Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:16
He from whom it is averted that Day - [Allah] has granted him mercy. And that is the clear attainment.
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 His word: مَنْ يُصْرَفْ عَنْهُ يَوْمَئِذٍ فَقَدْ رَحِمَهُ وَذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْمُبِينُ (16) (Whoever is turned away from it on that Day, He has indeed shown him mercy, and that is the manifest triumph) (16).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Qurʾān-reciters differed over the reading of this.
Most of the reciters of the Ḥijāz, of Medina, and of Basra read it as: مَنْ يُصْرَفْ عَنْهُ يَوْمَئِذٍ , with a ḍamma on the "yāʾ" and a fatḥa on the "rāʾ," with the meaning: from whom the punishment is turned away on that Day.
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And most of the reciters of Kūfa read it as: مَنْ يَصْرِفْ عَنْهُ , with a fatḥa on the "yāʾ" and a kasra on the "rāʾ," with the meaning: from whom Allah turns away the punishment on that Day.
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And the correct of the two readings therein, according to me, is the reading of the one who read it: يَصْرِفْ عَنْهُ , with a fatḥa on the "yāʾ" and a kasra on the "rāʾ," because of the indication in His word "He has indeed shown him mercy" of its correctness, and that the reading therein ought to be done with the naming of the agent. For if the reading in His word "whoever is turned away" were according to the form in which the agent is not named, then the correct form in His word "He has indeed shown him mercy" would be that one says: "mercy has indeed been shown to him" (fa-qad ruḥima), without the naming of the agent. And in the naming of the agent in His word "He has indeed shown him mercy" there lies a clear proof that it is likewise so in His word "from whom it is turned away."
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And if that is the most preferable form for the reading, then the explanation of the word is: from whomever of His creatures His punishment is turned away on that Day, He has indeed shown him mercy. "And that is the manifest triumph," and by His word "and that" He means: and the turning away by Allah of the punishment from him on the Day of Resurrection, and His mercy toward him. "The triumph," that is to say: deliverance from ruin, and the attainment of what is desired. "The manifest," that means: the one that made clear to whoever saw it that it is the gaining of the need and the reaching of the desired thing.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning His word "whoever is turned away from it on that Day," so said the people of interpretation (taʾwīl):
* Mention of who said that:
13115 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word "whoever is turned away from it on that Day, He has indeed shown him mercy," he said: from whom the punishment is turned away.
