Tafsir for verse: 17:31
وَلَا تَقۡتُلُوٓاْ أَوۡلَٰدَكُمۡ خَشۡيَةَ إِمۡلَٰقٖۖ نَّحۡنُ نَرۡزُقُهُمۡ وَإِيَّاكُمۡۚ إِنَّ قَتۡلَهُمۡ كَانَ خِطۡـٔٗا كَبِيرٗا ٣١ ﴿31
31Do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We provide sustenance to them and to you, too. Killing them is a great sin indeed.
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Commentary

Their children killed them: he means by saying they buried their daughters alive. As in the authentic narrations, burying a girl alive means to bury her in the grave while she is alive. They used to bury them out of fear of poverty, which is destitution. So Allah forbade them and guaranteed for them their provisions. And it was recited 'fear' with a broken kha. And it was recited 'error' which is sin. It is said: he erred a mistake, like he concealed a sin, and error which is the opposite of correctness, a name from he who erred. And it is said: error and mistake are like caution and caution. And 'khata' with a broken kha and elongation. And 'khataa' with an open kha and elongation. And 'khata' with an open kha and stillness. And from Al-Hasan: 'khata' with an open kha and the hamza omitted like 'khab'. And from Abu Rija: with a broken kha not hamzated.

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Al-ZamakhshariAbū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar al-Zamakhsharī
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