Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:96
Degrees [of high position] from Him and forgiveness and mercy. And Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful.
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: دَرَجَاتٍ مِنْهُ وَمَغْفِرَةً وَرَحْمَةً وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا ("ranks from Him, and forgiveness and mercy; and Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful") (4:96).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted be His praise, means by "ranks from Him": favors from Him and positions among the positions of honor.
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The scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the meaning of "the ranks" (al-darajāt) about which He, exalted be His praise, spoke with the words "ranks from Him."
Some of them said, as in the following:
10256 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "ranks from Him, and forgiveness and mercy" — it was said: Islam is a rank, the emigration (hijra) in Islam is a rank, the jihād in the emigration is a rank, and being killed in the jihād is a rank.
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Others said, as in the following:
10257 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: I asked Ibn Zayd about the statement of Allah, the Exalted: وَفَضَّلَ اللَّهُ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ عَلَى الْقَاعِدِينَ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا * دَرَجَاتٍ مِنْهُ ("and Allah has preferred those who strive over those who sit at home with a tremendous reward * ranks from Him"), and he said: "The ranks" are the seven which He mentioned in "Sūrat Barāʾa": مَا كَانَ لأَهْلِ الْمَدِينَةِ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهُمْ مِنَ الأَعْرَابِ أَنْ يَتَخَلَّفُوا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَلا يَرْغَبُوا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ لا يُصِيبُهُمْ ظَمَأٌ وَلا نَصَبٌ ("It does not befit the people of Medina and the bedouins around them to remain behind the Messenger of Allah, nor to prefer their own lives over his; that is because no thirst nor fatigue afflicts them..."). He continued reading until he reached: أَحْسَنَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ ("the best of what they used to do") [Sūrat al-Tawba: 120-121]. He said: These are the seven ranks. He said: And it was the first; the rank of jihād was formulated in general terms, and the one who strove with his wealth had a share in it. When these ranks came in detail, he was taken out of it, and there remained for him from that only the expenditure (of wealth). He then read: لا يُصِيبُهُمْ ظَمَأٌ وَلا نَصَبٌ ("no thirst nor fatigue afflicts them"), and he said: This does not apply to the one who merely makes expenditures. Then he read: وَلا يُنْفِقُونَ نَفَقَةً ("and they do not spend any expenditure"), and he said: This is the expenditure of the one who sits at home.
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Others said: By this are meant the ranks of the Garden (al-janna).
Mention of who said that:
10258 — ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Azdī related to us, saying: al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Hishām ibn Ḥassān, on the authority of Jabala ibn Suḥaym, on the authority of Ibn Muḥayrīz, concerning His statement: "Allah has preferred those who strive over those who sit at home," up to His statement: "ranks," he said: The ranks are seventy ranks, and the distance between the two ranks is the gallop of the noble, trained racehorse for seventy years.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of the interpretations regarding the explanation of His statement "ranks from Him" is that by it are meant the ranks of the Garden, as Ibn Muḥayrīz said. For His statement, exalted be His mention: "ranks from Him" is a clarification and exposition of His statement "a tremendous reward," and it is known that "the reward" is nothing other than recompense and wage. And since that is so, and "the ranks," "the forgiveness," and "the mercy" are an exposition of it, it is known that there is no basis for the statement of the one who directs the meaning of His statement "ranks from Him" toward the deeds and their increase over the deeds of those who sit back from jihād, as Qatāda and Ibn Zayd said. And since that is so, and the correct interpretation of it is what we have mentioned, it is clear that the meaning of the discourse is: Allah has preferred those who strive in the way of Allah over those who sit at home having no injury, with a tremendous reward and an abundant wage, and those are ranks which He has given them in the Hereafter from the ranks of the Garden, by which He raised them above those who sit at home on account of what they performed for the sake of Allah.
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= "and forgiveness": He says: and remission for them of their sins, whereby He favored them through the omission of His punishment for them =
"and mercy": He says: and compassion for them = "and Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful": He says: and Allah has ever been Forgiving toward the sins of His believing servants, remitting for them the punishment for them = "Merciful" toward them, favoring them with His favors, despite their transgression of His command and prohibition and their committing of acts of disobedience to Him.
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Footnotes:
(21) See the explanation of "the rank" (al-daraja) earlier at 4: 533, 536 / 7: 368, and what has already passed on p. 95, note 2.
(22) The narration 10258 — "ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Azdī," the teacher of al-Ṭabarī, for whom I have not found a biography, and he narrated from him in his historical work in several places, including 1: 44, 49 / 6: 73, 143. And "al-Ashjaʿī" is ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ashjaʿī, whose biography has already passed under number 8622. And "Sufyān" is al-Thawrī. And "Hishām ibn Ḥassān al-Qurdūsī" has already passed under number 2827, 7287. And "Jabala ibn Suḥaym" has already passed under number 3003. And "Ibn Muḥayrīz" is ʿAbdullāh ibn Muḥayrīz, who has already passed under number 8720. And "the gallop of the horse" (ḥuḍr al-faras) is its speed in running; "the horse galloped (aḥḍara al-faras yaḥḍuru iḥḍāran)" means: it ran with a vehement run. And "the trained horse (al-faras al-muḍammar)" is that which has been thoroughly prepared for the race and the running.
(23) See the explanation of "the reward" (al-ajr) earlier at 8: 542, note 1, and the references mentioned there.
(24) In the printed edition it reads "fa-yaṣfaḥu" with the addition of the fāʾ, and I have adopted what is in the manuscript, and that is the correct one.
(25) See the explanation of "the forgiveness" (al-maghfira), "the mercy" (al-raḥma), "Forgiving" (ghafūr), and "Merciful" (raḥīm) in the earlier linguistic indexes.
