Verses 14–22
The verses in this section mention a group of the hypocrites who had befriended the Jews while they (the Jews) opposed God and His Messenger. Thus these verses reproach the hypocrites for that deed and severely threaten them with punishment and wretchedness. These verses then authoritatively assert at the end that faith in God and the last day prevents a person from befriending whoever opposes God and His Messenger; whosoever that maybe. It also praises the believers who disavow the enemies of God and promises them constant faith, a spirit from God, paradise, and (God’s) satisfaction.
Commentary
أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ تَوَلَّوْا قَوْمًا غَضِبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مَا هُمْ مِنْكُمْ وَلَا مِنْهُمْ وَيَحْلِفُونَ عَلَى الْكَذِبِ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ ١٤
(58:14) Have you not seen those who befriend and take as allies a people with whom Allah is angry? They are neither of you nor of them, and they swear falsely while they know.
The phrase in this verse which mentions ‘a people with whom God is angry’ (qawman ghaḍiba allāhu ʿalayhim) is a reference to the Jews. God says ... (Worse is he) whom Allah has cursed and is angry with, and of whom He made apes and swine, and he who served Satan... (). This is while the pronoun hum (they) (in They are neither of you) refers to the hypocrites, while the pronoun hum (them) (in ...nor of them) refers to the Jews. Thus the meaning of this verse is that: “These hypocrites (who have befriended and taken as allies a people with whom God is angry, and these are the Jews), due to their wavering nature between belief and disbelief (a core characteristic of hypocrisy), are not from you (that is, from the believers) and nor are they from the Jews. God says (describing the hypocrites): Wavering between that (and this), (belonging) neither to these nor to those; and whomsoever Allah causes to err, you shall not find a way for him ().”
But this is the characteristic of the hypocrites on the basis of their apparent state, however on the basis of reality they are joined to those whom they have befriended and taken as allies. God says O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people (). Thus there is no contradiction between the verse ...They are neither of you nor of them... and ...then surely he is one of them... ().
Some have held that the masculine third person plural personal pronoun hum (they) (in mā hum minkum—They are neither of you) refers to ‘the people with whom God is angry’ (qawman ghaḍiba allāhu ʿalayhim) and these are the Jews while the masculine third person plural pronominal suffix hum (them) (adjoined to the preposition min in wa lā minhum—nor of them) refers to the relative noun alladhīna (those who [befriend and take as allies]), and these are the hypocrites. Thus in such a case, the meaning obtained would be: ‘have you not seen the hypocrites who have befriended the Jews and taken them as allies? The Jews are not from you for you are believers and nor are they from the hypocrites themselves, rather they are different from both the parties and not of them.’ In this description there is a kind of blame but it (the interpretation) is far from valid.
This verse then ends with the statement ...and they swear falsely while they know meaning the hypocrites swear falsely to you that they are from you, (meaning that they are) believers like you while they know that they are lying in their oath.
أَعَدَّ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا ۖ إِنَّهُمْ سَاءَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ ١٥
(58:15) Allah has prepared for them a severe punishment; surely what they have been doing is evil.
The word al-iʿidād that occurs in this verse means ‘preparation’ while the part of this verse that says ...surely what they have been doing is evil occurs as a justificatory explanation (al-taʿlīl) for what God has prepared for them of punishment. This is while the part of this verse that says ...what they have been doing... (mā kānū yaʿmalūn) is evidence that they were continuous in their deed, being incessant in it. Consequently, the meaning obtained for this verse is that: ‘God has prepared a severe punishment for them due to their incessant, continuous engagement with their evil deed.’
اتَّخَذُوا أَيْمَانَهُمْ جُنَّةً فَصَدُّوا عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ ١٦
(58:16) They make their oaths to serve as a cover and they turn (people) away from Allah’s path; therefore they shall have an abasing chastisement.
