Tafseer of The Pen · Al-Qalam · 68:14
Because he is a possessor of wealth and children,
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: أَنْ كَانَ ذَا مَالٍ وَبَنِينَ (14) إِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا قَالَ أَسَاطِيرُ الأَوَّلِينَ (15) ("because he possessed wealth and sons (14); when Our signs are recited to him, he says: legends of the ancients (15)").
The Qurʾān-reciters differed over the recitation of His statement أَنْ كَانَ ("because he was"). Abū Jaʿfar al-Madanī and Ḥamza recited it as أأنْ كَانَ ذَا مالٍ ("is it because he possessed wealth?") as a question, with two hamzas. The recitation of the one who recited it thus may be understood in two ways:
The first is that what is meant by it is: a reproach to this contemptible great swearer of oaths. It is then said: is it because this contemptible great swearer of oaths possessed wealth and sons, إِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا قَالَ أَسَاطِيرُ الأَوَّلِينَ ("that, when Our signs are recited to him, he says: legends of the ancients")? And this is the clearer of the two understandings of it.
The other is that what is meant by it is: is it because he possessed wealth and sons that you obey him? — by way of rebuke to whoever obeyed him. The remaining reciters of Medina, Kūfa, and Basra recited it as أَنْ كَانَ ذَا مَالٍ ("because he possessed wealth"), as a statement without a question, with one hamza. Its meaning, when it is recited thus, is: and obey no contemptible great swearer of oaths أَنْ كَانَ ذَا مَالٍ وَبَنِينَ ("because he possessed wealth and sons"), as though He forbade him to obey him on account of the fact that he possessed wealth and sons.
