Tafseer of The letter Saad · Saad · 38:2
But those who disbelieve are in pride and dissension.
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.
There was disagreement concerning that to which the name of the oath (qasam) refers. Some said: the oath refers to His statement بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي عِزَّةٍ وَشِقَاقٍ ("Nay, those who disbelieve are in pride and dissension").
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي عِزَّةٍ , he said: here falls the oath.
And some of the linguists said: "bal" (nay, rather) is an indication of their denial, so that "bal" suffices as the answer to the oath, as if it were said: "Ṣād — the matter is not as you said; nay, you are in pride and dissension." And some of the grammarians of Kūfa said: it is claimed that the place of the oath lies in His statement إِنْ كُلٌّ إِلا كَذَّبَ الرُّسُلَ ("there was none but that he denied the messengers"). And some grammarians of Kūfa said: a group has claimed that the answer to (and by the Qurʾān) is His statement إِنَّ ذَلِكَ لَحَقٌّ تَخَاصُمُ أَهْلِ النَّارِ ("indeed, that is true: the mutual disputation of the inhabitants of the Fire"). He said: but that is a statement very far removed from His statement (and by the Qurʾān), and between the two various narratives have intervened, so that we cannot accept that as correct in Arabic — and Allah knows best.
He said: and it is said: His statement (and by the Qurʾān) is an oath that interrupts the discourse before the place of its answer, so that its answer applies both to the inserted discourse and to the oath. It is as if He meant: and by the Qurʾān full of admonition, how many have We destroyed; and when, then, His statement بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي عِزَّةٍ was inserted, "kam" (how many) became the answer to both the pride and the oath. He said: and similar to it is His statement وَالشَّمْسِ وَضُحَاهَا ("By the sun and its morning brightness"): here, before the answer, His statement is inserted وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّاهَا * فَأَلْهَمَهَا ("and by a soul and what fashioned it, and then inspired it"), so that "qad aflaḥa" (truly, prosperous is) follows His statement "fa-alhamahā" (and then inspired it), and that suffices as the answer to the oath, as if He said: by the sun and its morning brightness, truly, prosperous is he…
And the correct view concerning this, in my opinion, is the view that Qatāda expressed: namely that His statement (bal) — since it points to the denial and takes the place of the answer — suffices in place of the answer, because the meaning is known. The meaning of the words is then, if it is so: ص وَالْقُرْآنِ ذِي الذِّكْرِ ("Ṣād — by the Qurʾān full of admonition") — the matter is not as these disbelievers say; nay, rather they are in pride and dissension.
His statement بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي عِزَّةٍ وَشِقَاقٍ — the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: nay, rather those who disbelieve (kāfir) in Allah, the polytheists of Quraysh, are in self-conceit and opposition and in separation from Muḥammad and enmity. They do not lack the knowledge that he is neither a sorcerer nor a liar.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
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 — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement (fī ʿizzatin wa-shiqāq), he said: being in mutual rivalry.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda (fī ʿizzatin wa-shiqāq): that is, in self-conceit and separation.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي عِزَّةٍ وَشِقَاقٍ , he said: they oppose the command of Allah, His messengers and His Book, and they dispute — that is pride and dissension. Then I said to him: al-shiqāq is disagreement. He said: yes.
