Tafsir for verse: 4:12
۞ وَلَكُمۡ نِصۡفُ مَا تَرَكَ أَزۡوَٰجُكُمۡ إِن لَّمۡ يَكُن لَّهُنَّ وَلَدٞۚ فَإِن كَانَ لَهُنَّ وَلَدٞ فَلَكُمُ ٱلرُّبُعُ مِمَّا تَرَكۡنَۚ مِنۢ بَعۡدِ وَصِيَّةٖ يُوصِينَ بِهَآ أَوۡ دَيۡنٖۚ وَلَهُنَّ ٱلرُّبُعُ مِمَّا تَرَكۡتُمۡ إِن لَّمۡ يَكُن لَّكُمۡ وَلَدٞۚ فَإِن كَانَ لَكُمۡ وَلَدٞ فَلَهُنَّ ٱلثُّمُنُ مِمَّا تَرَكۡتُمۚ مِّنۢ بَعۡدِ وَصِيَّةٖ تُوصُونَ بِهَآ أَوۡ دَيۡنٖۗ وَإِن كَانَ رَجُلٞ يُورَثُ كَلَٰلَةً أَوِ ٱمۡرَأَةٞ وَلَهُۥٓ أَخٌ أَوۡ أُخۡتٞ فَلِكُلِّ وَٰحِدٖ مِّنۡهُمَا ٱلسُّدُسُۚ فَإِن كَانُوٓاْ أَكۡثَرَ مِن ذَٰلِكَ فَهُمۡ شُرَكَآءُ فِي ٱلثُّلُثِۚ مِنۢ بَعۡدِ وَصِيَّةٖ يُوصَىٰ بِهَآ أَوۡ دَيۡنٍ غَيۡرَ مُضَآرّٖۚ وَصِيَّةٗ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَلِيمٞ ١٢ ﴿12
12For you there is one-half of what your wives leave behind, in case they have no child. But, if they have a child, you get one-fourth of what they leave, after (settling) the will they might have made, or a debt. For them (the wives) there is one-fourth of what you leave behind, in case you have no child. But, if you have a child, they get one eighth of what you leave, after (settling) the will you might have made, or a debt. And if a man or a woman is Kalālah (i.e. has neither parents alive, nor children) and has a brother or a sister, then each one of them will get one-sixth. However, if they are more than that, they will be sharers in one-third, after (settling) the will that might have been made, or a debt, provided that the will must not be intended to harm anyone. This is a direction from Allah. Allah is All-Knowing, Forbearing.
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Commentary

If there is a child for them from you or from others. The woman is made to have half of what the man has by right of marriage, just as she is made to have half by right of kinship. The single and the group are equal in the quarter and the eighth, and if there is a man, meaning the deceased.

And he is inherited from whom he inherits, meaning he is inherited from him, and this is a description of a man. And [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kalalah] is the news of [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kana], meaning if there is a man inherited from him who is [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kalalah], or it is made to be inherited as the news of [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kana], and [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kalalah] is a state of the pronoun in [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: yuwrath]. And it is recited [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: yuwrath] and [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: yuwrath] with lightening and intensifying on the active form, and [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kalalah] is a state or an object.

If you ask: What is [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kalalah]? I say: It refers to three: to one who leaves neither a child nor a parent, and to one who is neither a child nor a parent of the deceased, and to the relatives from other than the child and the parent. From this is their saying: What the noble inherited from [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kalalah], just as you say: What I fasted from [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: 'ay]. And [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kalalah] originally is a source meaning [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-kalal], which is the loss of strength from fatigue. Al-A'sha said:

"I have sworn not to mourn for her from [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kalalah]" [[And when she travels at night, you see for her ... two watchful ones, not absent, and two bright stars.

I have sworn not to mourn for her from [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kalalah] ... nor from [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: waj] until I meet Muhammad.

This is for Al-A'sha, describing his she-camel when he came to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and the polytheists turned him away, and he died at Yamama. And [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: adlajat]: She traveled at night. And [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: jadya] and [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: farqad] are substitutes for what precedes them. This is a metaphor for the length of her night, indeed for her weariness from traveling. So I have sworn. Meaning I have sworn, not to mourn: I do not grieve for her, due to weariness and fatigue. And [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: waj]: the harm of the hoof and similar things from traveling. And it is narrated in its place: "So what do you have to complain to me about [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kalalah] or from [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: hifa]?" And [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: mushtaka]: the complaint. And [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: hifa]: the [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: waj]. He says: When my she-camel travels at night, her night is long, and I have sworn not to grieve for her due to fatigue or harm, until I meet Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. And the action is attributed to her, indicating that she knows him, for she is the one traveling to him.]]

