted is He, said: وَآتَى الْمَالَ عَلَى حُبِّهِ ذَوِي الْقُرْبَى ("and who gives wealth, in spite of his love for it, to the kinsfolk") and those whom Allah named with them, and then afterward said: "and who performs the prayer and gives the zakāh", we know that the wealth — with which He described the believers, that they give it to the kinsfolk, and to those whom He named with them — is something other than the zakāh that He mentioned that they give. For if it were one and the same wealth, there would be no intelligible meaning to its repetition. They said: and since it is not permissible that He, exalted is His mention, should make a statement that has no meaning, we know that the ruling of the first wealth is something other than the zakāh, and that the zakāh that He mentioned afterward is something other. They said: and moreover, the interpretation of the scholars of interpretation has made clear the correctness of what we have said about it.
Others said: rather the first wealth is the zakāh, but Allah described the giving by the believers to those to whom they gave it, at the beginning of the verse. So He made known to His servants — by His description of what He described concerning their affair — the places where they are obligated to spend their zakāh-gifts, and then He indicated to them by His statement afterward: "and who gives the zakāh", that the wealth that the people gave is the obligatory zakāh that rested upon them, since those entitled to its shares are the same ones whom He informed at the beginning of the verse that the people gave them their wealth.
* * *
As for His statement — "and those who fulfill their covenant when they make a covenant" — by it He means, exalted is His mention: and those who do not break the covenant of Allah after the making of the covenant, but fulfill it and complete it in accordance with that over which they made a covenant with the one with whom they made the covenant. As:
2538 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, concerning His statement: "and those who fulfill their covenant when they make a covenant" — he said: whoever enters into the covenant of Allah and then breaks it, upon him Allah will take vengeance. And whoever enters into the protection (dhimma) of the Prophet ﷺ and then betrays it, against him the Prophet ﷺ will be his adversary on the Day of Resurrection.
* * *
And I have already set forth "the covenant" (al-ʿahd) previously, in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it here.
* * *
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: وَالصَّابِرِينَ فِي الْبَأْسَاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ ("and those who are patient in adversity and in distress").
Abū Jaʿfar said: And we have already set forth previously the interpretation of "patience" (al-ṣabr).
The meaning of the words is thus: and those who restrain themselves — in adversity and in distress and in the hour of battle — from that which Allah disapproves of for them, and who hold it (the soul) fast to that which He has commanded them of obedience to Him. Then the scholars of interpretation said the following about the meaning of "adversity and distress (al-baʾsāʾ wa-l-ḍarrāʾ)":
2539 — Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAnqazī related this to me, saying: my father related to me — and Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us — both together said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Murra al-Hamdānī, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, that he said: as for "adversity" (baʾsāʾ), that is poverty, and as for "distress" (ḍarrāʾ), that is sickness.
2540 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us — and al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥimmānī related to us — both together said: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning His statement: "and those who are patient in adversity and in distress" — he said: adversity is hunger, and distress is sickness.
2541 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, who said: adversity is destitution, and distress is sickness.
2542 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: we used to relate that adversity is misery and poverty, and that distress is sickness. And the prophet Ayyūb ﷺ said: أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُّرُّ وَأَنْتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ ("Verily, distress has touched me and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful") [Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ: 83].
2543 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His statement: "and those who are patient in adversity and in distress" — he said: the misery is want and poverty, and the distress is in the self, through a pain or sickness that afflicts him in his body.
2544 — 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: "adversity and distress" — he said: adversity is misery, and distress is the chronic ailment in the body.
2545 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: "adversity and distress", sickness.
2546 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "and those who are patient in adversity and in distress" — he said: adversity is misery and poverty, and distress is sickness and pain.
2547 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: ʿUbayd ibn al-Ṭufayl related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim say concerning this verse: "and those who are patient in adversity and in distress", as for adversity: poverty, and distress: sickness.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: As for the grammarians, they differed about this. Some of them said: "adversity and distress (al-baʾsāʾ wa-l-ḍarrāʾ)" is a verbal noun that has come upon the pattern "faʿlāʾ" and has no "afʿal" form, because it is a noun, just as "afʿal" occurs among the nouns without it having a "faʿlāʾ" form, such as "Aḥmad". And they have used "afʿal" in the qualifier (ṣifa) without it having taken a "faʿlāʾ" form, and said: "you are more fearful (awjal) about that", but did not say: "wajlāʾ".
