Tafseer of The Pen · Al-Qalam · 68:28
The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' "
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.
And His word: قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ ("The most moderate of them said") — by this is meant: the most just of them.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, spoke the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl).
* Mention of those who said that:
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 word: قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ ("The most moderate of them said"), he said: the most just of them. And it is also said: the best of them said. And he said concerning [sūra] al-Baqara: وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا ("And thus We have made you a moderate community"), he said: al-wasaṭ is the just one.
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 word: قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ ("The most moderate of them said"), he says: the most just of them.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: al-Furāt ibn Khallād related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Muhājir, on the authority of Mujāhid: قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ ("The most moderate of them said") — the most just of them.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, 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, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ ("The most moderate of them said"), he said: the most just of them.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd: قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ ("The most moderate of them said"), he said: the most just of them.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ ("The most moderate of them said") — that is to say: the most just of them in speech, and he was the swiftest of the people in alarm and the best of them in repentance: أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكُمْ لَوْلا تُسَبِّحُونَ ("Did I not say to you: if only you had proclaimed the glory of Allah?").
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ ("The most moderate of them said"), he said: the most just of them.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ ("The most moderate of them said"), he says: the most just of them.
And His word: أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكُمْ لَوْلا تُسَبِّحُونَ ("Did I not say to you: if only you had proclaimed the glory of Allah?"). He says: if only you had made the reservation when you said: لَيَصْرِمُنَّهَا مُصْبِحِينَ ("they will surely harvest it in the early morning"), by saying: if Allah wills (in shāʾa Allāh).
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, spoke the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl).
* Mention of those who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn al-Muhājir, on the authority of Mujāhid: لَوْلا تُسَبِّحُونَ ("if only you had proclaimed the glory"), he said: it has reached me that it is the reservation (al-istithnāʾ).
He said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Mujāhid: أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكُمْ لَوْلا تُسَبِّحُونَ ("Did I not say to you: if only you had proclaimed the glory?"), he said: he says: that you make the reservation. The proclaiming of the glory (al-tasbīḥ) with them was therefore the reservation.
