Tafseer of The Prostration · As-Sajda · 32:24
And We made from among them leaders guiding by Our command when they were patient and [when] they were certain of Our signs.
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.
His statement: And We made from among them leaders (wa-jaʿalnā minhum aʾimma) — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and We made from among the children of Israel leaders. This (aʾimma) is the plural of imām. The imām is the one whom people follow as an example in good or in evil. In this place, what is meant by it is that He made from among them leaders in good, whom people follow as an example and by whose guidance people are guided.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: And We made from among them leaders who guide by Our command — he said: chiefs in good. And His statement: who guide by Our command (yahdūna bi-amrinā) — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: they guide their followers and those among the people who accept, because We granted them permission for that and strengthened them in it.
And His statement: when they were patient (lammā ṣabarū) — the reciters differed over the recitation of this. The majority of the reciters of Medina and Basra, and a portion of the people of Kufa, recited it as (lammā ṣabarū) with a fatḥa on the lām and a doubling (tashdīd) of the mīm, with the meaning: when they were patient, and at the time that they were patient. The majority of the reciters of Kufa recited it as (limā) with a kasra on the lām and a light (undoubled) mīm, with the meaning: on account of their patience toward the world and its desires, and their striving in obedience to Us and acting according to Our command. It has been mentioned that in the recitation of Ibn Masʿūd it reads (bimā ṣabarū). When the lām of (limā) is pronounced with a kasra, "mā" is in the position of a genitive (khafḍ); and when the lām is pronounced with a fatḥa and the mīm is doubled, then it has no grammatical position, for it is then a particle (adāt).
The ruling on this, in my opinion, is that these are two well-known recitations that are close to one another in meaning. With each of the two the majority of the reciters has recited, so with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he has hit upon what is correct. The explanation of the statement, if this is recited with a fatḥa on the lām and a doubling of the mīm, is: and We made from among them leaders who guide their followers because We granted them permission and strengthened them toward guidance, when they were patient in obedience to Us and turned their souls away from the enjoyments of the world and its desires. And if it is recited with a kasra on the lām, then it is according to what we have described.
And Ibn Wakīʿ has already related to us, saying: my father said: we heard concerning And We made from among them leaders who guide by Our command when they were patient — he said: toward the world.
And His statement: and they were certain of Our signs (wa-kānū bi-āyātinā yūqinūn) — He says: and they were people of certainty regarding that to which Our proofs pointed them, and people of affirmation of what became clear to them of the truth, and of faith (īmān) in Our messengers and the signs of Our Book and Our revelation.
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The footnotes:
(1) Perhaps: so that it is according to ... etc.