The word aymān in this verse is the plural of yamīn which means ‘oath’, while the word junna means ‘a cover by which harm and injury are avoided such as a shield.’ The word muhīn (which occurs as an adjective for the noun ʿadhāb, qualifying it) is in the form of an active participle and derived from the verbal noun al-ihāna, meaning ‘humiliation, debasement, and dishonor.’ Hence, the meaning obtained for this verse is: ‘the hypocrites take their oaths as a cover, intending to rebut by it any accusation and suspicion from themselves whenever something surfaces from their part which startles the believers and fills them with doubt, suspicion, and misgiving. Thus they keep themselves away from the path of God, which is Islam, as well as turn the believers away from it too! For that, theirs will be a humiliating and disgraceful punishment.’
لَنْ تُغْنِيَ عَنْهُمْ أَمْوَالُهُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُهُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيْئًا ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ١٧
(58:17) Neither will their wealth nor will their children prove of help to them against Allah; those are the inmates of the fire, wherein they shall abide.
The meaning of this verse is: “The thing which calls them to their misdeeds is the enjoyment of the life of this world, which is wealth and children. However they will need to save themselves from God’s everlasting punishment, which none other than God can accomplish for them. Thus they are in need of Him while neither their wealth nor their children can avail them against Him, therefore (the message is): let them all believe in Him and worship Him.”
يَوْمَ يَبْعَثُهُمُ اللَّهُ جَمِيعًا فَيَحْلِفُونَ لَهُ كَمَا يَحْلِفُونَ لَكُمْ ۖ وَيَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ ۚ أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْكَاذِبُونَ ١٨
(58:18) On the Day when Allah shall raise them all up, they shall swear to Him just as they swear to you. They think they have something (to stand on), but hearken! They are surely liars.
This verse refers to a specific point in time (ẓarf al-zamān) concerning what has been previously stated in Allah has prepared for them a severe punishment... () or in ...those are the inmates of the fire... (). The phrase they shall swear to Him just as they swear to you means that the hypocrites will swear to God on the Day of Resurrection in the same manner they swear to you in the worldly life.
We have already explained in the commentary of the verse, Then their excuse would be nothing but that they would say: By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists () that their false swearing on the day of resurrection, despite the manifestation of the realities of things on that day, would be from the manifestation of their character traits there due to the traits being deeply embedded in their souls while in the world. Thus they had become accustomed to them; that is, to the manifestation of falsehood over truth by means of false oaths. Consequently, just as they live, so shall they die, and just as they die, so shall they be resurrected.
Similar in nature would be such occurrences as their request to be returned to the world on that day, their request to be allowed to exit the fire, their disputes and arguments in the fire, and other such things which the noble Qur’an narrates despite them witnessing with their very own eyes that there was no way such demands would be met on that day; for that day would be that of requital and not that of action.
The statement, ...They think they have something (to stand on)... means (they think) they are firmly established and consolidated on something regarding which it is appropriate to be firm and consolidated on, and thus it is possible for them to hide the truth and to prevent their falsehood from manifesting by means of negation and false oaths. It is possible that this statement may be qualifying the part of this verse that says ...just as they swear to you... in which case it may be indicating their description in this world which is that they reckon that their (false) oaths to you all (in this world) benefits them and satisfies (and fools) you all, in which case the part of this verse that says ...but hearken! They are surely liars is a judgement from God regarding them in that they are lying, and consequently He shall not pay any attention to whatever nonsense they utter and nor would He care for what they will be swearing by.
Alternatively, it is possible it may be qualifying the part of this verse that says On the Day when Allah shall raise them all up, they shall swear to Him... in which case it would be from the perspective of the manifestation of their character traits on that day (the day of resurrection) just as was described in the context of their swearing here-to-before. In this case then, the statement ...but hearken! They are surely liars... serves as a judgement from God regarding their lying on the day of resurrection or regarding their lying in an absolute sense.
اسْتَحْوَذَ عَلَيْهِمُ الشَّيْطَانُ فَأَنْسَاهُمْ ذِكْرَ اللَّهِ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ حِزْبُ الشَّيْطَانِ ۚ أَلَا إِنَّ حِزْبَ الشَّيْطَانِ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ ١٩
(58:19) Satan has overcome and overwhelmed them and has therefore made them forget Allah’s remembrance. Those are the party of the Satan. Hearken! The party of the Satan are surely the losers.