And some of them said: it is a noun for the action. For "al-baʾsāʾ" is "al-buʾs" (misery), and "al-ḍarrāʾ" is "al-ḍurr" (harm). And it is a noun that, if you wish, applies to a feminine word, and if you wish, to a masculine word, as Zuhayr said:
"Then she bears for you sons, the most ill-omened of all,
like the ruddy one of ʿĀd; then she suckles and weans."
He means: then she bears for you ill-omened sons.
And some of them said: if that were a noun that could be turned to masculine and feminine, then it would be permissible to apply "afʿal" to the indefinite, but it is a noun that stands in place of the verbal noun. The proof of that is his statement: "if you seek their help, you will surely not find them without benefit (ghayr abʿad)", without inflection (for gender). And he said: it was only a noun for the verbal noun, because when it is mentioned, one knows that by it the verbal noun is meant.
And another said: if that were a verbal noun that occurs in the feminine form, it would not occur in the masculine form, and if it occurred in the masculine form, it would not occur in the feminine form. For he who is named with "afʿal" is not turned to "fuʿlā", and he who is named with "fuʿlā" is not turned to "afʿal", because each noun remains in its form and is not turned to another; rather they are two dialectal variants. So when it occurs in the masculine form, that happens in the matter of "ashʾam" (most ill-omened), and when "al-baʾsāʾ wa-l-ḍarrāʾ" occurs, it occurs (as): the adverse condition (al-khalla al-baʾsāʾ) and the distressed condition (al-khalla al-ḍarrāʾ). Even though upon "al-ḍarrāʾ" "al-aḍarr" is not built, nor upon "al-ashʾam" "al-shaʾmāʾ". For one did not intend from its feminine form the masculine, nor from its masculine form the feminine, just as they said: "a beautiful woman (imraʾa ḥasnāʾ)", but did not say: "a beautiful man (rajul aḥsan)". And they said: "a beardless man (rajul amrad)", but did not say: "a beardless woman (imraʾa mardāʾ)". So when it is said: "the distressed quality (al-khaṣla al-ḍarrāʾ)" and "the ill-omened matter (al-amr al-ashʾam)", that indicates the verbal noun and need not be an (independent) noun, even though it suffices in place of the verbal noun.
And this is a statement that diverges from the interpretation of those whose interpretation we have mentioned among the scholars, concerning the interpretation of "al-baʾsāʾ wa-l-ḍarrāʾ", even though it is correct according to the method of Arabic. That is because the scholars of interpretation interpreted "al-baʾsāʾ" in the sense of: misery, and "al-ḍarrāʾ" in the sense of: the harm in the body. And that interpretation of theirs is built on the fact that they took "al-baʾsāʾ wa-l-ḍarrāʾ" as names of actions, and not as qualifiers of nouns and their attributes. The most preferable for "al-baʾsāʾ wa-l-ḍarrāʾ", according to the statement of the scholars of interpretation, is that "al-baʾsāʾ wa-l-ḍarrāʾ" are names of actions, so that "al-baʾsāʾ" is a name for "the misery (al-buʾs)" and "al-ḍarrāʾ" a name for "the harm (al-ḍurr)".
* * *
As for "al-ṣābirīn" (those who are patient), it is in the accusative, and it is a qualification of "man" (he who) in the manner of praise. For it is the custom of the Arabs — when the description of the singular extends — that they insert the praise and the blame, sometimes in the accusative and sometimes in the nominative, as the poet said:
"To the noble king and son of the brave hero,
and the lion of the battle-array in the crush,"
"and the man of insight when the matters are darkened
by (the clashing battle) with the ringing (weapons) and with the bridles."
He placed "lion of the battle-array" and "man of insight" in the accusative in the manner of praise, while the noun before it was in the genitive, because it was a qualification of the singular. To this also belongs the statement of another:
"Oh, would that those in which the stars stand were lowered
over each of them, lean and fat,"
"the rain-clouds of mankind in every drought and famine,
the lions of the jungle that protect every refuge."
