'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted is He: "The love of desires has been made alluring to people, from women and children, and heaped-up sums of gold and silver, and fine branded horses, and cattle, and tilled land. That is the enjoyment of the life of this world, and Allah has with Him the best return." The majority of people read: "made alluring" in the form of a verb for the passive voice, and raised "the love" as it is an object whose doer has not been named. Al-Dahhak and Mujahid read: "made alluring" in the form of a verb for the active voice, and they read "the love" in the accusative as it is the object. People have differed on who is the one who made it alluring. A group said: Allah made that alluring, and this is the apparent statement of Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, for he said: When this verse was revealed, I said: Now, O Lord, since You have made it alluring for us, then the verse was revealed: "Say, 'Shall I inform you of something better than that?'" [Al-Imran: 15]. Another group said: The one who made it alluring is the devil, and this is the apparent statement of Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan, for he said: Who made it alluring? No one is more blameworthy of it than its creator. (p-171) Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And if it is said: Allah made alluring, its meaning is by creating and preparing for benefit and establishing the nature inclined towards these things. And if it is said: The devil made alluring, its meaning is by whispering, deception, and beautifying the taking of it from other than its proper ways. The verse accommodates these two types of allurements, and this perspective does not conflict with that. And this verse serves as an admonition to all people, and within that is a reprimand for those contemporary to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, from the Jews and others. Desires are blameworthy, following them is destructive, and obeying them is fatal. And he, peace be upon him, said: "The Fire is surrounded by desires, and Paradise is surrounded by hardships." So it is enough for you that the Fire is surrounded by them; whoever engages in them will end up in the Fire.

'The qantār' is the plural of qintār, which is the large measure of wealth. People have differed regarding the specification of its limit; how much is it? Ubayy ibn Ka'b narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "The qintār is one thousand and two hundred uqiyyah." This was also said by Mu'adh ibn Jabal, Abdullah ibn Umar, Abu Hurairah, Asim ibn Abi al-Najud, and a group of scholars, and it is the most correct of the statements. However, the qintār in this context differs according to the differences in the countries regarding the weight of the uqiyyah. Ibn Abbas, al-Dahhak ibn Muzahim, and al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan said: The qintār is one thousand and two hundred mithqāl. Al-Hasan narrated this as a hadith from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. Al-Dahhak said: It is from silver, one thousand and two hundred mithqāl, and it was narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: The qintār of silver is twelve thousand dirhams, and of gold, it is one thousand dinars. This was also narrated from al-Hasan and al-Dahhak. Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib said: The qintār is eighty thousand. Qatadah said: The qintār is one hundred ratl of gold or eighty thousand dirhams of silver. Al-Suddi said: The qintār is eight thousand mithqāl, which is one hundred ratl. Mujahid said: The qintār is seventy thousand dinars, and this was narrated from Ibn Umar. Abu Nadrah said: The qintār is the amount that fills the hide of a bull with gold. Ibn Sidah said: This is how it is in Syriac. Al-Rabi' ibn Anas said: The qintār is a large amount of wealth, some of it upon others. Al-Naqqash narrated from Ibn al-Kalbi that the qintār in the language of the Romans is the amount that fills the hide of a bull with gold. Al-Naqqash said: The qantār are three, and the muqantarah are nine, because it is the plural of the plural, and this is a weak view and incorrect speech. Al-Makki narrated something similar from Ibn Kaysan that he said: The muqantarah cannot be less than nine, and al-Mahdawi narrated from him and from al-Farra': The muqantarah cannot be more than nine. All of this is arbitrary. Abu Hurairah said: The qintār is twelve thousand uqiyyah. Al-Makki narrated a saying that the qintār is forty uqiyyah of gold or silver, and Ibn Sidah said this in al-Muhkam. He said: The qintār in the Berber language is one thousand mithqāl. Anas ibn Malik narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in the interpretation of His saying: "And you have given one of them a qintār" [An-Nisa: 20] that he said: One thousand dinars. Al-Tabari mentioned this, and al-Zajjaj narrated that it was said: The qintār is a ratl of gold or silver, and I think this is a mistake, and that the statement of one hundred ratl was mistakenly omitted the word 'one hundred' by the transmitter. The qintār is indeed the name of the standard by which it is weighed, just as the ratl and the rub' are. It is said of what has reached that weight: This is a qintār, meaning it is equivalent to the qintār. The Arabs say: A man has qantara when his wealth reaches the point of being weighed by the qintār. Al-Zajjaj said: The qintār is derived from tying something and securing it, and the qantarah is the tied one, so it is as if the qintār is a tie of wealth.