The word al-istiḥwādh which occurs in this verse means ‘to take possession of something, to take over, to seize and appropriate something, and to overcome and overwhelm something thereby gaining dominance and triumph over it.’ The rest of the verse is clear.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحَادُّونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ أُولَٰئِكَ فِي الْأَذَلِّينَ ٢٠
(58:20) Truly those who oppose Allah and His Messenger will be among the abased and humiliated ones.
This verse explains and justifies (al-taʿlīl) the state of the opponents of God and His Messenger as being the losers. It explains that they will be losers because they oppose God and His Messenger by means of opposition and resistance while the opponents of God and His Messenger are from the totality of the humiliated and abased ones of God’s creation.
It is (also) suggested that the opponents of God will be from the abased and humiliated ones because humiliation of one of the parties to a quarrel or dispute depends upon the measure of glory, honor, power, and might of the other, and when glory, honor, might, and power belong to God in their totality there then does not remain for the one who opposes God save pure and unadulterated abasement and humiliation!
كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَأَغْلِبَنَّ أَنَا وَرُسُلِي ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ ٢١
(58:21) Allah has decreed, ‘I shall surely prevail, I and My messengers!’ Truly Allah is Strong, Mighty.
The word al-kitāba (which occurs in this verse in relation to God) means ‘the decree and judgment of God.’ The apparent meaning of the word al-ghalaba (to prevail, to triumph) in this verse means ‘to prevail and triumph from the perspective of proof and evidence (al-ḥujja), from the perspective of hidden (divine) support and favor (al-taʿyīd al-ghaybiyy), and from the perspective of the nature and quality of faith (ṭabīʿatu al-īmān) in God and His Messenger.’
As for the meaning of prevailing and triumph (al-ghalaba) from the perspective of proof and evidence (al-ḥujja), this means that the human being has been created in such a manner that he is able to recognize and appreciate the truth and to submit to it. Hence, if the truth is made clear and evident to him, from the path which he is accustomed to, then he does not tarry long before he apprehends it. When he apprehends it, his nature acknowledges and admits to it, and his conscience surrenders and submits to it even if he does not surrender to it in fact and indeed, which may be due to him following his whims and desires or due to whatever obstacle prevents him from such an acknowledgement and surrender.
As for the meaning of prevailing and triumph (al-ghalaba) from the perspective of hidden (divine) support and favor (al-taʿyīd al-ghaybiyy), and from the perspective of the judgment in favor of truth over falsehood then what suffices in this regard are the various kinds of divine punishments which God sent onto the deniers and beliers from the past nations such as the people of Noah, Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, Lot, Shuʿayb, Pharaoh’s cohorts and others, indicated by God in the verse Then We sent Our messengers in succession. Whenever there came unto a community its messenger, they would deny him. So We caused them to follow one another, and made them the objects of stories. So away with a people who believe not! (). The divine modus-operandi was established on this norm and God’s speech summarizes this as follows For every community there is a messenger, and when their messenger comes, judgment shall be rendered between them with justice, and they will not be wronged ().
As for the meaning of prevailing and triumph from the perspective of the nature and quality of faith (ṭabīʿatu al-īmān) in God and His Messenger then the faith of the believer calls him to defend, support, and protect the truth and to resist against falsehood in an absolute manner. Such a person is of the opinion that if he kills he is successful and if he is killed he is successful too. Consequently, his resolve and determination to defend the truth are unconditional and unlimited; they are steadfast and unflinching. This is in contrast to the one who defends something, not because it is the truth but rather because of one or the other worldly aims and purposes. Therefore, he defends for the sake of his self. Consequently, if he sees himself on the brink of destruction and harm or sees himself advancing towards risk, he turns away defeated and vanquished because he is defending conditionally and only up to a limit, which is the safety of his self and the absence of exposing his self to destruction. Necessarily, an absolute, unconditional, and unlimited determination and resolve will prevail and triumph over a conditional and limited determination and resolve which is subject to limitation.
