And when Our verses are recited to them
وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُنَا
The Qur'an
Clear
بَيِّنَاتٍ
clear in the language of our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)
They will say
قَالُوا
In this conditional sentence, which is
If
إذا
the condition,
Recited
تتلى
its answer is
They said, “This is nothing but a man”
قَالُوا مَا هَذَا إِلَّا رَجُلٌ
and His saying:
This is nothing but a man
ما هذا إلا رجل
This
not
ما
is the negation. Why did it not function here? Because the negation was negated. Ibn Malik said in his Alfiyyah:
“With the negation remaining, it is not employed; I did not employ ma below in with the negation remaining” So if the negation is negated, it has no grammatical effect, and Allah knows best.
“For those who wronged”But today you do not hold for one another [the power of] benefit or harm, and We will say
فَالْيَوْمَ لا يَمْلِكُ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ نَفْعًا وَلا ضَرًّا وَنَقُولُ [Saba 34:42]
But He said:
“And We say to those who wronged” The explicit mention in place of the implied pronoun, as we mentioned, has a permanent, continuous benefit, which is alerting, and a specific benefit in each context according to its circumstances. Here, the intent is generalization, meaning for those who wronged among these people and others, and pointing to the cause of the ruling, which is His saying:
and We will say to those who wronged, "Taste the punishment of the Fire, which you used to deny."
ونقول لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا ذُوقُوا عَذَابَ النَّارِ الَّتِي كُنتُمْ بِهَا تُكَذِّبُونَ [Saba 34:42]
What comes after? And the generalization and pointing to the operative cause of the ruling, which is injustice. Because if they had said, “And We say to them,” we would not have benefited from knowing that the reason for Allah’s saying to them and His rebuking them is injustice. Good.
He said:
And when Our verses are recited to them as clear evidences
وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُنَا بَيِّنَاتٍ [Yunus 10:15]
We begin with the grammatical analysis first. His saying:
Our clear verses
آياتنا بينات
These are clear, is a state (hal) from
Our verses
آياتنا
because it is a description after a definite noun. A description after a definite noun, if it is indefinite, becomes a state (hal), and likewise if it is a sentence. Descriptions after definite nouns, if they are indefinite or a sentence, become a state (hal), and descriptions after a definite noun, if they are definite, become an attribute (na't). Both the state (hal) and the attribute (na't) are descriptions, but if it agrees with its antecedent in definiteness or indefiniteness, it is an attribute; otherwise, if the antecedent is definite and the second is indefinite or a sentence, it is a state (hal). And His saying:
They said, “What is this
قَالُوا مَا هَذَا
This is the answer to the condition, to the end. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says:
When Our verses are recited to them
إذا تتلي عليهم آياتنا
Enter the class. When the verses of Allah are recited to them
Clear
بينات
Meaning, manifest. What is their manifestation here? Is their manifestation in the sense that they are clear that they are the speech of Allah due to their inability to produce the like of them, or clear in what they indicate of noble meanings that humans cannot produce the like of, or both? It includes both. So it is clear in itself, clear that it is not from the speech of humans, and it is clear in its subject matter and what it indicates, that it is not from the judgments of humans, because it does not contradict itself and its parts do not lie to one another. And this indicates that it is from Allah. If these verses had been hidden, they would have had some excuse in rejecting them, but they are, yes, clear verses, and they have no excuse in rejecting them. And with this, Allah the Mighty and Majestic says:
they say, "This is not but a man who wishes to avert you
قالوا ما هذا إِلَّا رَجُلٌ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَصُدَّكُمْ [Saba 34:43]
The author says in its exegesis: “Clear in the language of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him),
This is not but a man who wishes to avert you from that which your fathers were worshipping.
قالوا ما هذا إِلَّا رَجُلٌ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَصُدَّكُمْ عَمَّا كَانَ يَعْبُدُ آبَاؤُكُمْ [Saba 34:43]
What is this?
ما هذا
Meaning, the one who brought them and claimed that they are from Allah
a man who wishes to avert you
إلا رجل يريد أن يصدكم [Saba 34:43]
And look at how this sentence carries contempt and denial, which is well known. Their saying:
What is this?
ما هذا
They brought it in the form of the present tense, although he is absent, for contempt. And their saying:
But a man
إلا رجل
This is for denial, because they brought it in the form of an indefinite noun, as if they do not know him, as if he is a stranger to them.