* * *
And some have claimed that His statement "and those who are patient in adversity (wa-l-ṣābirīna fī al-baʾsāʾi)" is in the accusative as a conjunction to "the beggars (al-sāʾilīna)". As if the meaning of the words according to him were: and who gave wealth, in spite of his love for it, to the kinsfolk and the orphans and the needy, and the wayfarer and the beggars and those patient in adversity and distress. But the clear text of the Book of Allah indicates the incorrectness of this statement. That is because "those patient in adversity and distress" are the people with chronic ailments in their bodies, and the people with straitened means in their wealth. And the description of the people — that they give wealth to those whose mark that was — has already preceded in His statement: وَالْمَسَاكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ وَالسَّائِلِينَ ("and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars"). And the people of want and poverty are the people of "adversity and distress", for whoever is not among the people of distress (ḍarrāʾ) and (also) in adversity (baʾsāʾ), is not among those to whom the accepting of alms is due; the accepting of it is due to him only when, with his distress, he also unites adversity. And when he unites adversity with it, he is among the people of poverty who are included in the totality of "the needy (al-masākīn)" whose mention has already preceded before His statement "and those patient in adversity". And since it is thus, and one then puts "those patient in adversity" in the accusative by His statement "and who gives wealth, in spite of his love for it", the words would be a repetition without point of meaning. As if it were said: and who gave wealth, in spite of his love for it, to the kinsfolk and the orphans and the needy (and the needy). And Allah is exalted above that this should occur in His address to His servants. Rather, the meaning of it is: but pious is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day, and those who fulfill their covenant when they make a covenant, and those patient in adversity and distress. "Wa-l-mūfūna" (and those who fulfill) is in the nominative because it is a qualification of "man", and "man" is in the nominative, so it is inflected in accordance with its inflection. "Wa-l-ṣābirīn" (and those patient) is in the accusative — even though it is a qualification of it — in the manner of the praise that we described earlier.
* * *
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: وَحِينَ الْبَأْسِ ("and in the time of strife").
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His statement — "and in the time of strife" — He means, exalted is His mention: and those patient in the time of strife (baʾs), and that is the time of the intensity of armed combat (qitāl) in war. As:
2548 — Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAnqazī related to me, saying: my father related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning the statement of Allah: "and in the time of strife" — he said: the time of armed combat (qitāl).
2549 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, the same.
2550 — 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 in the time of strife" — armed combat.
2551 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "and in the time of strife" — that is to say: at the battlefields of armed combat.
2552 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: "and in the time of strife" — armed combat.
2553 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "and in the time of strife" — at the encounter with the enemy.
2554 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: ʿUbayda related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "and in the time of strife" — armed combat.
2555 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: ʿUbayd ibn al-Ṭufayl Abū Saydān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim say concerning His statement: "and in the time of strife" — he said: armed combat.
* * *
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُتَّقُونَ ("Those are the ones who were truthful, and those are the ones who are the God-fearing") (177).
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His statement — "Those are the ones who were truthful" — He means, exalted is His mention: he who believed in Allah and the Last Day, and whom He described with the description with which He described them in this verse. He says: whoever performs these things, those are the ones who were faithful to Allah in their faith, and who realized their word with their deeds — not he who turns his face toward the east and the west while opposing Allah in His command, and breaking His covenant and His agreement, and concealing from the people the exposition of what Allah has commanded him to make clear, and denying His messengers.
* * *
As for His statement — "and those are the ones who are the God-fearing" — by it He means: and those are the ones who feared the punishment of Allah, and therefore avoided disobedience to Him, and dreaded His threat, and therefore did not transgress His limits. And they feared Him, and therefore performed the observance of His obligations.
* * *
And in agreement with what we have said about His statement "Those are the ones who were truthful", al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas used to say:
2556 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "Those are the ones who were truthful" — he said: they spoke the words of faith, and the essential truth of it was the deed; they were faithful to Allah. He said: and al-Ḥasan used to say: this is the word of faith, and the essential truth of it is the deed; and if with the word there is no deed, then it is nothing.