An example of that is the battles of the Messenger of God, which brought him victory and triumph when in fact the battles were a competition and a rivalry (between him and his adversaries, where these battles had their fair share of ups and downs for the Muslims), however in the end this rivalry only ended with the success of the Muslims and their triumph over their opponents. The Islamic conquests did not come to a halt and nor did the unity of the Muslims scatter and fragment hither and thither but for the corruption of their intentions, the replacement of a God-conscious lifestyle and sincerity for God for their contraries, and giving preference to the extension of power and the expansion of kingdom to that of true faith That is because Allah never changes a blessing by which He blesses a people until they change what is in themselves, and because Allah is Hearing, Knowing (). God had laid a condition on the Muslims when He perfected their religion and made them secure from their enemies, which was that they should fear Him: This day those who disbelieve have despaired of your religion. So fear them not, but fear Me! (). And the following verse suffices to reiterate this triumph and victory in what God addresses the believers: Do not falter and do not grieve for you will be ascendant if you are believers ().
لَا تَجِدُ قَوْمًا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ يُوَادُّونَ مَنْ حَادَّ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَلَوْ كَانُوا آبَاءَهُمْ أَوْ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ أَوْ إِخْوَانَهُمْ أَوْ عَشِيرَتَهُمْ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ كَتَبَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الْإِيمَانَ وَأَيَّدَهُمْ بِرُوحٍ مِنْهُ ۖ وَيُدْخِلُهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ حِزْبُ اللَّهِ ۚ أَلَا إِنَّ حِزْبَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ ٢٢
(58:22) You shall not find a people who believe in Allah and the last day loving/befriending whoever opposes Allah and His Messenger even if they were their fathers or sons or brothers or tribesmen/kinsmen. Those are the ones in whose hearts He has inscribed faith and has strengthened them with a spirit from Himself. He shall make them enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they shall abide forever, Allah being satisfied with them and they being satisfied with Him. Those are the (members of the) party of Allah. Hearken! The (members of the) party of Allah are undoubtedly prosperous.
The negation in this verse of finding a people such as those described therein means that true and sincere faith in God and the last day do not come together with love and friendship for those who stubbornly oppose (God and His Messenger) and are inimical (to them) from among the disbelievers. This is even if such causes of love and affection such as the bond of parenthood, the bond of offspring, the bond of brotherhood, or any of the different kinds of relationships and bonds were to be associated with them. This is because faith (in God and in His Messenger) and love for the opponents and enemies (of God and His Messengers) are antithetical to each other and do not come together (in one heart).
It is patently clear that the part of this verse that says ...even if they were their fathers or sons or brothers or tribesmen/kinsmen.... is an indication of the causes or reasons of love and friendship in an absolute sense while the verse specifies the love of kinship, by mentioning it (specifically), because it is the strongest cause or reason of love from the perspective of firmness and constancy.
The part of this verse which says ...Those are the ones in whose hearts He has inscribed faith... refers to the people who believe in God and the last day and who refuse to befriend/love God and His Prophet’s opponents irrespective of close kinship ties, while the noun al-kitāba (a reference to the part of this verse which says ulāʾika kataba fī qulūbihim al-īmān—Those are the ones in whose hearts He has inscribed (kataba) faith ...) denotes ‘establishment, sustainment, and confirmation (of the faith) such that it does not change, alter or disappear.’ This is while the subject of (or the subject pronoun inherent to) the (masculine third person singular past tense) verb kataba (which is ‘He’ in ...He has inscribed (kataba) faith) is God. Thus this is an explicit attestation that the people described are true believers.
The word al-taʾyīd that occurs in the part of this verse which says ...and has strengthened them with a spirit from Himself... means ‘to strengthen and fortify’ while the subject of (or the pronoun inherent to) the masculine third person singular past tense verb ayyada in ayyadahum refers to God, and the same is true for the pronominal suffix hu appended to the preposition min in minhu. The preposition min is identified here as min al-ibtidāʾiyya. Hence, the meaning is: ‘God has strengthened them with a spirit from Himself.’ It is also suggested that the pronominal suffix hu appended to the preposition min refers to faith in which case the meaning of this part of the verse is that: ‘God has strengthened them with a spirit from the category of faith.’ He enlivens their hearts by it, and such an interpretation is fine too.
