Tafseer of The Ant · An-Naml · 27:72
Say, "Perhaps it is close behind you - some of that for which you are impatient.
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.
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 word: قُلْ عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ رَدِفَ لَكُمْ بَعْضُ الَّذِي تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ (Say: perhaps a part of that which you seek to hasten has already drawn near to you): he says: there has already drawn near to you a part of that which you seek to hasten.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ رَدِفَ لَكُمْ (perhaps it has drawn near to you): he said: radifa means: it has been hastened for you.
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, concerning His word: قُلْ عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ رَدِفَ لَكُمْ بَعْضُ الَّذِي تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ (Say: perhaps a part of that which you seek to hasten has already drawn near to you): he said: azifa (it has come near).
It was related to me from al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His word: رَدِفَ لَكُمْ (has drawn near to you): it has drawn near to you.
The Arabic linguists differed concerning the reason for the insertion of the lām in His word: رَدِفَ لَكُمْ — although the well-known usage of the Arabs is: radifahu amrun (a matter followed him) and ardafahu (he made it follow him), just as one says: tabiʿahu (he followed him) and atbaʿahu (he made him follow). Some of the Baṣran linguists said: The lām was inserted into it and the action connected to it, just as one says: لِلرُّؤْيَا تَعْبُرُونَ and لِرَبِّهِمْ يَرْهَبُونَ.
And some of the Kūfan linguists said: The lām was inserted into it on account of the meaning — for its meaning is: danā lahum (it has drawn near to them), as the poet said:
"I said to her: the needs cast down the young man with himself"
And he inserted the bāʾ in "yaṭraḥna," whereas one properly says "ṭaraḥahu" — for he inserted the bāʾ on account of the meaning, since the meaning of ṭarḥ is "to cast," and he inserted the bāʾ on account of the meaning, inasmuch as the meaning therein was: they cast the young man down with himself; and this second view is, in my opinion, the more correct of the two — and the explanation of its like cases has already been set forth in more than one place in this book, sufficiently to dispense with repeating it here.
In the manner that we have mentioned concerning the meaning of His word: تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ (which you seek to hasten), the exegetes spoke.
Mention of those who said that:
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: رَدِفَ لَكُمْ بَعْضُ الَّذِي تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ (a part of that which you seek to hasten has already drawn near to you): he said: of the punishment.
[Editor's note: (2) This is the first part of a verse belonging to the citations of al-Farrāʾ in (Maʿānī l-Qurʾān) — and the second part reads: "and they oppressed me with the affliction of their riding-camels." And it is found in (al-Lisān: ʿanā) — and in its narration "taʿanāhu" stands in place of "taʿanānī." He said: and ʿānā al-shayʾ: he endured it. One says: ʿānāhu and taʿannāhu, and taʿannā huwa (he himself endured it). And he said: "faqultu lahā..." etc. And the verse is a witness for the inserted bāʾ in "bi-l-fatā," comparable to that in the word of Allah the Exalted (radifa lakum).]