And they did not say, “What that man is but a man,” but they said:
This is nothing but a man
ما هذا إلا رجل
In contempt and denial
who wishes to avert you from that which your fathers were worshipping
يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَصُدَّكُمْ عَمَّا كَانَ يَعْبُدُ آبَاؤُكُمْ [Saba 34:43]
Meaning, he does not want to guide you to the path of success, but rather
who wishes to avert you
يريد أن يصدكم [Saba 34:43]
to turn you away and prevent you from what your fathers used to worship. And what did their fathers worship? Idols from trees, stones, and others. This is the purpose of this man who brought these verses that were recited to them, and his purpose is not reform or improvement. Thus they responded to this false claim. And His saying:
that which your fathers were worshipping
عما كان يعبد آباؤكم [Saba 34:43]
If they had said, “From what you used to worship,” it could have been said that they worshipped without a basis. But when they said:
It is as if this worship of these idols is an established matter that the fathers were upon, and you should not leave the religion of your fathers. For this reason, they say, as Allah related from them in other verses:
Indeed, we found our fathers upon a religion, and we are in their footsteps [rightly] guided."
إِنَّا وَجَدْنَا آبَاءَنَا عَلَى أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَى آثَارِهِمْ مُهْتَدُونَ
[Al-Zukhruf: 22] Or
following
مقتدون
Two verses
that which your fathers were worshipping
عما كان يعبد آباؤكم [Saba 34:43]
Of the idols. And the meaning of “fathers” here includes the direct fathers, the lower descendants, and the higher ancestors, or the highest, who are the grandfathers, however high up. And His saying:
your fathers
آباؤكم
Are their mothers also like that? Yes, but a person is stirred up by loyalty to his father more than to his mother, because it is known that the father is a man, and a man is more rational than a woman. So if your fathers worshipped these idols and insisted on their worship, and they are the rational ones, then it is not fitting for you to follow this man who wanted to turn you away from what your fathers used to worship. And they said in the Qur'an:
This is nothing but a lie
مَا هَذَا إِلَّا إِفْكٌ
A lie
a fabrication
مُفْتَرًى
Against Allah. I seek refuge in Allah. And they attacked the Messenger and attacked the Qur'an. They attacked the Messenger in the sense of his bad intention, that he does not intend reform, but rather wants to turn you away from what your fathers used to worship. And they attacked the revelation that this Messenger brought, and they said:
This is nothing but a lie, a fabrication
مَا هَذَا إِلَّا إِفْكٌ مُفْتَرًى
And you know that this form is restriction. So according to their claim, there is nothing in the Qur'an that is true. The entire Qur'an, in summary and detail, is a lie, a fabrication.
a lie
إفك
Meaning, a lie, and in itself a lie. And against whom? A fabrication against Allah. Because there is absolute lying that a person lies and does not attribute it to anyone, and here there is lying that a person fabricates against another. So they say the Qur'an is a lie and a fabrication against Allah. And there is no doubt that this is a false claim. So the Qur'an, as Allah described it:
And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice
وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقًا وَعَدْلًا
[Al-An'am: 115] And likewise, the Qur'an is from Allah the Mighty and Majestic, evidenced by the fact that Allah the Mighty and Majestic challenged these people to bring the like of it, and they did not bring it. And this is proof that it is from Allah, and all its reports are truth and reality, contrary to what these people attacked it with.
And they said, "This is nothing but a lie, a fabrication"
وقالوا ما هذا إلا إفك مفترى
So they attacked the Messenger and attacked what he was sent with, and attacking both is an attack on Allah the Mighty and Majestic. How? Because Allah’s enabling of this Messenger and supporting him and sending down verses upon him, while he is a liar, is wisdom or foolishness. It is foolishness, and Allah the Mighty and Majestic supports His Messenger with what He sends down to him and lists for him that it is truth. And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) calls people openly and secretly. So if he were a liar against Allah the Mighty and Majestic, and Allah supports him and enables him, then Allah’s enabling of him would be the utmost of foolishness, and this is an attack on Allah the Mighty and Majestic.
And those who disbelieve say of the truth when it has come to them, "This is not but obvious magic."
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِلْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ إِنْ هَذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ [Saba 34:43]
This is also a third false claim, but he came with the explicit mention in place of the implied pronoun, so he said, he did not say “and they said,” but rather: