Verses 27–50
The beginning of these verses is connected to the discussion of sustenance (rizq) mentioned in the verse God is graceful to His servants; He gives sustenance to whom He pleases (), above. This was touched on in God’s saying His are the keys of the heavens and the earth; He expands and constrains the means of sustenance for whom He pleases… (). We have also seen that the blessing of the true religion is also a kind of sustenance that God gives to His believing servants. It is with this in mind that the discussion of divine sustenance enters the discourse on revelation which the verses of this sūrah are intended to expound, and repeatedly surfaces in the course thereof.
Next, these verses mention some of the signs of Divine Unity that are connected to sustenance, such as the creation of the heavens and the earth, the propagation of animals therein, the ships that sail upon the seas and God’s giving male and female children to whomsoever he chooses, and making whomsoever he chooses barren.
Then they mention that God gives people some sustenance in this world, but it is a fleeting enjoyment that will vanish with this life. However there is sustenance for the faithful in the Hereafter and that this is better and more lasting. From here the discourse shifts to discuss the traits of the faithful and their pleasant destiny, before turning to what awaits the wrongdoers; the terrors of the Resurrection and the punishment of the Hereafter are their fate.
Commentary
وَلَوْ بَسَطَ اللَّهُ الرِّزْقَ لِعِبَادِهِ لَبَغَوْا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَٰكِنْ يُنَزِّلُ بِقَدَرٍ مَا يَشَاءُ ۚ إِنَّهُ بِعِبَادِهِ خَبِيرٌ بَصِيرٌ ٢٧
(42:27) And if God should expand the provision for His servants they would certainly revolt in the earth; but He sends it down according to a measure as He pleases; surely of His servants He is all-aware, all-seeing.
“Constrain” (yaqdir) is opposed to “expand” (yabsuṭ) with the meaning of “narrowing,” as we saw in the previous verse: He expands and constrains the means of subsistence for whom He pleases (). Qadr or qadar both mean the quantity (kamiyyah) of a thing and its dimensions, hence God’s saying: “but He sends it down according to a measure” (). They can also mean to make something of a specific quantity, as when God says: Then We measured; so how excellent measurers are We! ().
“Revolt” (baghī) means “wrongdoing” (ẓulm). The phrase of His servants could have easily been replaced with the pronoun construct “of them”, but God chooses to use the word servants again to show that He is all-aware and all-seeing of them because they are His servants, created by Him and sustained by Him—so how could they be hidden or unknown to Him? The same applies to for His servants immediately when discussing providing of sustenance above; it alludes to the fact that they are His servants and a servant’s provision is the duty of his master.
With this in mind, the verse means: If God expanded the sustenance of His servants so that all of them were satiated, they would commit wrongdoing upon the earth. This is because people with abundant wealth usually have insolent, arrogant, and rebellious temperaments, just as God says: Indeed man becomes rebellious when he considers himself needless (). So instead, God sends down sustenance as He pleases in a specific measure and quantity because He is all-knowing and all-seeing of His servants. He knows what each one of them deserves and what is best for each one of them—whether wealth or poverty—and He gives that to each of them.
God’s words …but He sends it down according to a measure as He pleases… explain that the divine custom (sunnah ilāhiyyah) in giving sustenance is to bestow it according to what is best for the people. In other words, their best interests determine their sustenance. This does not conflict with the rebelliousness we see in some wealthy people or the fact that their sustenance feeds into this, for there is another divine custom that governs this one, and that is the divine custom of trial and tribulation (al-ibtilāʾ wa al-imtiḥān); God says: Rather your possessions and children are a trial. (). Moreover there is a third divine custom, namely that of beguiling the faithless and luring them into destruction (al-makr wa al-istidrāj); God says: As for those who deny Our signs, We will draw them imperceptibly [into ruin], whence they do not know. And I will grant them respite, for My devising is indeed sure ().
In short, the divine custom of apportioning sustenance according to a person’s best interests is God’s default mode of behavior, unless God is testing them …so that God may test what is in your breasts… (). Or, unless they turn God’s blessing into a burden by being ungrateful for it, whereat God’s habit becomes that of giving them what will lead them toward rebellion. Indeed God does not change a people’s lot, unless they change what is in their souls ().
Just as giving someone wealth, children and other forms of blessings are a person’s share of provision, there are other forms of sustenance as well. True knowledge and divine teachings which have been received from revelation are sustenance too; this is because being tested by them and putting them into practice is also a kind of sustenance.
So if all the divine teachings and laws from beginning to end came down in a single go—bearing in mind that these would encompass all aspects of human existence—this would have been too difficult for people to bear and all but a few would have refused to believe. So instead, God sent down His revelation gradually to the Prophet with periods of respite and thereby prepared people to accept it piece by piece. God says: We have sent the Qur’an in parts so that you may read it to the people a little at a time, and We have sent it down piecemeal ().
The same replies to the higher teachings (maʿārif ʿāliyah) which are hidden in the depths of the basic teachings of religion; were they not veiled from the masses but visible to them like religion’s manifest teachings, only a few would be able to understand them. So instead God speaks to them in a way that each person benefits according to his own measure of understanding and the openness of his heart. God explains this in a similitude: He sends down water from the sky whereat the valleys are flooded to their capacity ().
So too to the laws and moral duties of the religion; if everyone were laden with all of them, they would have found it too difficult to follow them all, so instead God apportioned these laws in proportion to the moral trials for which people require them.
Sustenance in the form of laws and teachings, from whichever angle you look at it, is exactly like the physical sustenance that is divided amongst people according to what is best for them.
وَهُوَ الَّذِي يُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا قَنَطُوا وَيَنْشُرُ رَحْمَتَهُ ۚ وَهُوَ الْوَلِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ ٢٨
(42:28) And He it is Who sends down rain (ghayth) after they have despaired, and He unfolds His mercy; and He is the Guardian, the Praised One.
