Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:152
And do not approach the orphan's property except in a way that is best until he reaches maturity. And give full measure and weight in justice. We do not charge any soul except [with that within] its capacity. And when you testify, be just, even if [it concerns] a near relative. And the covenant of Allah fulfill. This has He instructed you that you may remember.
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 explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَلا تَقْرَبُوا مَالَ الْيَتِيمِ إِلا بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ حَتَّى يَبْلُغَ أَشُدَّهُ ("And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner, until he reaches his maturity").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, means by His saying And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner: do not approach his property except in a manner that serves his welfare and the increase thereof, as in:-
14147- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner: he said: Thereby is meant trading with it.
14148- Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner: let him cause his property to grow.
14149- Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq al-ʿAnzī related to us, on the authority of Sulayṭ ibn Bilāl, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim, concerning his saying And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner: he said: He strives to increase it for him, and he takes nothing of its profit.
14150- Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning his saying And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner: he said: "The best manner" is that he eats of it according to what is reasonable (bi-l-maʿrūf) if he is poor, and if he is wealthy, then let him not eat of it. Allah has said: وَمَنْ كَانَ غَنِيًّا فَلْيَسْتَعْفِفْ وَمَنْ كَانَ فَقِيرًا فَلْيَأْكُلْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ ("And whoever is wealthy, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him eat according to what is reasonable") [Surah Al-Nisāʾ: 6]. He said: And he was asked about clothing, whereupon he said: Allah did not mention clothing; He mentioned only eating.
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As for His saying until he reaches his maturity (ashuddahu): "al-ashudd" is the plural of "shadd," just as "al-aḍurr" is the plural of "ḍurr," and just as "al-ashurr" is the plural of "sharr." "Al-shadd" is strength, and it means the firming up of the strength of his youth and his age, just as "shadd al-nahār" means the high rising and expanse of the day. One says: "I came to him at shadd al-nahār and madd al-nahār," and that is when the day stretches out and stands high. And al-Mufaḍḍal used to — as has been related to me — recite the verse of ʿAntara:
ʿAhdī bihi shadda l-nahāri ka-annamā khuḍiba l-labānu wa-raʾsuhu bi-l-ʿiẓlimi
(My memory of him is at the height of the day, as though his breast and his head had been dyed with indigo.)
And to that belongs the saying of another:
Tuṭīfu bihi shadda l-nahāri ẓaʿīnatun ṭawīlatu anqāʾi l-yadayni saḥūqu
(At the height of the day a traveling woman circles about him, long in the bones of the arms, tall as a palm.)
And some of the scholars of Basra claimed that "al-ashudd" is like "al-ānuk" (that is, a singular, not a plural).
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As for the people of interpretation, they differed concerning the time at which, when a person reaches it, it is said: "he has reached his maturity (ashudd)."
Some of them said: That is said of him when he reaches puberty (al-ḥulum).
* Mention of who said that:
14151- Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me, saying: My uncle related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb informed me, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith, on the authority of Rabīʿa, concerning his saying until he reaches his maturity: he said: Puberty (al-ḥulum).
14152- Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me, saying: My uncle related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam related to me, on the authority of his father, the like of it = Ibn Wahb said: And Mālik said to me the like of it.
14153- It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥimmānī, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of ʿĀmir, concerning until he reaches his maturity: he said: "Al-ashudd" is puberty (al-ḥulum), when the good deeds are recorded for him and the bad deeds are recorded against him.
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And others said: That is said of him only when he reaches the age of thirty years.
* Mention of who said that:
14154- Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning until he reaches his maturity: he said: As for "his maturity (ashudd)," that is thirty years, and after it comes: حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغُوا النِّكَاحَ ("until they reach marriageable age") [Surah Al-Nisāʾ: 6].
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In the wording there is something omitted, the mention of which has been left out because what appears gives sufficient indication of what has been omitted. That is because the meaning of the wording is: "And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner, until he reaches his maturity," and when he then reaches his maturity and you perceive in him sound judgment (rushd), then hand over to him his property = for He, whose praise is exalted, did not forbid approaching the property of the orphan during his state of orphanhood except in the best manner until he reaches his maturity in order that it be permissible for his guardian, after he reaches his maturity, to approach it in the worst manner; rather, He forbade them to approach it out of protection for him and preservation of it, so that they would hand it over to him when he reaches his maturity.
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The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَأَوْفُوا الْكَيْلَ وَالْمِيزَانَ بِالْقِسْطِ لا نُكَلِّفُ نَفْسًا إِلا وُسْعَهَا ("And give full measure and full weight with justice; We do not burden any soul beyond its capacity").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: قُلْ تَعَالَوْا أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ أَلا تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا ("Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden you: that you associate nothing as a partner with Him") = and that you give full measure and full weight. He says: Do not shortchange the people in the measure when you measure for them, nor in the weight when you weigh for them, but give them their rights in full. The giving thereof in full is to give them their rights completely = "with justice (bi-l-qisṭ)," that is to say: with equity (al-ʿadl), as in:-
14155- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: with justice: with equity.
