Tafseer of The Ant · An-Naml · 27:7
[Mention] when Moses said to his family, "Indeed, I have perceived a fire. I will bring you from there information or will bring you a burning torch that you may warm yourselves."
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.
إِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى (When Mūsā said): "idh" (when) is a further qualification of "ʿalīm" (All-Knowing). The meaning of the expression is: All-Knowing — when Mūsā said لأَهْلِهِ (to his household) — while he was on his way from Madyan to Egypt, and they were hindered by the cold of their night, after he had tried his flintstone and could not strike fire — إِنِّي آنَسْتُ نَارًا (I see a fire) — that is to say: I see a fire or perceive it — so remain in your place; سَآتِيكُمْ مِنْهَا بِخَبَرٍ (I will bring you news of it) — that is to say: of the fire; the pronoun "hā" and the alif are the reference to the fire — أَوْ آتِيكُمْ بِشِهَابٍ قَبَسٍ (or I will bring you a flaming torch as plucked fire).
The reciters differed concerning the reading of this. Most of the reciters of Medina and Baṣra recited it as "bishihābi qabasin," joining shihāb to qabas in a genitive construction and omitting the tanwīn, with the meaning: or I will bring you a flame of fire which I kindle from it. Most of the reciters of Kūfa recited it as بِشِهَابٍ قَبَسٍ with tanwīn on shihāb and without putting it in a genitive construction with qabas, with the meaning: or I will bring you a kindled torch.
The correct statement concerning this is that these are two well-known readings among the reciters of the great cities, closely related in meaning — so whoever recites either of the two has done well. And some of the linguists of Baṣra said: if qabas is a substitute (badal) for shihāb, then there is tanwīn on shihāb; and if one joins shihāb to qabas in a genitive construction, there is no tanwīn on shihāb. And some of the linguists of Kūfa said: if shihāb stands in a genitive construction with qabas, it is comparable to وَلَدَارُ الآخِرَةِ among that which is joined to itself when its two names and wordings differ, with the fictive impression that the second is something other than the first; and he said: comparable is ḥabbat al-khaḍrāʾ (the green grain), laylat al-qamarāʾ (the moonlit night), yawm al-khamīs (Thursday), and the like. And another of them said: if shihāb is the same as qabas, the genitive construction is not permissible, for qabas is an attribute, and a noun is not joined in a genitive construction with its attribute — except in a small portion of usage — and the cases وَلَدَارُ الآخِرَةِ and وَلَلدَّارُ الآخِرَةُ have been transmitted.
The correct statement concerning this is: if by shihāb it is intended that it is something other than the qabas, then the reading for it is the one with the genitive construction — for the meaning of the expression is then, as we have explained, that it is a flame of fire which one kindles, as the poet said:
"In his hand a straight spear // in it a spearhead like a flame of stoked fire"
And if by shihāb it is intended that it is the same as the qabas, or is an attribute of it, then the correct thing is the tanwīn on shihāb — for the correct usage in the language of the Arabs is the avoidance of joining a noun in a genitive construction with its attribute or with itself; rather, the well-known genitive constructions in their usage are the joining of one thing to something other than itself and other than its attribute.
And His word: لَعَلَّكُمْ تَصْطَلُونَ (that perhaps you may warm yourselves): he says: that perhaps you may warm yourselves with it against the cold.
[Editor's note: (1) This verse belongs to the testimonia of Abū ʿUbayda in Majāz al-Qurʾān. He said: "bishihābi qabasin" — that is to say: with a flame of fire. And the meaning of qabas: what you have kindled of it and of glowing coals. He said: "fī kaffihi..." — the verse. And al-ṣaʿda is the spear that grows up straight. The proof in the verse: the genitive construction of "flame" with "kindled fire" — that is to say: a kindled flame of fire, as in the word of Allah the Exalted (bishihābi qabasin) in the reading of the one who reads it with the genitive construction. And tanwīn on "shihāb" is permissible whereby qabas becomes an attribute of it, when one regards shihāb as the same as the qabas — for a thing is not joined in a genitive construction with itself, nor with its attribute.]