“Despair” (qunūṭ) means to have relinquished hope, and ghayth (“rain”) means maṭr.
In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, Ṭabrisī says: “Ghayth is rain at a fortuitous time, while maṭr is a general downpour. It could be useful or it could be harmful, whether by its coming or by its absence.”
“Unfolding mercy” means to divide blessings between people by causing plants to grow and bringing forth fruits, both of which are caused by the rain.
In this verse the subject of the discourse shifts from sustenance to the signs of Divine Unity which are connected to people’s sustenance, and other verses with the same import follow it. This verse closes with two of the Divine Names: “The Guardian” (al-Walī) and “The Praised One” (al-Ḥamīd). These are two of God’s Beautiful Names which are used to praise Him for His magnificent actions.
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ خَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَثَّ فِيهِمَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ ۚ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ جَمْعِهِمْ إِذَا يَشَاءُ قَدِيرٌ ٢٩
(42:29) And one of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and what He has spread forth in both of them of beasts; and when He pleases, He is well-able to gather them together.
“To spread” (bathth) means to scatter. In Arabic, it is said that the wind spreads the dust when it stirs it up. A “beast” (dābah) is that which crawls (yadubb) upon the earth, thus including all kinds of animal. The meaning of this is clear.
The apparent meaning of this verse also suggests that the heavens contain creatures like the beasts of the earth. Some suggest that these creatures in the heavens are the angels, but this is rejected on the grounds that the word “beast” is not used to refer to angels.
…and when He pleases He is well-able to gather them together…This alludes to the resurrection of whatever beasts have been spread within them. He uses the word “gather” (jamʿ) because this is the opposite of “spread” (bathth). When He says “gather them”, the fact He uses the masculine-plural pronoun (“hum”), usually reserved for beings with intellects, that the creatures in the heavens have intellects like the human being. After all, God says: There is no animal on land, nor a bird that flies with its wings, but they are communities like yourselves ().
“Well-able” (qadīr) refers to one of God’s Beautiful Names in which Divine Power is gathered and focused. Rāghib says:
When a person is described as qadīr, this means he has the ability to do something, but when God is described as qadīr, this means to negate all inability (ʿajz) from Him. It is impossible to describe anyone besides God with absolute power, even when using word. In fact, it is proper to say: “He is able to do such-and-such” (qādir ʿalā kadhā). And when we call someone qādir this is in an implicitly qualified sense. For this reason, no one except God is attributed power (qudrah) from one aspect save that it is also proper to attribute him impotence (ʿajz) from another. It is only God from whom all impotence is divested from every angle.
Qadīr means someone who can do whatever he wills to the extent that wisdom decrees—no more and no less. For this reason, it is only proper to describe God as being qadīr and to say “He has power to do whatever He wishes.”
Muqtadir has a similar meaning, as when God says …an omnipotent King (). However, muqtadir can also apply to people. When it is used for God, it has the same meaning as qadīr, but when it is used for people, it means someone who has either acquired or been endowed with some power.
Rāghib’s analysis is sound except for when He says that when we attribute power (qudrah) to God this means to negate any impotence from Him. Here he has been rather brazen, as God’s Essence Attributes (ṣifāt dhātiyyah), like life, knowledge, and power have affirmative meanings, and they are identical with the Divine Essence. They are not merely negations, such that saying God is alive, knowing, and powerful simply means He is not dead, ignorant, or impotent, which is the doctrine of the Sabeans. This is because the logical outcome of such a doctrine is that the Divine Essence does not have Perfective Attributes (ṣifāt al-kamāl).
The truth is that the meaning of God’s power is that He can do whatever He wishes; it only as the logical corollary of this that all impotency is negated from Him.
وَمَا أَصَابَكُمْ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُو عَنْ كَثِيرٍ ٣٠
(42:30) And whatever affliction befalls you, it is on account of what your hands have wrought, and [yet] He pardons many [of your faults].
And affliction (muṣībah) refers to a calamity that afflicts someone, as if it has been aimed at him. “What your hands have wrought” means your sins and misdeeds.
When God says and He pardons much, this means much of the misdeeds your hands have wrought.
The address of this verse is communal; it is directed towards society as a whole, rather than broken up into particularities. So when God speaks about afflictions, this must refer to afflictions that affect the society as a whole, such as drought, high prices, epidemic diseases, earthquakes, and the like thereof.
So this verse means: afflictions and calamities that affect your society and which you are afflicted with as a result are because of your sins, and God forgives many of them without punishing you.
Hence this verse is in the same vein as:
Corruption has appeared in land and sea because of the doings of the people’s hands, that He may make them taste something of what they have done, so that they may come back. ()
If the people of the towns had been faithful and Godwary, We would have opened to them blessings from the heaven and the earth. But they denied ()
Indeed God does not change a people’s lot, unless they change what is in their souls. ()
And other verses such as these saying that there is a special link between human activity and the natural order, such that if human society follows the call of human nature in its belief and actions, all manner of bounties and good things will be opened up to them, while if human society spreads corruption, it will suffer ruin.
This is what will happen as a result of this divine custom, unless the custom of trial or that of luring the faithless to destruction comes into play, in which case things will go differently. God says: Then We gave them good in the place of evil until they became many and said: Distress and happiness did indeed befall our fathers. Then We took them by surprise while they were unaware ().
However, the address in the verse could also be read as being general, but applying to people’s individual lives. In other words, whatever afflictions a person may suffer in themselves, their property, their families or whatever is connected to them, it goes back to a sin or misdeed they committed, and God forgives many of these.
In any case, the address in the verse is to all people, believers and disbelievers alike. The tone of the verse supports this reading, as does the verse that follows it. This is first of all.
Secondly, when God says your hands have wrought, He is only referring to sins and misdeeds, not human actions in general.