--------------
The footnotes:
(1) In the printed edition it reads "Abū Numayla" with a nūn, but the correct reading is what has been established. See report no. 2490 and the note upon it.
(2) In the printed edition it reads "wa-lākinna al-birra ka-man āmana bi-llāh", and that is a pure error; the correct reading is what has been established.
(3) See what has already preceded: 2: 61, 359, and this volume 3: 334.
(4) Its location has already been indicated previously in this volume 3: 103, note 3.
(5) The addition between brackets is indispensable.
(6) This is the statement of Abū ʿUbayda in Majāz al-Qurʾān: 65, and al-Farrāʾ mentioned it in Maʿānī al-Qurʾān 1: 104.
(7) See the meaning of "al-ītāʾ" (the giving) in what has already preceded 1: 574 / 2: 160, 317.
(8) Report 2521 — Ibn Idrīs: that is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Idrīs ibn Yazīd al-Awdī, already dealt with in: 438, 2030. Layth: that is Ibn Abī Sulaym, already dealt with in the note on: 1497. Zubayd — with the bāʾ, in diminutive form: that is Ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Yāmī, and he is trustworthy and firm. A biography of him is in al-Tahdhīb, al-Kabīr 2/1/411, Ibn Saʿd 6: 216 and Ibn Abī Ḥātim 1/2/623. Murra ibn Sharāḥīl: that is al-Hamdānī al-Kūfī, one of the greats of the Successors (tābiʿūn), as his trustworthiness has already been established: 168, and he has a biography in al-Tahdhīb 10: 88-89, al-Kabīr 4/2/5, Ibn Saʿd 6: 79 and Ibn Abī Ḥātim 4/1/366. And "al-Bakīlī" — with fatḥa on the bāʾ and kasra on the kāf: an attribution to "Bakīl", which is a subdivision of Hamdān. See al-Ishtiqāq of Ibn Durayd, p. 250, 256, 312, and Jamharat al-ansāb of Ibn Ḥazm, p. 372-373. And thus Murra is also attributed to "Bakīl" in the book of Ibn Abī Ḥātim, and that is the correct reading. In al-Tahdhīb there appears in its place "al-Saksakī", and that is without doubt a scribal error, for "al-Saksak" is Ibn Ashras ibn Kinda. And there is a great difference between Hamdān and Kinda; they meet only after several ancestors, in "Zayd ibn Kahlān ibn Sabaʾ". See Jamharat al-ansāb, p. 405 and what precedes it.
(9) Report 2522 — ʿAbd al-Raḥmān: that is Ibn Mahdī, the imam. And Sufyān is al-Thawrī. So Ṭabarī transmits it by way of Ibn Mahdī, and by way of ʿAbd al-Razzāq — both on the authority of Sufyān. The report is in the tafsīr of ʿAbd al-Razzāq, p. 15, and in it reads "wa-anta ṣaḥīḥ shaḥīḥ", with the addition of "shaḥīḥ".
