Explanation of the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): And Allah decrees with abundant gifts *** for me and for him in the ranks of the Hereafter
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh :"And Allah decrees with abundant gifts *** for me and for him in the ranks of the Hereafter"
"Decrees" means: He rules, for the word "decree" can mean "ruling." The sentence here is declarative in form but imperative in meaning, because the intended meaning is supplication; that is, I ask Allah to decree with abundant gifts. "Gifts" is the plural of "gift," meaning a bestowal or grant, and "abundant" means plentiful.
And regarding his saying: "with abundant gifts", one might ask: Why did he describe "gifts," which is a plural, with "abundant," which is singular? The answer to this is that when the plural is for inanimate things, it is permissible to describe it with a singular adjective. Yes, it is permissible to describe it with a singular adjective. This is common with the plural of many, but rare with the plural of few. "Gifts" is a plural of few, because the sound plural of a masculine or feminine noun is considered a plural of few. The broken plural of few has specific patterns, and the plural of many has specific patterns. The patterns for the plural of few are four: Ibn Malik said about them:
"Af'alah, Af'ul, then Fi'lah, then Af'al: four are the plurals of few"
Just as 'Abdullah, good. So the plurals of few are the sound plurals, like "Muslims" and "Muslim women," and the second type is the broken plurals indicating few. Good.
"for me and for him in the ranks of the Hereafter" "For me and for him": He began with himself due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And beginning with oneself is the first in supplication.
And his saying: "in the ranks of the Hereafter" means the Day of Resurrection. As for Ibn Ma'ti, since he has died, gifts are not possible except in the Hereafter. But as for Ibn Malik, who is alive, it is possible that there are gifts in this world and gifts in the Hereafter. However, he (may Allah have mercy on him) chose that the gifts be in the Hereafter because it is the enduring one.
Some people—may Allah have mercy on you—raised two objections to this verse of Ibn Malik. The first objection: He described "gifts," which is a plural, with "abundant," whereas the more eloquent form is agreement, so it should be said: "with abundant gifts" (plural).
The second: "For me and for him." They said: He specified himself and Ibn Ma'ti in the supplication. Yes, so why did he not supplicate for all Muslims?
And the answer to the first: The answer to the first is that he described it with what is used to describe the plural of many, to compensate for its deficiency.
And the answer to the second: There is no harm in a person supplicating for himself and for others whom he sees fit to specify, and supplicating in general. Yes, if he had said: "For me and for him, and do not decree with gifts for others," that would have been an error. But specifying oneself in supplication, or whoever one wishes from among people, is not blameworthy and not censured. However, the commentators always discuss this. They said: If he had said: "And Allah decrees with contentment and mercy for me and for him and for the entire Ummah," that would have been better. Yes, the commentator is free to circle around something to complete his research. Yes.
In any case, there is no objection to Ibn Malik in this; we do not see it as an objection to him. And specifying oneself or another in supplication is permissible. The Sunnah came with specifying oneself often, and specifying others often as well.Sunan Abi Dawud 3118Sahih (Al-Albani) And in the sitting between the two prostrations: Sunan Ibn Majah 898Da’if (Darussalam) And there is no harm in this. Then the author said.
"Decrees" means: He rules, for the word "decree" can mean "ruling." The sentence here is declarative in form but imperative in meaning, because the intended meaning is supplication; that is, I ask Allah to decree with abundant gifts. "Gifts" is the plural of "gift," meaning a bestowal or grant, and "abundant" means plentiful.
And regarding his saying: "with abundant gifts", one might ask: Why did he describe "gifts," which is a plural, with "abundant," which is singular? The answer to this is that when the plural is for inanimate things, it is permissible to describe it with a singular adjective. Yes, it is permissible to describe it with a singular adjective. This is common with the plural of many, but rare with the plural of few. "Gifts" is a plural of few, because the sound plural of a masculine or feminine noun is considered a plural of few. The broken plural of few has specific patterns, and the plural of many has specific patterns. The patterns for the plural of few are four: Ibn Malik said about them:
"Af'alah, Af'ul, then Fi'lah, then Af'al: four are the plurals of few"
Just as 'Abdullah, good. So the plurals of few are the sound plurals, like "Muslims" and "Muslim women," and the second type is the broken plurals indicating few. Good.
"for me and for him in the ranks of the Hereafter" "For me and for him": He began with himself due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Start with yourself.
ابدأ بنفسكAnd his saying: "in the ranks of the Hereafter" means the Day of Resurrection. As for Ibn Ma'ti, since he has died, gifts are not possible except in the Hereafter. But as for Ibn Malik, who is alive, it is possible that there are gifts in this world and gifts in the Hereafter. However, he (may Allah have mercy on him) chose that the gifts be in the Hereafter because it is the enduring one.
Some people—may Allah have mercy on you—raised two objections to this verse of Ibn Malik. The first objection: He described "gifts," which is a plural, with "abundant," whereas the more eloquent form is agreement, so it should be said: "with abundant gifts" (plural).
The second: "For me and for him." They said: He specified himself and Ibn Ma'ti in the supplication. Yes, so why did he not supplicate for all Muslims?
And the answer to the first: The answer to the first is that he described it with what is used to describe the plural of many, to compensate for its deficiency.
And the answer to the second: There is no harm in a person supplicating for himself and for others whom he sees fit to specify, and supplicating in general. Yes, if he had said: "For me and for him, and do not decree with gifts for others," that would have been an error. But specifying oneself in supplication, or whoever one wishes from among people, is not blameworthy and not censured. However, the commentators always discuss this. They said: If he had said: "And Allah decrees with contentment and mercy for me and for him and for the entire Ummah," that would have been better. Yes, the commentator is free to circle around something to complete his research. Yes.
In any case, there is no objection to Ibn Malik in this; we do not see it as an objection to him. And specifying oneself or another in supplication is permissible. The Sunnah came with specifying oneself often, and specifying others often as well.