Thirdly, the afflictions that befall people are merely the effects of their actions in this world, as there is a connection between them and the actions, so they fall under the chain of cause-and-effect rather than divine recompense for these actions.
What we mentioned above answers the following objection raised against this verse being general: afflictions befell the Prophets while they are infallible and did not sin, and also afflictions befall children and the legally insane, neither of whom are under any moral obligation, so they cannot have committed any sin to warrant such afflictions. Therefore we must limit the verse in light of the afflictions suffered by the Prophets and the afflictions suffered by those not held morally responsible for their actions.
What we have mentioned answers this because the affirmation of a sin having been committed in the phrase …what your hands have wrought … indicates that this verse is only addressed to those who are capable of committing sins. This verse, at its very outset, does not apply to infallibles or to those not morally responsible for their actions. So they are not included in the address of the verse as a matter of specificity (takhaṣṣus) rather than needing to be specified (takhṣīṣ).
Second, it answers the interpretation that the verse entails all the sins of the faithful being forgiven for they either suffer the recompense for their sins in this world or they are forgiven for them.
This is answered by the fact that the verse’s context is explaining the connection between afflictions and sins, and the fact that some sins have ill-effects in this world that affect people while others are forgiven and so do not afflict them because of external factors that prevent them from doing so, such as maintaining ties of family, voluntary alms-giving, the supplication of a fellow believer, repentance, and other such things that have been described in the traditions. As for the recompense (jazāʾ) of these deeds in the Hereafter, the verse does not address these, as we said.
And because the verse is addressed to both believers and disbelievers, as was mentioned above, it makes no sense to be selective about what it means by saying that it shows the believers will be forgiven all their sins but not the disbelievers.
With all this in mind, the first interpretation (that it addresses society as a whole rather than individuals) is more fitting.
وَمَا أَنْتُمْ بِمُعْجِزِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ ۖ وَمَا لَكُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ٣١
(42:31) And you cannot escape in the earth, and you shall not have a guardian or a helper besides God.
In the context of the above verses, the meaning of this verse is clear. It says that you cannot thwart God to escape the afflictions brought on by your sins. You have no one besides Him to look after your affairs and avert these afflictions from you, nor any helper to support you in repelling them.
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ الْجَوَارِ فِي الْبَحْرِ كَالْأَعْلَامِ ٣٢
(42:32) And among His signs are the ships in the sea like mountains.
The Arabic word used for “ships” here is jawārī, which is the plural of jāriyah (lit. “that which sails”).
The word used for mountains is aʿlām, the plural of ʿalam (lit. “landmark”). Ships are compared to mountains because of their vastness and height. The rest is clear.
إِنْ يَشَأْ يُسْكِنِ الرِّيحَ فَيَظْلَلْنَ رَوَاكِدَ عَلَىٰ ظَهْرِهِ ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ ٣٣
(42:33) If He pleases, He causes the wind to become still so that they lie motionless on its back; most surely there are signs in this for every patient, grateful one,
“He” in if He pleases refers to God. “To remain” (ẓalla) means “to become.” “Motionless” (rākidah, pl. rawākid) means something that stays fixed in place. The verse means that if God wills, He will still the wind that propels the ships so that they become stuck in place on the surface of the ocean.
…most surely there are signs in this for every patient, grateful one: The original meaning of “patience” (ṣabr) is restraint, and the original meaning of “gratitude” (shukr) is to display the blessing of the one who bestowed it through word or deed. The verse means that in everything mentioned about ships—how they sail upon the surface of the ocean because of the winds and carry people and provisions from one shore to another—there are signs for a person who restrains himself from being preoccupied with things that do not concern him and instead occupies himself with pondering on God’s blessings. And pondering on a blessing is a kind of gratitude.
It is said that every patient, grateful one means the believer (muʾmin). This is because the believer is either in hardship or ease, so he is patient in hardship and grateful in ease.
أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ بِمَا كَسَبُوا وَيَعْفُ عَنْ كَثِيرٍ ٣٤
(42:34) Or He may make them founder for what they have earned, and [even then] pardon most.
“To founder” (ībāq) means to bring to ruin. The feminine plural pronoun (hunna) is its object, referring to the ships, while the masculine plural pronoun (hum) is used to refer to people. Both Or He may make them founder… and and pardon… are in conjunction with …He causes the wind to become still… (in the previous verse).
This verse means that if God wills, He will bring the ships to ruin by drowning them on account of people’s misdeeds, even though He forgives many of them. In other words, just some of people’s misdeeds are enough to bring these ships to ruin, even if God forgives most of them.
It is said: By bringing them to ruin, God means destroying their passengers, whether figuratively (majāz) or through an implicit construct state (taqdīr). And because make them founder is in conjunction with still the wind, it means by sending a powerful gale to capsize them. In other words: “And if He wills, He will send winds to drown them, but many will be saved by His forgiveness.” This would make the complete meaning: “If He wills, He will still the wind… and if He wills, He will send it to capsize the boats and drown some people on account of their sins, and save others of them through His forgiveness.” However, as you can see this interpretation is somewhat torturous.
It is also said: and pardon… is conjoined with …still the wind... because of what they have earned. This is why it is joined with “and” (wa) rather than “or” (aw). This makes the meaning: “If He wills, He will punish them by either stilling the winds or making them ferocious, but if He wills He will forgive much.” However, like the previous interpretation, this too is a rather torturous reading.
وَيَعْلَمَ الَّذِينَ يُجَادِلُونَ فِي آيَاتِنَا مَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مَحِيصٍ ٣٥
(42:35) And [that] those who dispute about Our signs may know; there is no place of refuge for them.