(10) Report 2524 — Ṭabarī's teacher "Aḥmad ibn Niʿma al-Miṣrī": I have not found a biography for him. Abū Ṣāliḥ: that is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ, the secretary of al-Layth. Al-Layth: that is Ibn Saʿd, the imam of the people of Egypt. Ibrāhīm ibn Aʿyan al-Shaybānī al-Baṣrī, who settled in Egypt: weak (ḍaʿīf): al-Bukhārī said: "in his isnād there is doubt". And Abū Ḥātim said: "this is a teacher from Basra, weak in transmission, with disapproved transmissions, who came to Egypt". He has a biography in al-Tahdhīb, where a distinction has been made between him and another "Ibrāhīm ibn Aʿyan" who is trustworthy. Ibn Abī Ḥātim 1/1/87 gave three biographies, and al-Bukhārī 1/1/272 one biography. And these three isnāds: 2521-2523, belong to a report whose wording has been stopped at Ibn Masʿūd (mawqūf). In reality it is in fact elevated (marfūʿ), since something of this kind is not known by one's own opinion. And the meaning of it will likewise follow as stopped at him (mawqūf): 2529, 2531. Likewise al-Ḥākim transmitted it 2: 272 from the transmission of Manṣūr, on the authority of Zubayd, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, mawqūf. And he said: "this is a ṣaḥīḥ transmission according to the condition of the two shaykhs, but they did not include it". And al-Dhahabī concurred with him. And al-Suyūṭī attributed it 1: 170-171 to Ibn al-Mubārak, Wakīʿ and others. Then he mentioned that al-Ḥākim also transmitted it "on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, marfūʿ". Likewise Ibn Kathīr 1: 388 related that al-Ḥākim transmitted it marfūʿ. But I have not found it marfūʿ in al-Mustadrak. Then Ibn Kathīr mentioned the mawqūf transmission and claimed that it is more correct. And this meaning is likewise established in a ṣaḥīḥ marfūʿ transmission, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ — when he was asked: which alms brings the greatest reward? — and he said: "that you give an alms while you are healthy and stingy, fearing poverty and hoping for survival, and do not delay until (the soul) reaches the throat and you say: for so-and-so this much, while it already belonged to so-and-so". Aḥmad transmitted it in al-Musnad: 7159, 7401. And al-Bukhārī, Muslim and Abū Dāwūd transmitted it, as we have indicated there.
(11) The transmission 2526 — Suwayd ibn ʿAmr al-Kalbī: trustworthy, one of the teachers of Aḥmad. He has a biography in al-Tahdhīb, al-Kabīr 2/2/149 and Ibn Abī Ḥātim 2/1/239. Abū Ḥamza: that is Maymūn al-Aʿwar al-Qaṣṣāb, and he is very weak. He has a biography in al-Tahdhīb, al-Kabīr 4/1/343 and Ibn Abī Ḥātim 4/1/235-236. And this transmission with this wording I have not found in another place. Something close in meaning is transmitted, with another isnād that is still weaker. Al-Dāraquṭnī transmitted in his Sunan, p. 205, by way of Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī, on the authority of Shuʿayb ibn al-Ḥabḥāb, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Fāṭima bint Qays, who said: "I came to the Prophet ﷺ with a necklace in which there were seventy mithqāl of gold, and said: O Messenger of Allah, take from it the obligatory (levy); and he took from it one mithqāl and three quarters of a mithqāl". And al-Dāraquṭnī said: "Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī is rejected (matrūk), and no one else brought it". And the weakness of this al-Hudhalī has already been set forth previously: 597.
(12) The transmission 2527 — Sharīk: that is Ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Sharīk, al-Nakhaʿī the judge, and he is trustworthy. He has a biography in al-Tahdhīb, al-Kabīr 2/2/238 and Ibn Abī Ḥātim 2/1/365-367. And his statement: "on the authority of Fāṭima bint Qays: that she heard him" means: the Prophet ﷺ, as is clear from the import of the statement and from the other transmissions. And the transmission will likewise follow: 2530 — and its treatment there, if Allah wills.
(13) In the printed edition it reads "ʿāriyyat al-dhalūl", and that is an error. In the transmission of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd: "we used to reckon the māʿūn (utensils) in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: the lending of the bucket and the pot". And in the transmission of Abū Hurayra that he said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: "what is the due of camels? He said: one gives the noble (she-camel in milk) along the way, one lends the milch (she-camel), one lends the mount, one lets the stallion mount, and one gives the milk to drink". And in the transmission of ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr he said: a man said: O Messenger of Allah, what is the due of camels — and he mentioned it in a similar manner — with the addition: "and the lending of its bucket". (Sunan Abī Dāwūd 2: 167, 168, the chapter on the dues of wealth.) And "ṭaraqa al-faḥlu al-nāqata yaṭruquhā ṭarqan wa-ṭurūqan" means: he mounted her and covered her. And "iṭrāq al-faḥl" is: lending him for covering. And "al-ḥalab" (with two fatḥas): the milked milk, so named after the verbal noun of "ḥalaba al-nāqata yaḥlubuhā ḥalaban wa-ḥilāban".