The people differed in the meaning of His saying: "the muqantarah." Al-Tabari said: Its meaning is: the multiplied, and it is as if the qanatir are three and the muqantarah is nine. This view has been previously mentioned. Al-Rabi' said: Its meaning is: the abundant wealth, some of it above the other. Al-Suddi said: The meaning of muqantarah is: the struck until it became dinars or dirhams. Al-Makki said: The muqantarah is the complete. What I say is that it is an indication of the presence of wealth and its being ready, for that is more desirable in its matter. This is because you say about a rich man from livestock and properties: So-and-so is the owner of qanatir of wealth, meaning if his properties were assessed, they would amount to what is equivalent to qanatir. And you say about the owner of present and ready wealth: He is the owner of muqantarah qanatir, meaning it has been obtained as such by acting upon it, meaning it has been qanatarred, so it is muqantarah. That is more desirable for souls and closer to benefit and achieving hopes. Marwan ibn al-Hakam said: Wealth is nothing but what the hands possess. If this is the case, it is the same whether the wealth is minted or not minted. However, the minted is more desirable for what we have mentioned, but the term "muqantarah" does not give that.

"And the horses" is the plural of khail according to Abu Ubaidah. It was named so because the horse prances in its walk, as it is like a bird. Others said: It is a name of a plural that has no singular form.

The interpreters differed in the meaning of "the musawwamah." Sa'id ibn Jubair, Ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Abza, Al-Hasan, Al-Rabi', and Mujahid said: Its meaning is: the grazing in the meadows and pastures. You say: The animal grazed if it roamed and took its grazing from the pasture, meaning to its utmost effort and did not fall short from one state to another. I named it so when I left it for that. This is also the meaning of the Prophet's saying: "In the grazing of sheep is zakat." And from His saying, the Exalted: "In it you graze" [An-Nahl: 10]. It has been narrated from Mujahid that he said: The musawwamah means: the beautiful and pure. This was also said by Ikrimah: Its beauty made it musawwamah.

It has been narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: The musawwamah means: the marked, the coats of horses in their faces. "And this was said by Qatadah." This saying is supported by the verse of Labid:

And on the morning of the plain of the two horns, we came to them, A chant appearing through it is the marking.

As for the saying of the Nabighah:

With dark ones like arrows, marked, Upon them is a group resembling jinn.

It is possible that he means the beautiful and pure, and it is possible that he means the marked by the coats, and it is possible that he means the prepared. The people have interpreted His saying, the Exalted: "Musawwamah with your Lord" [Hud: 83] as meaning prepared. Ibn Zayd said in His saying, the Exalted: "And the musawwamah horses" that its meaning is: prepared for jihad.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: His saying for jihad is not from the interpretation of the term.

'And the livestock' refers to the four types: camels, cattle, sheep, and goats. 'And the crops' here is a name for everything that is cultivated. It is a source named as such. You say: 'The man cultivated the land' when he plowed it for the purpose of farming. The term 'crops' applies to the planting of grains, gardens, and other types of agriculture. And His saying, the Exalted, 'When they both ruled concerning the crops' [Al-Anbiya: 78] is said by the majority of the interpreters to refer to a vineyard. And 'the goods' are what is enjoyed and benefited from for a limited time. And 'the return' is the reference. You say: 'The man returned' or 'he comes back.' From this is the saying of the poet: (p-175)

.......................... *** I was satisfied with the return from the spoils.

And the saying of another:

....................... *** When the goat herder returns.

And the saying of Abid:

....................... *** And the absent from death does not return.

The root of 'return' is 'ma'awbah.' The movement of the waw was transferred to the hamzah, and an alif was substituted for the waw, similar to 'maqal.' Thus, the meaning of the verse is to diminish the matter of this world and belittle it, and to encourage the goodness of returning to Allah, the Exalted, in the Hereafter.

And in His saying, 'Beautified for the people' in the verse, there is a lament similar to what is in the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: 'A woman is married for four reasons...' the hadith. And His saying, the Exalted, 'Say, should I inform you...' [Al-Imran: 15] is akin to the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: 'So strive for that which is of the religion.'