It is said: This goal (ghāyah) for what has been mentioned above is joined to another that is implicit. Its meaning is like saying: “To demonstrate His power and so that those who dispute about Our signs may know that there is no escape for them and no refuge.” This is a common phenomenon in the Qur’an, but when this happens the conjoined clause is prefixed with the lām of purpose (lām al-ghāya), as in God’s saying: so that God may ascertain those who have faith (). And in His saying: that he might be of those who possess certitude ().
Some commentators allow it to be conjoined with the consequent of an implicit conditional sentence (jazāʾ al-sharṭ) beginning with “If…”, with the sense of: “If you come to me, I will respect you and give you such-and-such.” In this case, “Give you…” will be in the accusative case (naṣb). This is a controversial issue of Arabic grammar, so let the reader refer to what the grammarians have said.
فَمَا أُوتِيتُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَمَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَمَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَىٰ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ ٣٦
(42:36) So whatever thing you are given, that is only a provision of this world’s life, and what is with God is better and more lasting for those who believe and rely on their Lord.
This is explaining what has already been mentioned about sustenance (rizq) and how it is divided between the sustenance people have in this world, which includes both believers and disbelievers, and the sustenance of the Hereafter that lies with God and is only for the faithful. And from here the discussion moves to describe the qualities of the faithful and mention some of what awaits the wrongdoers on the Day of Resurrection.
Based on the context, the phrase So whatever thing you are given, that is only a provision of this world’s life is addressed to humanity in general rather than just the idolaters. When it says whatever thing you are given, this means everything He gives people and whatever blessings He provides for them. Putting provision into a possessive construct with this world’s life alludes to the fact that these provisions are transient, ephemeral, and will one day run out. So the verse is saying “everything you have been given is just a provision that you will enjoy for a few short days.”
…and what is with God is better and more lasting for those who believe and rely on their Lord: What is with God means the reward God has stored up for the faithful. For in for those who believe indicates ownership (mulk); reading it is as adverbial (ẓarf) is ungrammatical. It is said that for is connected to better and more lasting, but the first makes more sense. In any case, what is with God is better because it is free from pain and hardship, and it is more lasting because it never ends.
وَالَّذِينَ يَجْتَنِبُونَ كَبَائِرَ الْإِثْمِ وَالْفَوَاحِشَ وَإِذَا مَا غَضِبُوا هُمْ يَغْفِرُونَ٣٧
(42:37) And those who shun the great sins and indecencies, and whenever they are angry they forgive.
This is conjoined with the phrase for those who believe… in the previous verse because this verse and the two verses that follow it enumerate the good qualities of the faithful. Some commentators have claimed that this represents a new discussion, but the context does not support this.
Great sins are major transgressions which carry terrible repercussions. Amongst them God counts wine and gambling, about which He says: Say, “There is a great sin in both of them” (): indecencies (fawāḥish, pl. fāḥishah) which are abominable sins, including fornication and sodomy. God says: Do not approach fornication. It is indeed an indecency and an evil way (); and He quotes the Prophet Lot saying to his people: “What! Do you commit this indecency while you see?” ().
When God says and those who shun the great sins and indecencies, bearing in mind that this sūrah was revealed in Mecca, this refers to something general which will be elaborated on when He reveals His prohibitions on major sins and indecencies.
…And whenever they are angry they forgive refers to forgiveness while angry, and this is one of the most unique traits of the faithful, which is why He chooses such a particular way of expressing it. He does not say “they forgive when they become angry” because the way the Qur’an phrases it emphasizes this meaning from several angles; it signifies that there is no shortage in their forgiveness even when they are angry.
وَالَّذِينَ اسْتَجَابُوا لِرَبِّهِمْ وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَمْرُهُمْ شُورَىٰ بَيْنَهُمْ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ ٣٨
(42:38) And those who respond to their Lord and maintain the prayer, and their rule is to take counsel among themselves, and who spend out of what We have given them.
“To respond” (istijāba) means to answer, and “responding to their Lord” means that they answer Him in the righteous conduct He has charged them with—based on the context of the verse—and prayer is singled out for mention amongst these deeds out of respect for its special sanctity.
Based on the fact that these verses appear to be Meccan, meaning that the obligations of things like zakāt, khums, fasting or jihād had not yet been promulgated, we see again that the phrase and those who respond to their Lord refers to righteous conduct in general, just as those who shun the great sins refers to sins in general. The same can also be said of the verses that follow.
…and their rule is to take counsel among themselves, and who spend out of what We have given them: Al-Rāghib says:
“To take counsel” (tashāwur, mashāwarah, mashwarah) means to bring out an opinion by referring to one another. The root sh-w-r literally means to bring honey out of its place. God says: Consult them in the affairs (). A shūrā is the matter for which counsel is being sought. God says: “their rule is to take counsel among themselves.”
So “counsel” means a matter they resolve to discuss amongst themselves. Some commentators suggest this is a verbal noun (maṣdar).
With this in mind, the verse means: “It is their habit to take counsel amongst themselves.”
In any case, this verse alludes to the fact that they are sensible people who apprehend reality and exert considerable effort to identify the proper opinion by referring to other intellects. So this verse is very close in its meaning to the verse: Those who listen to the word, then follow the best of it ().
…and who spend out of what We have given them shows that they spend their wealth seeking God’s pleasure.
وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَهُمُ الْبَغْيُ هُمْ يَنْتَصِرُونَ ٣٩
(42:39) And those who, when great wrong afflicts them, defend themselves (yantaṣirūn).
Rāghib says: “Intiṣār and istinṣār mean to seek help (nuṣrah).”
So this verse means that the faithful are those who, when they are wronged, seek help from others. And since they are all united upon the truth they are like a single mind, if one of them is wronged, it is as if all of them are wronged, and they seek to resist this injustice and give help against it.
Others say that intiṣār means to help one another, as with the verb ikhtaṣama and takhāṣama (both of which mean to quarrel), or istabaqa and tasabaqa (both of which mean to compete). If this is the case, its meaning is clear.