(14) The transmission 2530 — Asad: that is Ibn Mūsā, who is called "Asad al-Sunna". Already dealt with in: 23. "Suwayd ibn ʿAbd Allāh", thus it stands established in the printed edition. In my opinion that is an error, and the correct reading is "Sharīk ibn ʿAbd Allāh", who has already appeared in the preceding isnād: 2527. For the transmission is known as being of the transmission of Sharīk. Moreover, among the transmitters — whose biographies we have seen — there is no one named "Suwayd ibn ʿAbd Allāh", except a man of significance, not with this isnād, who is known only through another, disapproved report, and who has a biography in Lisān al-Mīzān. And this transmission is a repetition of transmission 2527, somewhat longer than it. And al-Dārimī transmitted it likewise 1: 385, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn al-Ṭufayl. And al-Tirmidhī 2: 22, by way of al-Aswad ibn ʿĀmir, and via al-Dārimī on the authority of Muḥammad ibn al-Ṭufayl. And Ibn Māja: 1789, by way of Yaḥyā ibn Ādam. And al-Bayhaqī in al-Sunan al-Kubrā 4: 84, by way of Shādhān — all on the authority of Sharīk, with this isnād, long and abbreviated. Al-Tirmidhī said: "this transmission — its isnād is not strong. Abū Maymūn al-Aʿwar is reckoned weak". And al-Bayhaqī said: "this is a transmission known through Abū Ḥamza Maymūn al-Aʿwar, a Kūfī, and Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn declared him defective, as did those who came after them of the memorizers of transmission". And Ibn Kathīr 1: 389-390 related that Ibn Abī Ḥātim also transmitted it, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd. And Ibn Mardawayh transmitted it from the transmission of Ādam ibn Abī Iyās and Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd — both on the authority of Sharīk; then he mentioned that Ibn Māja and al-Tirmidhī transmitted it. And the wording of the transmission appeared at Ibn Māja distorted, with the opposite meaning, with the wording: "in wealth there is no due besides the zakāh"! And this is an old error in some manuscripts of Ibn Māja. And some scholars have tried to prove the correctness of this wording at Ibn Māja, as in Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr of al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar, p. 177, and in Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr of al-Munāwī: 7641. But the earlier transmission of Ṭabarī: 2527 — which runs by way of Yaḥyā ibn Ādam, by which Ibn Māja transmitted it — indicates that the correct wording is what is in the remaining transmissions. This is confirmed by the fact that Ibn Kathīr attributed the transmission to al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Māja together, and made no distinction between the two of their transmissions; and likewise did al-Nābulusī in Dhakhāʾir al-mawārīth: 11699, since he attributed it to both of them as one transmission. It is also confirmed by the fact that al-Bayhaqī, after he transmitted it, said: "and that which our companions transmit in the loose notes (taʿālīq): 'in wealth there is no due besides the zakāh' — for that I know of no isnād by heart. And what I have transmitted in the meaning of it, is what I mentioned earlier". And if it stood at Ibn Māja with this wording, he would not have said that, if Allah wills.
(15) The transmission 2532 — its meaning is established from the transmission of Abū Hurayra. Aḥmad transmitted it in al-Musnad: 8687 (2: 358, Ḥalabī edition): "on the authority of Abū Hurayra: that he said: O Messenger of Allah, which alms is the most excellent? He said: the effort of the destitute, and begin with those whom you support". And al-Mundhirī mentioned it in al-Targhīb wa-l-tarhīb 2: 28, and said: "Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Khuzayma in his Ṣaḥīḥ, and al-Ḥākim transmitted it, and this one said: ṣaḥīḥ according to the condition of Muslim". And al-Ḥākim transmitted in al-Mustadrak 1: 406, on the authority of Umm Kulthūm bint ʿUqba, who said: "the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: the most excellent alms is to a blood relative who harbors enmity". And al-Ḥākim said: "this is a ṣaḥīḥ transmission according to the condition of Muslim, but they did not include it", and al-Dhahabī concurred with him. And al-Haythamī mentioned it in Majmaʿ al-zawāʾid 3: 116, and said: "al-Ṭabarānī transmitted it in al-Kabīr, and his transmitters are the transmitters of the Ṣaḥīḥ", and he mentioned before it other transmissions of similar import. And "al-kāshiḥ": the hater; Ibn al-Athīr said: "the enemy who conceals his enmity and rolls it up in his flank (kashḥ), that is, his innermost being". And "al-kāshiḥ" is the one who conceals enmity toward you, as if he rolls it up in his flank — and that is what lies between the side and the ribs — or who turns away from you with his face and presents you his flank.