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And we have already set forth previously the meaning of "al-qisṭ" with its proofs, and we deemed repeating it undesirable.
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As for His saying We do not burden any soul beyond its capacity: He says: We do not burden any soul, with regard to giving full measure and weight, except with what it is able to bear, so that it is permissible for it and it does not fall into hardship therein. That is because Allah, whose praise is exalted, knew of His servants that the soul of many of them finds it too constraining to be generous to another with that which it does not owe him. Therefore He commanded the giver to give in full the right of the one entitled that is due to him, and He did not burden him with the surplus, on account of the constraint of his soul with that surplus. And He commanded the one to whom the right is due to take his right, and He did not burden him with contentment with less than that, on account of the constraint of his soul at the shortfall therein. Thus He did not burden either of the two souls except with that which carries no hardship and no constraint in it; therefore He said: We do not burden any soul beyond its capacity.
And we have already fully treated the exposition thereof with its proofs in a place other than this, in a manner that makes repetition superfluous.
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The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَإِذَا قُلْتُمْ فَاعْدِلُوا وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَا قُرْبَى وَبِعَهْدِ اللَّهِ أَوْفُوا ذَلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُمْ بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ ("And when you speak, be just, even if it concerns a kinsman; and fulfill the covenant of Allah. That He has enjoined upon you, that you may take heed") (6:152).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, means by His saying And when you speak, be just: and when you judge between the people and you give the verdict, then speak the truth among them, and be just and equitable and do not be unjust, even if the one against whom the truth and the judgment turns is a kinsman of yours. Let not the kinship of a relative or the friendship of a friend, between whom and another you judge, lead you to speak anything other than the truth in that concerning which a ruling is sought from you = and fulfill the covenant of Allah (bi-ʿahd Allāh): He says: and fulfill the injunction of Allah which He has enjoined upon you. The fulfillment thereof is: that they obey Him in that which He has commanded them and forbidden them, and that they act according to His Book and the Sunna of His Messenger, the Prophet ﷺ; and that is the fulfillment of the covenant of Allah.
As for His saying That He has enjoined upon you: the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Say to those of your people who set up the idol-images and the idols as equals alongside Allah: These matters which I have mentioned to you in these two verses, those are the things which our Lord has enjoined upon us and which your Lord has enjoined upon you and which He has commanded you to act upon = not the baḥīra, the sāʾiba, the waṣīla, and the ḥām (pagan practices concerning livestock), nor the killing of children, the burying alive of daughters, and the following of the footsteps of Satan = that you may take heed: He says: He has commanded you these matters which He has commanded you in these two verses, and He has enjoined them upon you and laid upon you a covenant concerning them, that you may remember the consequences of your affair, and the error of that in which you persist, so that you may restrain yourselves from it and be deterred and return in repentance to obedience to your Lord.
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And Ibn ʿAbbās used to say: These verses are the clear, decisive verses (al-āyāt al-muḥkamāt).
14156- Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Qays, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: They are the clear, decisive verses, His saying: قُلْ تَعَالَوْا أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ أَلا تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا ("Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden you: that you associate nothing as a partner with Him").
14157- Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā and Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, both of them saying: Wahb ibn Jarīr related to us, saying: My father related to us, saying: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb relate, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb, on the authority of Marthad ibn ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAdī ibn al-Khiyār, he said: Kaʿb al-Aḥbār heard a man reciting: قُلْ تَعَالَوْا أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ ("Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden you"), whereupon he said: By Him in whose hand is the soul of Kaʿb, this is truly the first thing in the Tawrāt: "In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful," قُلْ تَعَالَوْا أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ ("Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden you").
14158- Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Masrūq, on the authority of a man, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym, that he said to a man: Do you have an interest in a page upon which is the seal of Muḥammad? Then he recited these verses: قُلْ تَعَالَوْا أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ أَلا تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا ("Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden you: that you associate nothing as a partner with Him").
14159- Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Isḥāq al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of Abū Sinān, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, he said: Al-Rabīʿ said: Shall I recite to you a page from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? = he did not say: "its seal" = and he recited these verses: قُلْ تَعَالَوْا أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ ("Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden you").
14160- Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAlqama, he said: A group of people came to him and said: You have kept the company of the companions of Muḥammad, so tell us about the revelation (al-waḥy). Then he recited to them these verses from "Al-Anʿām": قُلْ تَعَالَوْا أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ أَلا تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا ("Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden you: that you associate nothing as a partner with Him"). They said: It is not about this that we ask you! He said: We have no revelation other than this.
14161- Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: These verses which have been enjoined belong to the clear, decisive (muḥkam) part of the Qurʾān.
14162- Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning his saying And when you speak, be just: he said: Speak the truth.
