Commentary
And when the journeys were after that, He followed it with His saying (glorified and exalted is He): ﴿And carry﴾; meaning: the animals; ﴿your burdens﴾; meaning: your goods; with hardship; ﴿to a land﴾; meaning: other than your land; which you intended to travel to; ﴿you would not be﴾; meaning: being that you are predisposed to it; able to carry it to it; and it will bring you - by carrying it for you - to a land you would not ﴿reach﴾; without the camels; ﴿except with hardship﴾; meaning: with effort; and hardship; and the cost of ﴿the souls﴾; and it is permissible that the meaning be: you would not reach it with it; so how if it were not present? And 'the hardship' is one of the halves of a thing; as if it is a metaphor for the loss of half the strength; due to the effort that follows; and the verse is from the interweaving: it mentioned carrying burdens first; as evidence for carrying the souls second; and it mentioned the hardship of reaching second as evidence for the hardship of carrying first.
And when all of this is from the kindness in upbringing; and only the eloquent in mercy utilizes it for the weak; and there are among the people those whose deeds are a cause for the pleasure of their Lord; and among them are those whose deeds are all corrupt; (p-110) He said: ﴿Indeed, your Lord﴾; meaning: the creator for you; and the benefactor to you; ﴿is certainly kind﴾; meaning: exceedingly merciful to whoever seeks intercession with Him through what pleases Him; ﴿and merciful﴾; meaning: exceedingly merciful; for a reason; and without a reason.
Explore Other Scholars on This Verse
Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah An-Nahl verse 7