(16) See what has already preceded concerning the meaning of "miskīn" 2: 137, 293, and the meaning of "dhī al-qurbā" and "al-yatāmā" 2: 292.
(17) The transmission 2533 — it is a mursal transmission; Qatāda — who is a Successor (tābiʿī) — says: "we were told that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ used to say...", and he mentioned it. And "Saʿīd" who transmits on the authority of Qatāda: that is Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba. And "Yazīd" who transmits on his authority: that is Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ. And the meaning of the transmission is established within a transmission that Muslim transmitted 2: 45, from the transmission of Abū Shurayḥ al-ʿAdawī al-Khuzāʿī: "whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him honor his guest with his gift; they said: and what is his gift, O Messenger of Allah? He said: his day and his night; and the hospitality is three days, and what comes after that is alms for him; and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or be silent". And it was also transmitted by Aḥmad and the remaining compilers of the six books, as in al-Fatḥ al-Kabīr 3: 231.
(18) His dīwān: 401, and the verse is connected with a verse before it:
"And a water, old of days through the people, turbid,
as if the young locusts spat the water of the ghaḍā-shrub into it."
"Al-ājin" is the spoiled (water). And "al-dabā": the young locusts. And "al-ghaḍā": a shrub. As if the locusts had grazed it and spat their fodder into it, so that it is yellow-black. And "al-iʿtisāf": rushing into it recklessly and going without guidance. And "al-muḥalliq": the high-flying, the lofty. And "ibn al-māʾ": that is the crane species, known as al-kurkī and the Iraqi goose, which is white of breast, red of beak, yellow of eye. Al-Aqīshir says, describing a drinking-bout:
"It is as if they, while the hands of the drinkers are busily at work,
when they gleam in the hands of the cranes,"
"daughters of the water, white of breast they are seen,
red their beaks, yellow the eye-rings."
And "al-Thurayyā" (the Pleiades): many gathered stars, named with the singular form. He placed them "at the top" (of the head), and that is in the dead of night, seen white and shining.
(19) "Al-ʿubūda" and "al-ʿubūdiyya" are one and the same, and there is, according to Abū ʿUbayd, no verb for it. And al-Liḥyānī said: its verb is "ʿabuda" on the pattern of "karuma".
(20) See the meaning of "iqāmat al-ṣalāt" (the performing of the prayer) and "ītāʾ al-zakāt" (the giving of the zakāh) in what has already preceded 1: 572-574, and other places, to be sought in the language index.
(21) See what has already preceded 1: 410-415, 557 / then this volume 3: 20.
(22) See what has already preceded 2: 10-11, 124 / then this volume 3: 214.
(23) In the printed edition it reads "al-ʿAbqarī", and the correct reading is what I have established, and a biography of him has already been given previously under no. 1625.
(24) The transmission 2545 — I fear that from this transmission something has dropped out, namely the interpretation of "al-baʾsāʾ", and the mention of "al-ḍarrāʾ" before his statement "the sickness"; and it will follow correctly in the transmission that follows it.
(25) Report 2547 — ʿUbayd ibn al-Ṭufayl: his agnomen is "Abū Saydān", with kasra on the undotted sīn, sukūn on the yāʾ and after it an undotted dāl, as it will follow with his name and agnomen: 2555. And he is al-Ghaṭafānī; both Wakīʿ and Abū Nuʿaym al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn also transmit on his authority. Abū Ḥātim said: "sound, there is no objection against him". And he has a biography in al-Taqrīb, al-Khulāṣa and Ibn Abī Ḥātim 2/2/409.
(26) His dīwān: 20, from his unique muʿallaqa. And it belongs to his verses in the description of war, of which, in the beginning, before this verse, he said:
"And war is nothing but what you have known and tasted,
and it is, concerning it, not the tale draped with conjectures."