In any case, this verse is speaking about their resistance to oppression. This does not contradict their quality of forgiving when angry, as resisting oppression and closing the door of society on those able to carry it out, and defending oneself and defending others for this purpose is a humanitarian obligation. God says: …if they ask your help for the sake of religion, it is incumbent on you to help them … (). And: …fight the one which aggresses until it returns to God’s ordinance ().
وَجَزَاءُ سَيِّئَةٍ سَيِّئَةٌ مِثْلُهَا ۖ فَمَنْ عَفَا وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ ٤٠
(42:40) And the recompense of an injury is an injury like it, but whoever forgives and amends, he shall have his reward from God; surely He does not love the unjust.
This explains how a person should act in self-defence or the defence of others, namely that they should confront the aggressor with actions like his own and that this is not unjust or aggression.
It is said: The second is called sayyiʾah (“evil”) to show it is done in response to the first, just as when God says: So should anyone aggress against you, assail him in the manner he assailed you. () Zamakhsharī says:
Both refer to a manner of action. The initial act and its retaliation are both called “an injury” (sayyiʾah) because they harm the one to whom they are done. So this verse heeds the true meaning of the word and thereby alludes to the fact that it is only proper to return an injury so long as the response is proportional and not excessive.
…but whoever forgives and amends, he shall have his reward from God: This is a wonderful promise from God for those who forgive and make amends. The apparent meaning of “make amends” (iṣlāḥ) is to make amends in what is between him and his Lord. But it is also said that this refers to making amends between himself and the one who wronged him through forgiveness and leniency.
…surely He does not love the unjust. It is said: This explains that God does not ask the wronged party to forgive the wrongdoer because God supports the wrongdoer or because He loves him, but rather to offer the wronged party a great reward thereby. And this is because God loves kindness and magnanimity.
It is also said: This means God does not love the one who is unjust in retribution or other situations by exceeding the proper bounds of what he can do.
While both these interpretations are sound in of themselves, the context of the verse does not support them, especially because the phrase but whoever forgives and amends, he shall have his reward from God interposes between the explanation and its occasion.
The phrase …surely He does not love the unjust could also be to explain the reason for which the recompense of an injury is another injury, without looking at whether this recompense is equal or proportional.
وَلَمَنِ انْتَصَرَ بَعْدَ ظُلْمِهِ فَأُولَٰئِكَ مَا عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ سَبِيلٍ ٤١ إِنَّمَا السَّبِيلُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ يَظْلِمُونَ النَّاسَ وَيَبْغُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ٤٢ وَلَمَنْ صَبَرَ وَغَفَرَ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ ٤٣
(42:41-43) And whoever defends himself after his oppression, these it is against whom there is no way [to blame]. The way [to blame] is only against those who oppress men and revolt in the earth unjustly; these shall have a painful punishment. And whoever is patient and forgiving, these most surely are actions due to courage (ʿazm al-umūr).
“His” in his oppression refers to the wronged party, and it is called his oppression because this is a construct state (iḍāfah) in which a verbal noun (maṣdar) has been added to its object (mafʿūl).
These three verses explain and remove the ambiguity around the previous verse, but whoever forgives and amends, he shall have his reward from God. This is because, upon reading the previous verse, the oppressed might wrongly imagine that this means they have no right to defend themselves. So God explains first of all: And whoever defends himself after his oppression, these it is against whom there is no way—there is no way to blame them, nor is it allowed to deprive them of their right [for redress] in the Divine Law. Here, a singular pronoun (his) is used first because whoever is grammatically singular and a plural (these) is then used because it is plural in meaning.
Secondly, God explains: The way [to blame] is only against those who oppress men and revolt in the earth unjustly ()—the way in its entirety is open for the oppressed to avenge themselves against their oppressors, and God further affirms this with the coda: these shall have a painful punishment.
Thirdly, God explains: And whoever is patient and forgiving, these most surely are actions due to courage (). This shows that His call for patience and forgiveness does not deprive the right of the oppressed to defend themselves; it is merely to guide them to one of the greatest virtues attainable, for it takes great courage to be forgiving and patient. God has placed great emphasis on this by prefixing the lām of oath (lām al-qasam) to the predicate, which is itself the predicate of “surely” (inna), to show His great concern for the meaning of this verse.
وَمَنْ يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ ۗ وَتَرَى الظَّالِمِينَ لَمَّا رَأَوُا الْعَذَابَ يَقُولُونَ هَلْ إِلَىٰ مَرَدٍّ مِنْ سَبِيلٍ ٤٤
(42:44) And whomsoever God makes err (yuḍlil), he has no guardian after Him; and you shall see the unjust, when they see the punishment, saying: Is there any way to return?
Having described the qualities of the faithful, promising them their sustenance which He has set aside for them and foretelling the felicitous destiny to which God has guided them, God now turns to their opposites; the wrongdoers who have no hope of receiving this guidance that will lead them to felicity and who are denied the noble sustenance of the Hereafter. God explains that He has led them astray because of their faithlessness and denial, so that they will not reach the sustenance that is with Him, nor will He gladden them thereby. He says that they have no guardian to protect them besides Him or to give them the sustenance He has withheld from them. The color will drain from their faces when they behold the punishment and they will wish that they could return to this world to act righteously so that they could be like the faithful.
So when God says and whomsoever God makes err…, this is placing the cause—which is God causing them to err and the absence of any other guardian to protect them, guide them or provide for them—in the place of the effect, which is guidance and sustenance.
And when He says …and you shall see the unjust, when they see the punishment, saying: Is there any way to return? This alludes to their desire to return to this world having seen the punishment and despaired of a pleasant fate.
