'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Ghafir

This Surah is Meccan by consensus. It has been narrated in some of its verses that it is Medinan, and this is weak. The first opinion is more correct. These Al-Hawameem, which Anas may Allah be pleased with him narrated from the Prophet blessings and peace be upon him, "They are the silk of the Qur'an." Al-Zajjaj attributed this to Ibn Mas'ud may Allah be pleased with him. The meaning of this phrase is that it is devoid of rulings and is limited to admonitions, warnings, and the paths of the Hereafter purely. Also, they are short, and the reader does not feel boredom in them. It has been narrated that Abdullah ibn Mas'ud narrated that the Prophet peace be upon him said: "Whoever wants to graze in the beautiful meadows of Paradise, let him recite the Al-Hawameem." This is similar to the first statement in meaning. And he said peace be upon him: "The example of the Al-Hawameem in the Qur'an is like the example of the fine fabrics in garments."

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿Ha-Mim﴾ ﴿The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Almighty, the All-Knowing﴾ ﴿The Forgiver of sin and the Accepter of repentance, Severe in punishment, the Possessor of bounty; there is no deity except Him; to Him is the final destination﴾ ﴿No one argues in the verses of Allah except those who disbelieve; so let not their movement throughout the land deceive you﴾ ﴿The people of Noah and the factions after them denied; and every nation intended to seize their Messenger, and they disputed with falsehood to invalidate thereby the truth; so I seized them; and how was My punishment?"

The discussion about the disjointed letters at the beginnings of the Surahs has preceded, and all those statements relate to His saying: [Ha-Mim]. This particular place has another saying attributed to Al-Dahhak and Al-Kisai: that [Ha-Mim] is the spelling of (Humm) with a dammed H and a stressed open M, as if he is saying: "The matter has been established, and the revelation of the Book is from Allah." Ibn Abbas may Allah be pleased with both of them said: "Alif, Lam, Ra, Ha, Mim are disjointed letters in Surahs." Al-Qurazi said: Allah swore by His forbearance and His dominion. "And an Arab asked the Prophet blessings and peace be upon him about [Ha-Mim]; he said: 'It is the beginning of names and the openings of Surahs.'"

Ibn Kathir read with an open H, and it has been narrated from Abu Amr that it is pronounced with a broken H in the manner of imala. It has been narrated from Nafi that it is open, and it has been narrated from him the middle between them. Likewise, there was disagreement about Asim, and it has been narrated from Isa that he broke the H in the manner of imala. The majority of people read with an open H and a silent M. Isa ibn Umar also read Ha-Mim with an open H and an open last M in pronunciation. Therefore, there are two aspects: one of them is the movement for the meeting with the silent Y, and the other is the movement of grammatical case, and that is established by an implied action, which is: read Ha-Mim. This is on the condition that it is treated like names, and the evidence for this is the saying of Shuraih ibn Awfa Al-Absi:

'It reminds me of Ha-Mim while the spear is thrusting, so why not recite Ha-Mim before the advance?'

And the saying of Al-Kumayt:

'We found for you in the family of Ha-Mim a verse, which a pious one and an Arab interpreted from us.'

And Abu Al-Sammal read with a broken last M, and this is for the meeting of two silent letters, and [Ha-Mim] is a verse.

[The] revelation has been raised by the beginning, and the news is in His saying, the Most High: ﴿from Allah﴾. And according to the saying that [ham] is an indication of the letters of the alphabet, His saying: ﴿[the revelation]﴾ is the news of the beginning, and [the Book]: the Qur'an. And His saying, the Most High: ﴿the Forgiver﴾ is a substitute for what is written. If I intended by 'the Forgiver' the past - that is, His forgiveness in this world and His decree of forgiveness and His covering over the sinners - then it is permissible for 'the Forgiver' to be an attribute; because its addition to the definite noun is absolute, and this is very likely. And if I intended by 'the Forgiver' the future - that is, His forgiveness on the Day of Resurrection - then the addition is not absolute, and 'the Forgiver' is indefinite, so it cannot be a description; because the definite cannot be described by the indefinite, and there is consideration in this. Al-Zajjaj said: 'the Forgiver' and 'the Accepting' are two attributes, and ﴿Severe in punishment﴾ is a substitute, and 'the sin' is a generic name. As for ﴿the repentance﴾, it is possible that it is a noun like swimming and sleeping, so it would be a generic name. It is also possible that it is the plural of repentance, like date and dates, hour and hours. And the acceptance of repentance from the disbeliever is certain; due to Allah's informing, the Most High. And the acceptance of repentance from the sinner has two opinions among the people of the Sunnah. Al-Tabari reported from Abu Bakr ibn Ayyash that a man came to Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, and said: 'I have killed, is there repentance for me?' He said: 'Yes, work and do not despair,' then he recited this verse until His saying, the Most High: 'the Accepting of repentance.' [And ﴿Severe in punishment﴾ is an attribute, and it is said: a substitute.]

Then the Most High followed this warning with a second promise in His saying, glorified is He: ﴿the Possessor of bounty﴾, meaning: the One who bestows and grants every blessing, so there is no good except from Him. Thus, in the verse, there is a warning between two promises, and likewise, the mercy of Allah overcomes His anger.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: I heard this inclination from Abu, may Allah be pleased with him, and it is similar to the saying of Umar, may Allah be pleased with him: 'No hardship will overcome two eases,' referring to His saying, the Most High: ﴿Indeed, with hardship comes ease﴾ [Al-Inshirah: 5] ﴿Indeed, with hardship comes ease﴾ [Al-Inshirah: 6].

And 'the bounty': is the grace, and from it is 'what I adorned with a veil.' Al-Thaalabi reported from the people of indication that He, the Most High, is the Forgiver of sins as a favor, the Accepting of repentance as a promise, and Severe in punishment as justice. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said: 'the bounty' is abundance and wealth. Then the Most High proclaimed the Oneness in His saying: ﴿There is no deity except Him﴾, and the resurrection and gathering in His saying: ﴿To Him is the return﴾.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Who disputes in the verses of Allah﴾ means: a false dispute. This is because the dispute in them occurs from the believers, but in establishing and explaining them. And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿So let it not deceive you﴾ places it in the position of: "So let it not sadden you nor concern you," to indicate that they should not be deceived by Allah's delaying for them. The address is to him, and the reference is to those who fall into deception. It is possible that [let it not deceive you] means: you think that behind their turning and delaying is good for them, so you say: perhaps they will not be punished. The verb is released from assimilation due to the second letter being silent, and where both are moving, release is not permissible. Do not say: Zayd deceives you. Their turning in the lands is an expression of their enjoyment of homes, farms, travels, and other than that.

Then He exemplified for them those who preceded them from the nations, meaning: just as it befell those, so it will befall these. And [the parties]: He means by them 'Aad and Thamud or the people of Madyan and others. In the Mushaf of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: "with their messenger," in response to "the nation," and the pronoun of the group refers to the meaning of the nation, not to its wording. And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Let them take him﴾ means: let them destroy him, as His saying, glorified is He: ﴿So I seized them﴾. The Arabs say for the slain: he is taken, and for the captive: he is taken. And from it is their saying: "more deceitful than the taken of the morning." And Qatadah said: "Let them take him" means: let them kill him. And [let them refute] means: let them slip and let them remove, and the refutation is the slip and the slide. And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿So how was the punishment﴾ is astonishment and magnification, and it is not an inquiry about the manner of the occurrence of the matter.