"When you rouse it, you rouse it abhorrent,
and it blazes, when you kindle it, and flares up."
"Then it grinds you as the millstone grinds with its nether stone,
and it conceives doubly pregnant, and then bears twins."
He says: that war is impregnated as the she-camel is impregnated, and brings forth twins in one belly. And by his statement "the ruddy one of ʿĀd" he means: the ruddy one of Thamūd, but he erred and did not care which of the two he named. And the ruddy one of Thamūd is Qudār, who hamstrung the she-camel of Allah, whereupon their Lord destroyed them for what they did. He says: that war suckles her ill-omened (offspring) and tends them until she weans them after they reach the age to pursue evil for themselves.
(27) One says "fulān ghayr abʿad", that is to say: there is no good in him. And one says: "mā ʿinda fulān abʿad", that is to say: there is no benefit with him. A man said to his son: "if you travel to the cattle-market (al-mirbad), you bring us profit, or you return without any benefit (ghayr abʿad)", that is to say: without use.
(28) He means: when it occurs in the feminine form, it occurs in the meaning of: the adverse condition (al-khalla al-baʾsāʾ) and the distressed condition (al-khalla al-ḍarrāʾ).
(29) He means "man" in His statement, the Exalted: "but pious is he who believes...".
(30) See what has already preceded 1: 329.
(31) I have not known its speaker.
(32) Maʿānī al-Qurʾān of al-Farrāʾ 1: 105, al-Inṣāf: 195, Amālī al-Sharīf 1: 205 and Khizānat al-adab 1: 216. And "al-qarm": the honored lord, foremost in knowledge and experience with the course of affairs. And "al-muzdaḥam": the battle-tumult where the heroes throng together. He praises him for bravery in battle.
(33) And "ghamma al-amru yaghummu" (in the passive form): it became dark and gloomy, and the human being becomes confused in it so that he is not guided to what is right. And "al-ṣalīl": the sound of the iron. He means by "dhāt al-ṣalīl" a battalion of foot-soldiers whose iron of their helmets, equipment and weapons rings. And "dhāt al-lujum": a battalion of horsemen. He mentions his steadfastness and the mastery of his sober mind and judgment when the minds reel in the clashing of the swords and the charging of the horses in the field of death. His statement "bi-dhāt al-ṣalīl" is thus connected with his statement "tughammu al-umūr".
(34) I have not known the speaker of either (verse).
(35) Maʿānī al-Qurʾān of al-Farrāʾ 1: 106, and Amālī al-Sharīf 1: 206. And his statement "tawāḍaʿat" is, in my opinion, a "tafāʿala" form of their statement: "the builder laid the stone (waḍaʿa) tawḍīʿan": he stacked one upon another. To this belongs "al-tawḍuʿ": that is the quilting of the coat after the inserting of the cotton. To this also belongs: "the ostrich laid her eggs (waḍaʿat)": when she stacks them and lays one above the other; and they are stacked eggs: one piled upon the other. He says: oh, would that the heaven were drawn together over all of them together, so that they were of its stars. And his statement "ghathth minhum wa-samīn" (lean and fat of them) is praise, he means: there is among them no lean one, for their lean one is worthy to belong to the people of loftiness.
(36) "Al-maḥl": drought and famine. And the transmission of al-Farrāʾ and al-Sharīf is "wa-luzba". And "al-azma", "al-azba" and "al-luzba" have one and the same meaning: that is the severity of the year of drought and famine. And their transmission likewise reads: "ghuyūth al-ḥayā". And "al-ḥayā": fertility; and the rain is called "ḥayā", because it is the cause of fertility. And "al-tharā": the place to which the lions withdraw.
(37) This statement al-Farrāʾ mentioned in Maʿānī al-Qurʾān 1: 108, and he rejected it.
(38) The transmission 2548 — in the printed edition it reads "al-ʿAbqarī", and that is already repeatedly an error, and we have corrected it. See his biography under no. 1625.
(39) The two reports 2554-2555 — Abū Nuʿaym in the first of them: that is al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn. And Abū Aḥmad in the second of them: that is al-Zubayrī, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr. And the rest of the isnād has already preceded in: 2547.
