Tafseer of The letter Saad · Saad · 38:45
And remember Our servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - those of strength and [religious] vision.
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.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَاذْكُرْ عِبَادَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ أُولِي الأَيْدِي وَالأَبْصَارِ (And remember Our servants Ibrāhīm, Isḥāq, and Yaʿqūb, men of strength and insight) (38:45).
The reciters differed over the reading of His statement ( عِبَادِنَا ). Most of the reciters of the cities read it ( وَاذْكُرْ عِبَادَنَا ) in the plural, with the exception of Ibn Kathīr; it is related from him that he read it: "waḏkur ʿabdanā" in the singular, as if he directs the words such that Isḥāq and Yaʿqūb belong to the progeny of Ibrāhīm, and that they are mentioned after him.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, that he heard Ibn ʿAbbās reciting: "waḏkur ʿabdanā inna Ibrāhīma" — he said: He mentioned only Ibrāhīm, and then his progeny was mentioned after him.
And the correct reading in this case, according to him, is the reading of the one who read it in the plural, on the grounds that Ibrāhīm, Isḥāq, and Yaʿqūb are an exposition of "the servants" and a further specification of them, because of the consensus of the authoritative reciters upon that.
And His statement ( أُولِي الأيْدِي وَالأبْصَارِ ) (men of hands and of eyes) — by "the hands" strength is intended; He says: people of strength in the worship of Allah and obedience to Him. And by "the eyes" it is intended that they are people of insight of the heart, that is to say: people of understanding [and insight] for the truth.
The exegetes differed over the explanation of this. Some of them said concerning it something resembling what we have said about it.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement ( أُولِي الأيْدِي ): he says: people of strength and worship; and "the eyes," he says: the understanding of the religion.
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 statement ( أُولِي الأيْدِي وَالأبْصَارِ ), he said: they were favored with strength and worship.
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, that he said concerning this verse ( أُولِي الأيْدِي ): strength.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement ( أُولِي الأيْدِي ), he said: strength in the cause of Allah.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid ( أُولِي الأيْدِي ), he said: the hands: strength in the cause of Allah, ( وَالأبْصَارَ ): the intellect.
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 — all of them together — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid ( أُولِي الأيْدِي وَالأبْصَارِ ), he said: strength in obedience to Allah, ( وَالأبْصَارَ ): he said: insight into the truth.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement ( أُولِي الأيْدِي وَالأبْصَارِ ): he says: they were given strength in worship and insight into the religion.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His statement ( أُولِي الأيْدِي وَالأبْصَارِ ), he said: the hands: strength in obedience to Allah, and the eyes: insight with their intellect into their religion.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement ( أُولِي الأيْدِي وَالأبْصَارِ ), he said: the hands: strength, and the eyes: the intellect.
And if someone were to say to us: What have the hands to do with strength, when "the hands" is merely the plural of "hand," and the hand is a limb of the body? And what have the intellects to do with the eyes, when "the eyes" is merely the plural of "eye"? — then the answer is: That is a figure of speech. For with the hand one grasps, and through grasping the strength of the strong one is known; therefore it is said of the strong one: "a man of hand." And as for the eye: by it the eye of the heart is intended, and by it the knowledge of things is attained; therefore it is said of the man who has knowledge of something: "he sees by it." And it is possible that by His statement ( أُولِي الأَيْدِي ) is intended: people who have hands with Allah through good works; thus Allah made their good works which they performed in this world into hands for them with Allah, as a figure of speech for it with the hand that one person has with another.
And it is related from ʿAbd Allāh that he used to recite it: "ūlā al-aydi" without the yāʾ. It is possible that this is from "al-taʾyīd" (strengthening), and it is possible that it has the meaning of "the hands," but that he dropped the yāʾ from it, as it is said: يَوْمَ يُنَادِ الْمُنَادِ (on the day when the caller shall call).