It is also suggested that the ‘spirit’ in this verse refers to Gabriel just as it is suggested to refer to the Qur’an. It is also suggested to mean ‘proof’ and ‘evidence’. However all these meanings are weak and have no evidence to substantiate them from the literal perspective.
And then the ‘spirit’, on the basis of what comes to mind of its meaning, is the origin of life from which exudes power and consciousness. Thus to uphold the apparent connotation of the part of this verse that says ...and has strengthened them with a spirit from Himself... means that the believers possess another spirit, one in addition to the human spirit which a believer shares with a disbeliever. This is the spirit which exudes onto the believers another life and is accompanied by a new power and consciousness. It is to this that the following verse points Is he who was dead then We raised him to life and made for him a light by which he walks among the people, like him whose likeness is that of one in utter darkness whence he cannot come forth ()? As well as the verse Whoever works righteousness whether male or female and is a believer, We will most certainly make him live a good life (). What the verse () mentions of a good life means the accompaniment of the goodness of its effect, which is power and consciousness, which are the concomitants or the consequences of righteous deeds. These two (power and consciousness) are expressed as light in () cited above, and similar to it is the verse O you who believe, be conscious of (your duty to) Allah and believe in His Messenger, and He will give you two portions of His mercy, and make for you a light with which you will walk, and forgive you, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful ().
This is a special, noble life. It has special effects which necessarily lead to the eternal happiness of mankind, and is in addition to the life shared between a believer and disbeliever, which in turn has shared effects. The former life has a special origin, which is the spirit of faith which the verse mentions, and is in addition to the spirit shared between the believer and disbeliever. Therefore, there is no reason for what they (the other exegetes) have mentioned such as: that the meaning of spirit is the light of the heart which is the light of knowledge by which tranquillity is obtained and that it (knowledge) was named spirit from the perspective of metonymy/synecdoche because it is the cause of an everlasting good life, or that it (knowledge) was named spirit from the perspective of allegory because its necessary consequence is the different kinds of knowledge which flow over the heart—and knowledge is the life of the heart just as ignorance is its death—and so it (knowledge) resembles the life-giving spirit (where all such meanings or interpretations for the spirit are denied).
The phrase ...He shall make them enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they shall abide forever.... is a beautiful promise to them (the believers) and a description of their blissful hereafterly life while the part of this verse that says ...Allah being satisfied with them and they being satisfied with Him... serves as a continuation of the previous statement and occurs as a justificatory explanation (al-taʿlīl) for it. God’s satisfaction with them means His mercy for them because they rendered their faith sincere for Him while their satisfaction with Him and their joy and delight is due to what He had blessed them with of a good life and paradise.
The statement ...Those are the (members of the) party of Allah. Hearken! The (members of the) party of Allah are undoubtedly prosperous occurs as an honorable accolade for these sincere ones in their faith in that they are of the party of God (ḥizbullāh) just as those hypocrites who befriend and love the enemies of God are of the party of Satan (ḥizb al-shayṭān). The former are prosperous just as the latter are losers. The end part of this verse which says ...Hearken! The party of Allah are... is in the form of placing the apparent in place of the pronoun so that the speech may perform the task of a proverb.
Examining Narrations
- Majmaʿ al-bayān with respect to Allah has decreed, ‘I shall surely prevail, I and My messengers!’ Truly Allah is Strong, Mighty (). It is narrated that the Muslims, on seeing how God was granting them success and victory in conquering the towns, said the following: ‘God will most surely allow us to conquer Byzantine and Persia’ whereupon the hypocrites retorted: ‘Do you think that Persia and Byzantine are like some of the towns which you have conquered?’ At that, God revealed this verse.
Author’s comment: It is clear that the report above is in the manner of the application of the verse’s meaning (taṭbīq al-āya) to the event narrated in it. Examples of such reports are abundant such as, for example, it is transmitted with regards to the verse You shall not find a people who believe in Allah and the last day loving/befriending whoever opposes Allah and His Messenger even if they were their fathers or sons or brothers or tribesmen () that it was revealed regarding Abū ʿUbayda ibn al-Jarrāḥ who killed his father in the battle of Badr, or as is transmitted in another report that this verse was revealed in respect of Abū Bakr. The Prophet was insulted in his presence whereupon Abū Bakr struck the offender who fell to the ground and this verse descended, or as in the case of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Thābit ibn Qays ibn al-Sham(m)ās who sought the Prophet’s permission to visit his maternal uncle and was granted it. When he was about to set off, the Prophet recited this verse to him and to those around him. Finally, these verses do not agree with these reports in terms of an apparent or manifest connection.
