Tafseer of The Emissaries · Al-Mursalaat · 77:6
As justification or warning,
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 saying: ( عُذْرًا أَوْ نُذْرًا ) "as an excuse or as a warning." The Exalted, whose mention is high, says: those who deliver the admonition to the messengers, as an excuse from Allah to His creatures, and as a warning from Him to them.
And in accordance with what we have said about that, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: ( عُذْرًا أَوْ نُذْرًا ) "as an excuse or as a warning," he said: as an excuse from Allah, and as a warning from Him to His creatures.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying: ( عُذْرًا أَوْ نُذْرًا ) "as an excuse or as a warning": as an excuse on the part of Allah toward His creatures, and as a warning for the believers, from which they derive benefit and to which they adhere.
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: ( عُذْرًا أَوْ نُذْرًا ) "as an excuse or as a warning," he means: the angels.
And the reciters differed over its recitation. Most of the reciters of Medina and Syria, and some of the Meccans and some of the Kūfans, recited it: ( عُذْرًا ) "ʿudhran" with light pronunciation (without doubling), and "nudhuran" with heavy pronunciation (with doubling). Most of the reciters of Kūfa and some of those of Basra recited both with light pronunciation, and yet others among the people of Basra recited both with heavy pronunciation. The light pronunciation in both is more pleasing to me, although I do not reject the soundness of the heavy pronunciation, since they are both verbal nouns (maṣdar) with the meaning of "excusing" (al-iʿdhār) and "warning" (al-indhār).
