Tafsir of Yunus 10:106

(And do not invoke besides Allah)—whether independently or by association—(what does not benefit you)—in itself, if you invoke it, by repelling what is disliked or bringing what is beloved—(nor does it harm you)—if you abandon it, by stripping away what is beloved, whether preventing or removing it, or by inflicting what is disliked.

It is said that this sentence is conjoined to the prohibition preceding it. Some researchers chose to conjoin it to His saying, Exalted is He: (Say, "O mankind..."), so it does not fall under the command, because the sentences that follow it until the end of the two verses are coherent and it is not possible to separate some from others, and there is no justification for including the whole under the command. You know that if a verb of revelation were estimated in (And that I should establish...), as Abu Hayyan and the author of al-Fara'id did, there would be no obstacle to the conjunction—as is apparent—to the sentence of prohibition, which is conjoined to the first sentence, and including all the coherent parts under the revelation. This estimation is sometimes preferred because it does not require committing to the counter-intuitive action of conjoining to a distant antecedent.

It is said: There is no need to estimate the revelation and the conjunction as described; rather, the previous command is in the sense of revelation, as if it were said: "And it was revealed to me that I be," etc. Inclusion at that point would be unobjectionable; however, you see what it is, and I do not think you would accept it.

(If you did so, then indeed you would be of the wrongdoers)—that is, counted among their number. The verb is a metonymy for invocation, as if it were said: "If you were to invoke that which does not benefit and does not harm." It was used as a metonymy—it is said—to honor his status, peace and blessings be upon him, and to draw attention to the loftiness of his position, peace and blessings be upon him, above having the worship of other than Allah attributed to him, even within the context of a conditional sentence.

The discussion regarding the benefit of such a prohibition has already passed. The answer to the conditional, according to what is in the prohibition, is the sentence (then indeed you would be), and its predicate, namely (of the wrongdoers). (Idhan) is placed between the noun and the predicate—even though its position is after the predicate—in observance of the rhyme scheme (fasilah).

In al-Kashshaf, it is stated that idhan is a recompense for the condition and an answer to an estimated question, as if an inquirer asked about the consequence of worshipping idols, so he was counted among the wrongdoers because there is no greater wrong than polytheism ("Indeed, polytheism is a great wrong"). This is the terminology of the grammarians, and it has been interpreted—as al-Shihab said—to mean that it indicates that what follows it is caused by a realized or estimated condition, and is an answer to a realized or estimated discourse.

Jalal al-Suyuti—may mercy be upon him—mentioned in Jam' al-Jawami', after explaining that the temporal idha may have part of the sentence to which it is annexed—or the whole of it—deleted, and the tanwin substituted for it (with the vowel broken to avoid the meeting of two consonantal sounds, not for grammatical inflection, contrary to al-Akhfash, and sometimes it is opened), that his teacher, al-Kafiji, attached (idhan) to it. Then he said in his commentary, Ham' al-Hawami': "I have indicated by my saying: 'And our teacher attached (idhan) to it in that regard' a strange issue that few have addressed. That is, I heard our teacher—may mercy be upon him—say regarding the verse: (And if you obey a human being like yourselves, indeed you would then be losers): 'This word is not the well-known idhan; rather, it is the conditional idha from which its sentence—to which it is annexed—has been deleted, and the tanwin has been substituted for it, as in yawma'idhin.' I used to find this very sound, and I thought the teacher had no predecessor in that until I saw some of the later scholars lean toward what the teacher leaned toward. I have expanded upon the discussion of that in the marginalia of al-Mughni." End quote.

You know that the verse he mentioned is like the verse we are currently in, and what he mentioned is something the heart inclines toward, and I see no harm in it. Perhaps it is more appropriate than what the author of al-Kashshaf and his followers said. Thus, let what is in the verse be interpreted in this manner. It often occurred to me, yet I almost did not dare to establish it until I saw it from someone other than myself, whose excellence is not denied, so I have established it, praising Allah, the Exalted.