You shall see… is addressed to everyone but directed to the Prophet insofar as he can see. So this means: “You shall see, and everyone who can see will see….” This also alludes to the fact that the unjust shall desire to return to this world in the presence of witnesses.
وَتَرَاهُمْ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا خَاشِعِينَ مِنَ الذُّلِّ يَنْظُرُونَ مِنْ طَرْفٍ خَفِيٍّ ۗ وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّ الْخَاسِرِينَ الَّذِينَ خَسِرُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَأَهْلِيهِمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ۗ أَلَا إِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ فِي عَذَابٍ مُقِيمٍ ٤٥
(42:45) And you shall see them brought before it, humbling themselves because of the abasement, looking with a faint glance. And those who believe shall say: Surely the losers are they who have lost themselves and their followers on the resurrection day. Now surely the iniquitous shall remain in lasting chastisement.
“It” in before it refers to Hellfire based on the context. A faint glance means a weak glance. A person only looks with a faint glance when facing something horrific; they do not want to avert their gaze and lose sight of it, but they do not have the courage to fill their vision with it, as when a condemned prisoner looks at the executioner’s blade. The rest is clear.
And those who believe shall say: Surely the losers are they who have lost themselves and their followers on the resurrection day: By this they mean that those who have truly lost everything are those who have lost themselves because they are denied salvation, and who have lost their followers because they are of no benefit to them on the Resurrection Day.
It is said that their followers (ahlūhum) means their heavenly wives and servants in Paradise who would have been theirs had they only believed. This interpretation is not without merit considering the verses about inheriting Paradise.
This statement will be uttered by the believers on the Day of Resurrection—the past tense is used to signify that it will definitely come to pass—not in this world as some commentators have suggested. There is nothing in this context to suggest that God is quoting the statements of the believers in this world. Nor is this a statement uttered by all of the believers, no matter who they are, but rather it shall be uttered by the perfect believers who have been given leave to speak and speak only what is right on that Day, like Those upon the Heights (aṣḥāb al-aʿrāf) and the witnesses of the deeds. God says:
The day it comes, no one shall speak except by His leave. ()
None shall speak except whom the All-beneficent permits and who says what is right. ()
It is not as some say: That this statement is only attributed to the believers to show their joy at the noble provision they are granted on that Day and at the fact they have been spared loss. Or else everyone who is gathered on that day and speaks will utter these words, just as everyone with sight on that day will see what was described above.
Now surely the iniquitous shall remain in lasting chastisement: This confirms that they shall be punished and that this punishment is everlasting and without end. It is also possible that this is part of what the believers say.
وَمَا كَانَ لَهُمْ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاءَ يَنْصُرُونَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ ۗ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ سَبِيلٍ ٤٦
(42:46) And they never had any guardians to help them besides God; and— whomsoever God makes err, he shall have no way.
God says they never had any guardians rather than they shall have no guardian as He said above to show that how obviously false their claims were of having any guardians in this world and that this was false from the very beginning.
…and whomsoever God makes err, he shall have no way: This can explain the beginning of the verse, and it serves as a general conclusion for everything that has been mentioned about the condition of the unjust and their fate.
It also has a connection to the prior discussion of why God promulgated a religion and the way in which He sent down revelation. This is because it alludes to the fact that there is no way to true happiness except the way which God has laid down for His servants by way of revelation and sending prophets. So whoever strays from His way by disbelieving and denying the way has no way to be guided to a felicitous outcome and be spared punishment and destruction.
اسْتَجِيبُوا لِرَبِّكُمْ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَ يَوْمٌ لَا مَرَدَّ لَهُ مِنَ اللَّهِ ۚ مَا لَكُمْ مِنْ مَلْجَإٍ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَمَا لَكُمْ مِنْ نَكِيرٍ ٤٧
(42:47) Hearken to your Lord before there comes a day from God for which there shall be no averting; you shall have no refuge on that day, nor shall it be yours to make a denial.
Based on its context, this verse is a summons and a warning about the Day of Resurrection mentioned in previous verses. Some say that the day here refers to the day of a person’s death, but this is not sound.
When God says for which there shall be no averting (lā maradda lahu min allāh), the “no” is a categorical negation (la nāfi al-jins); “averting” (maradda) is its subject and “for which” (lahu) is its predicate. This means that there is a day from God which cannot be avoided, meaning it is a fixed decree (muqtaḍī maḥtūm) which God will never repel. This conveys the meaning oft-repeated in God’s words that the Day of Resurrection is a day in which there is no doubt (lā rayba fīh).
Commentators have mentioned other possible grammatical analyses of the sentence from God for which there is no escape, but there is no benefit in mentioning them here.
…you shall have no refuge on that day, nor shall it be yours to make a denial: “A refuge” (maljaʾ) is a place to which one betakes (yaltajiʾ ilayh) for shelter, and “a denial” (nakīr)—according to what has been said—is a verbal noun meaning “to deny”. This renders the meaning: “You have nowhere to hide from God, nor can you deny what you have done because the matter will be clear from every angle.”
فَإِنْ أَعْرَضُوا فَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظًا ۖ إِنْ عَلَيْكَ إِلَّا الْبَلَاغُ ۗ وَإِنَّا إِذَا أَذَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ مِنَّا رَحْمَةً فَرِحَ بِهَا ۖ وَإِنْ تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ فَإِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ كَفُورٌ ٤٨
(42:48) But if they turn aside, We have not sent you as a watcher over them; on you is only to deliver [the message]; and surely when We make man taste mercy from Us, he rejoices thereat; and if an evil afflicts them on account of what their hands have already done, then surely man is most ungrateful.
This turns from addressing them to address the Prophet directly to let him know that his only responsibility is conveying the message and nothing more; God has sent someone to preach His religion, and all he needs to do is convey it. He did not send him to watch their every action. Nor is he responsible for their faith and obedience. So he does not need to prevent them from turning away from him or exhaust himself trying to get them to accept him.
