Tafseer of Luqman · Luqman · 31:3
As guidance and mercy for the doers of good
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.
And His statement: a guidance and a mercy (hudan wa-raḥma) — He says: these are the signs of the Book, as a clarification and a mercy from Allah, by which He is merciful toward whoever follows it and acts according to it among His creatures. The reciters of the cities, with the exception of Ḥamza, read "the guidance and the mercy" in the accusative (naṣb), as a circumstantial qualifier detached from "the signs of the Book." Ḥamza, however, read it in the nominative (rafʿ), in the form of a new commencement (istiʾnāf), because it is detached from the verse that precedes it, since it is the beginning of a verse and it is a praise. The Arabs do this with what belongs to the adjectival qualifiers of definite nouns that take the place of the circumstantial qualifier (ḥāl), when there is in it a meaning of praise or blame. Both readings are, in my view, correct, although I incline more toward the accusative, on account of the multitude of reciters who hold to it.
And His statement: for the doers of good (lil-muḥsinīn) — and these are those who did good in acting according to what Allah has sent down in this Qurʾān. The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: this wise Book is a guidance and a mercy for those who did good and acted according to what is in it of Allah's command and prohibition.