- Al-Barrāʾ ibn ʿĀzib narrates: ‘The Messenger of God said: “The most reliable handle of faith is to love for the sake of God and to hate for the sake of God.”’
- Abū ʿAbdillāh (al-Ṣādiq): ‘There are two ears for every believer’s heart, which are located inside him. An ear into which the doubt causing Satan spits or blows, and an ear into which the angel blows. Thus God aids and strengthens the believer by means of the angel and that is the meaning of His speech ...He ... has strengthened them with a spirit from Himself... ().
Author’s comment: The report’s meaning is not to interpret the rūḥ (spirit) with the angel; rather the angel accompanies the rūḥ (spirit) and works with it. God says He sends down the angels with the spirit which is from His command… ().
- Abū Jaʿfar (al-Bāqir) regarding the Prophetic utterance: ‘When a man commits adultery the spirit of faith abandons him’. He (the Imām) said: ‘That is with regards to His speech ...He ... has strengthened them with a spirit from Himself... (). That is the spirit which abandons him’.
- Abū Khadīja said: ‘I once visited Abū al-Ḥasan who told me: “God has aided and strengthened the believer with a spirit. It is present with him every time he does a good deed and is God-conscious while it disappears from him every time he sins and violates (God’s teachings). Thus it is present with him, elated and trembling with joy when he does good while it sinks into the earth (in dismay) when he does evil. So take care and look after your blessings, O servants of God, by reforming your souls, (and) you shall increase in certainty and shall win a precious and costly thing. May God have mercy on a man who intends to do good and carries it out or intends to do evil but refrains from it.” Then he said: “We aid and strengthen the spirit by means of obedience to God and working for Him.”’
Author’s comment: It has become clear from the foregoing, in the context of the verse () that this spirit is from the categories of the human spirit, which a believer obtains when he perfects his faith. It does not leave him just as the vegetable, animal, and human spirits shared between the believer and the disbeliever are from the categories of his spirit, which do not leave him. Nevertheless, it produces a beautiful form in the soul which perhaps fades or vanishes when it confronts an evil form which is its opposite. Thereafter it returns when the antithetical obstacles fade till it settles, stabilizes, and takes root, and the soul is molded and fashioned by it which is when it endures and abides and does not change or alter. From this it becomes apparent that the meaning of the Imām’s statement ‘… (the spirit) is present with him…’ and his statement ‘…it is with him…’ means the presence of its form; the presence of its form which is capable of fading and vanishing, while the meaning of the Imām’s statement ‘…it sinks into the earth….’ means the fading of its form from the perspective of a figure of speech. Similar is the statement of the Messenger of God in the previous report where it says ‘…the spirit of faith abandons him…’
Translator’s note: Since refers to their apparent state while refers to their real state. ↩︎
See Eng. vol. 13. (Ed.) ↩︎
The preposition min means ‘from’. When this preposition is identified as min al-ibtidāʾiyya it means the preposition is used to suggest a starting point from which something ensues. It could mean a starting point for or in terms of something ensuing from: a place (); a point in time (); a person/being (); and a state/condition to another (). Here, it has the third of the four meanings enunciated, that is, the meaning of the spirit being from or ensuing from God. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of al-Ṭayālisī and Ibn Abī Shayba from him. ↩︎
Al-Kāfī, by means of the compiler’s chain of transmission terminating at Abān ibn Taghlib from him. ↩︎
Al-Kāfī, by means of the compiler’s chain of transmission terminating at Ibn Bukayr who asked the Imām about the relevant Prophetic utterance. ↩︎
Al-Kāfī, by means of the compiler’s chain of transmission terminating at Muḥammad ibn Sinān from him. ↩︎