…and surely when We make man taste mercy from Us, he rejoices thereat; and if an evil afflicts them on account of what their hands have already done, then surely man is most ungrateful: Rejoicing at God’s mercy suggests that man becomes so preoccupied with the blessings that he forgets the source of those blessings. “An evil” means a calamity whose occurrence harms them. When God says then surely man is most ungrateful, He could have said “surely he is most ungrateful” but instead mentions “man” again, as mentioning him by name underscores the intended reprimand and condemnation.
The verse conveys a sense of them turning away and being rebuked as human beings who are preoccupied with the world, for man by his nature is an ally of forgetfulness; when he remembers a blessing he has been given, his joy diverts him from remembering God. But when he recalls some evil that befell him on account of what his hands had earned, ingratitude prevents him from remembering Him. So he is ever neglectful of his Lord’s remembrance, whether he be blessed or put to trial. It is almost as if no amount of preaching or exhortation will avail him!
لِلَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ ۚ يَهَبُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ إِنَاثًا وَيَهَبُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ الذُّكُورَ ٤٩
(42:49) God’s is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; He creates what He pleases; He grants to whom He pleases daughters and grants to whom He pleases sons.
This verse and the one that follows it have a connection of sorts with the discussion of sustenance (rizq) above, in that the children mentioned therein are a kind of sustenance.
It is said: They are, in fact, connected with the previous verse. It mentions giving man a taste of mercy and then his being afflicted by hardship, saying that man rejoices at mercy and becomes ungrateful in hardship. So, in both of these verses, God means to say that the kingdom of the heavens and the earth are His and He creates whatever He wishes. So just because someone tastes His mercy and rejoices, he should not let himself be distracted by this, nor should anyone afflicted by evil let himself object ungratefully. Rather to God belongs the Creation and the Command, so the one who receives mercy should give thanks and the one afflicted should return to Him.
However, this interpretation is rendered unlikely by the fact that God does not attribute the evil that befalls man in the previous verse to Himself, but rather to what man’s hands have already done. Therefore it is not appropriate to attribute both situations mentioned in this verse to His will and call on mankind to submit to it.
In any case, when God says God’s is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; He creates what He pleases, this says that all true dominion and authority in the universe is His alone, and that all of Creation depends upon His will—there is nothing that can compel Him to will or create anything.
He grants to whom He pleases daughters (ināth) and grants to whom He pleases sons (al-dhukūr). The opposition between daughters and sons here suggests that this verse means He gives only daughters to whom He pleases and only sons to whom he pleases, and that is why the phrase grants to whom He pleases is repeated for both.
It is said: The reason why sons takes the definite article here is because that is what the listeners desired and had in their minds, especially if they were Arabs.
أَوْ يُزَوِّجُهُمْ ذُكْرَانًا وَإِنَاثًا ۖ وَيَجْعَلُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ عَقِيمًا ۚ إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ قَدِيرٌ ٥٠
(42:50) Or He pairs them, male and female; and He makes whom He pleases barren; surely He is All-Knowing, All-Powerful.
Meaning He makes them of both sorts, as in the Arabic language, “to pair” (tazwīj) means “to combine” (jamʿ).
…and He makes whom He pleases barren… Meaning they neither bear children or father them. Like the first two clauses, this is also directly conditioned upon the Divine Will. As for the clause in which He combines both male and female, in reality He is merely combining the first two clauses, so it is sufficient that He mentions the Divine Will for them both.
…surely He is All-Knowing, All-Powerful: This explains the cause for what He mentioned above, namely that He is All-Knowing—He does not increase anything out of ignorance—and All-Powerful—He does not diminish everything out of impotence.
Examining Narrations
- In al-Durr al-Manthūr, both al-Ḥākim and al-Bayhaqī transmit and authenticate from ʿAlī:
This verse was revealed about the People of the Step (aṣḥāb al-ṣuffah): And if God should expand the provision for His servants they would certainly revolt in the earth. This is because they said: “If only we had…” and then desired this world.
Author’s comments: According to this, the verse would be Medinan, but the narration looks more like an application (taṭbīq) of the verse than the occasion of its revelation (sabab al-nuzūl).
- Tafsīr al-Qummī narrates about the verse And if God should expand the provision for His servants they would certainly revolt in the earth from Imam al-Ṣādiq:
Had he done, they would have done so. But instead he made them need one another and in this way He made them servants. And had He made them needless, they would have rebelled but He sends it down according to a measure as He pleases of that which will set them right in their religion and their worldly affairs. Surely of His servants He is all-aware, all-seeing.
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, it is narrated from Anas, from the Prophet, from Gabriel, from God:
Verily, amongst my servants are those whom only illness benefits, and were I to make them healthy I would ruin them. Verily, amongst my servants are those whom only health benefits, and were I to make them ill I would ruin them. Verily, amongst my servants are those whom only wealth benefits, and were I to make them poor I would ruin them. Verily, amongst my servants are those whom only poverty benefits, and were I to make them wealthy I would ruin them. That is how I look after the affairs my servants because I know their hearts.
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, the author narrates from the Commander of the Faithful:
I heard him say: “I will relate to you a tradition that every Muslim should be aware of.” Then he approached us and said: “God does not punish a believing servant in this world, save that God is too wise, generous and magnificent to punish him again on the Day of Resurrection!” Then he said: “God might try a believer with a trial in his body, his wealth, his children or his family.” Then he recited the verse: And whatever affliction befalls you, it is on account of what your hands have wrought, yet He pardons many [of your faults], and gestured with his hand three times.
- In al-Kāfī, it is related through a chain of narration going back to Hishām b. Sālim from Abū ʿAbd Allāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq], who said:
There is no pain that afflicts a person, nor calamity, nor injury, nor illness except on account of a sin. That is what God means when He says in the Qur’an: And whatever affliction befalls you, it is on account of what your hands have wrought, and [yet] He pardons many [of your faults]. And God forgives more than that for which He punishes.