So it is borrowed for kinship from other than the child and the parent, because it is in addition to their kinship like a weak tool. And if it is made a description of the inherited or the inheritor, it means one who has [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kalalah]. Just as you say: So-and-so is from my relatives, meaning from my relatives. And it is permissible for it to be a description like [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-hajjajah] and [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-faqaqah] for the fool [[The saying "like [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-hajjajah] and [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-faqaqah] for the fool" in the dictionaries: A man is [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-hajjajah] meaning a fool. And in it, a man is [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-faqaqah] meaning a foolish babbler.

And also in it: [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-hadhar] - with movement -: delirium. And the man is [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: hadhar]. with a kasrah on the dhāl. (A)]]. If you say: If you made it a name for kinship in the verse, what would you make it accusative? I say: On the basis that it is an object, meaning it is inherited for the sake of [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kalalah] or another is inherited for its sake. If you say: If you made [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: yuwrath] on the passive form from [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: awrath], what is its meaning? I say: The man then is the inheritor, not the inherited. If you say: Then to whom does the pronoun in the saying: (So for each one of them) refer at that time? I say: To the man and to his brother or sister, and in the first case to both of them. If you say: If the pronoun returns to both of them, does it imply their equality in acquiring the sixth without preference of male over female? Does this benefit remain in this way? I say: Yes, because if you say the sixth is for him or for one of the brother or sister on the basis of choice, you have equated between the male and the female. And from Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, that he was asked about [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: kalalah] and he said:

I will give my opinion in it, if it is correct, it is from Allah, and if it is wrong, it is from me and from the devil, and Allah is free from it.

Al-Kalala: that which excludes the child and the parent. [Reported by Ibn Abi Shaybah, Al-Tabari, and Sa'id ibn Mansur. And from the narration of Al-Sha'bi, it was said: Abu Bakr said. And in the narration of Sa'id and Al-Tabari, there is also the statement of Umar.] And from 'Ata and Al-Dahhak: Al-Kalala is the inheritor. And from Sa'id ibn Jubair: it is the heir. They have all agreed that the intended meaning is the children of the mother. This is indicated by the reading of Ubayy: 'And he has a brother or sister from the mother.' And the reading of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas: 'And he has a brother or sister from the mother.' It was said that the evidence that Al-Kalala here refers specifically to the brothers from the mother is what was mentioned at the end of the surah, that for two sisters is two-thirds, and that for the brothers is all the wealth. It is known here—since one is given a sixth, and two are given a third, and they are not increased beyond a third—that it means the brothers from the mother. Otherwise, Al-Kalala is general for anyone other than the child and the parent from all other brothers, half-brothers, and the sons of different mothers. And others [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: ghayru mudharin] in a state, meaning he bequeaths it while he is not harming his heirs, that is, he bequeaths more than a third, or he bequeaths a third or less, and his intention is not to harm his heirs or to antagonize them, which is not for the sake of Allah, the Exalted. And from Qatadah: Allah has disliked harm in life and at death and has forbidden it. And from Al-Hasan: The harming in religion is to bequeath a debt that one does not owe, and its meaning is the acknowledgment. 'A bequest from Allah' is a confirmed source, meaning He advises you with that bequest, as His saying: 'An obligation from Allah.' And it may be that it is not dependent on [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: ghayru mudhar], meaning he should not harm, a bequest from Allah, which is a third or less by increasing it beyond a third or a bequest from Allah regarding the children and that he does not leave them dependent due to his extravagance in the bequest. This interpretation is supported by the reading of Al-Hasan: 'Not harming, a bequest from Allah' with the addition. And Allah is All-Knowing of who is unjust or fair in his bequest, and He is forbearing towards the unjust, not hastening against him. This is a warning. If you say: In 'He advises' there is a pronoun for the man if you consider him the inheritor, how does it work if you consider him the heir? I say: Just as it worked in the saying of Allah: 'For them is two-thirds of what he leaves,' because it is known that the one who leaves and the one bequeathing is the deceased. If you say: Where is the one in charge for whoever read 'He is bequeathed with it' in a way that does not name the doer? I say: It is implied that he is bequeathed, and it is understood from its doer because when it was said 'He is bequeathed with it,' it is known that there is a bequeather, just as it was said: 'He glorifies Him therein in the morning and the evenings' in a way that does not name the doer, so it is known that there is a glorifier. Therefore, it is implied that he glorifies, just as there were men who are the doers indicated by 'glorifies,' so there was not harming in a state indicated by 'he is bequeathed with it.'

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