Author’s comments: And a tradition to this effect has been narrated via another chain from Masmaʿ, from him.
- A similar tradition is narrated in al-Durr al-Manthūr from al-Ḥasan from the Prophet. It says:
When the verse came down, And whatever affliction befalls you, it is on account of what your hands have wrought, and [yet] He pardons many [of your faults], God’s Messenger said: “By He in whose hand is my soul, there is not a scratch, a pain, a calamity or even a tripping of a foot that is not because of a sin. But what God forgives of people’s sins is more!”
- In al-Kāfī, via a chain of narrators going back to ʿAlī b. Riʾāb, he says:
I asked Abū ʿAbd Allāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq] about God’s words: And whatever affliction befalls you, it is on account of what your hands have wrought, and [yet] He pardons many [of your faults]—“Do you mean that what befall ʿAlī and his Household after him was because of what their hands earned, while they are the Household of the pure and infallible ones?”
He responded: “Verily God’s Messenger would seek repent to God and seek His forgiveness a hundred times in every day and night, without having committed any sin. But God distinguishes His awliyāʾ with hardships (maṣāʾib) in order to reward them in return!”
- And in Majmaʿ al-Bayān, it is narrated from ʿAlī from the Prophet:
This is the best verse () in the entire Book of God. O ʿAlī! There is no scratch or trip that occurs except because of a sin. But God is too magnanimous to punish people for what He forgives in this world, and He is too just to punish anyone again for something He has already punished [them for] in this world.
Author’s comments: This is narrated in al-Durr al-Manthūr from a number of traditions from ʿAlī, from the Prophet.
The implication of this narration is that the verse And whatever affliction befalls you… is specifically for the faithful and addressed to them, and this means that all their sins will be forgiven. They will not be punished for them in the barzakh or on the Day of Judgement. This is because the verse says that they will either be punished with an affliction in this world or forgiven for their sins, and the narration says there will be no punishment for sins that have already been punished in this world, nor shall any sins be punished having been forgiven in this world.
The problem with this tradition is, first, as you know the context of the verse indicates it is addressing everyone: the believers and the disbelievers.
Second, the contents of the tradition conflict with other traditions that are numerous enough to reach the level of successive narration in their meaning (al-tawātur al-maʿnawī). These say that the believers will be punished in his grave on in the Hereafter.
Third, this narration also differs from the meaning of numerous verses stating that the Hereafter is the place where deeds shall be recompensed. For example, God says: Were God to take mankind to task for their wrongdoing, He would not leave any living being upon it. But He respites them until a specified time, so when their time comes they shall not defer it by a single hour nor shall they advance it (). And there are other verses that indicate every wrongdoing and sin will be punished, and that this punishment will take place after death and on the Day of Judgement, save for those which have been forgiven through repentance, effaced through good deeds, or removed through intercession in the Hereafter. Or something along these lines.
But as we have already seen, the verse under discussion—And whatever affliction befalls you, it is on account of what your hands have wrought, and [yet] He pardons many [of your faults]—does not clearly state that these afflictions are a recompense for people’s deeds or that forgiveness here means that the recompense for these deeds has been removed. Rather it means that a person is sometimes spared the worldly effect of an evil deed, and other times they are not.
So if we are to accept this narration, we must understand it to be an encouragement for people to hold a good opinion of God (ḥusn al-ẓann bi Allāh).
- And it has been narrated in Majmaʿ al-Bayān, about the phrase their rule is to take counsel among themselves, that the Prophet said:
Never did a man seek the counsel of another save that he was guided aright.
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, in a narration from Abū Jārūd from Abū Jaʿfar [Imām al-Bāqir]:
He grants to whom He pleases daughters—meaning without any sons—and grants to whom He pleases sons—meaning without any daughters—Or He makes them of both sorts, male and female—meaning He gives whoever He pleases sons and daughters together; that is, he combines boys and girls by giving them both to one person.
- In Tahdhīb, it is related from ʿAlī:
A man came to the Prophet, and said: “O Messenger of God, my father wanted a slave of mine, so he set him free in a way that was harmful to me.”
God’s Messenger replied: “You and your property are God’s gift to your father, for you are like an arrow in his quiver; He grants to whom He pleases daughters and grants to whom He pleases sons. Or He makes them of both sorts, male and female; and He makes whom He pleases barren. He is permitted to manumit your slave, for your father may make use of your person and your property, but you may not make any use of his person or property without his permission!”
Author’s comments: This idea is also narrated from Imam al-Riḍā, in response to the questions of Muḥammad b. Sinān in ʿIlal al-Sharāʾiʿ, and also by Sunni authorities from ʿĀʾishah, from the Prophet.
That is, they do not merely negate their opposites from God, but mean something in their own right. [Trans.] ↩︎
This is because muṣībah comes from iṣābah, which means to strike (as with an arrow). [Trans.] ↩︎
In both of these cases: the speaker refers to ships but means the people aboard them, just as one might refer to a town but mean its inhabitants. [Trans.] ↩︎
Just as know (yaʿlama) is in the accusative case in the present verse. [Trans.] ↩︎
Meaning “What is with God for those who believe is better and more lasting.” [Trans.] ↩︎
Meaning it is “better and more lasting for those who believe.” [Trans.] ↩︎
The author narrates this from his father, from Ibn Abī ʿUmayr, from Manṣūr b. Yūnus, from Abū Ḥamzah, from al-Aṣbagh b. Nabātah, from the Commander of the Faithful. ↩︎
It is related via a chain of narration going back to Ḥusayn b. ʿAlawān, from Zayd b. ʿAlī, from his forefathers, from ʿAlī. ↩︎