Tafsir of Yunus 10:71

"And recite to them"—meaning, to the polytheists of the people of Makkah and others—to confirm in advance that those who fabricate falsehoods do not succeed, that what they enjoy is on the verge of passing away, and that they are on the brink of eternal misery and severe punishment—"the news of Noah"—that is, his account, which holds significance and gravity regarding his people, who are similar to your people in disbelief and obstinacy. [This is] so that they may contemplate what it contains, for it holds a warning; perhaps they will refrain from what they are upon, or their intense arrogance may be broken. It is also possible that some who hear this from you—those who denied the truth of your prophethood—might acknowledge its validity and believe in you, once it is established for them that the content of what is recited conforms to the truth without any contradiction at all. Thus, it occurs to them that you did not hear this from anyone, nor did you derive it from a book; therefore, there is no path for your knowledge of it except through revelation, which is the axis of prophethood.

In this, there is an evident establishment of what preceded: that all things belong to Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala), that might belongs exclusively to Him, that there is no fear for His allies nor do they grieve, and that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is encouraged and prompted to remain indifferent to them, their statements, and their deeds. To limit it to only some of these points is a deficiency. The discussion regarding Noah (peace be upon him) has already passed—"when he said to his people"—the lam is for communication or causality, and "when" is a substitute (badal) of comprehensiveness for "the news" and is governed by it, not by "recite," for that would corrupt the meaning. Abu al-Baqa permitted its connection to an omitted phrase acting as a state (hal) from "the news." Regardless, the intent is a portion of his news (peace and blessings be upon him), not everything that transpired between him and his people. They were, according to what al-Ajhuri stated, from the sons of Qabil.

"O my people, if my stay... is grievous to you"—meaning, if it is burdensome and difficult for you. "Stay" (maqami)—this is originally a place noun, but it is intended here to mean "myself" by way of metaphorical allusion, just as one says "the noble council" (meaning the council members). It is also permissible for it to be an infinitive form (masdar mimi) meaning "my residence," for it is said: "I stood in a place" and "I resided," meaning my residence among you for a long period. That this duration is what Allah mentioned—one thousand years less fifty—requires that this statement be at the end of his life and the conclusion of his affair. This necessitates a transmission, or perhaps the intent is his standing to call them, or his standing to remind and exhort them, because the preacher would stand among those he exhorts as it is more apparent and helpful for listening—just as it is narrated about Jesus (peace be upon him) that he used to exhort the disciples standing while they were seated, and our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) often stood on the pulpit to exhort the congregation while they were seated. Thus, "standing" is made a metonymy or a metaphor for that, or it is an expression of the persistence and stability of that.

"And my reminding you of the signs of Allah"—which indicate His oneness and invalidate the polytheism you are upon—"then upon Allah do I rely, not on any other." This sentence is the response to the condition, and it is an expression of his indifference and disregard for their finding his presence burdensome. It is also possible that it stands in its place. Others said the response is omitted and this is a conjunction to it, meaning: "Then do whatever you wish." Another view is that the intent is the continuity of restricting reliance to Allah (Ta'ala), or perhaps the intent is to inaugurate a specific rank of reliance, for he (peace be upon him) was always reliant upon Him (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) and not on another.

His saying (Subhanahu): "So resolve upon your plan" is a conjunction to the aforementioned response according to the majority, and the fa is for the ordering of the command to "resolve" upon "reliance," not for the ordering of the resolve itself. It is said that it is the response and the previous [clause] is an interruption. This occurs with the fa.

So know, for the knowledge of a man benefits him, And perhaps it is less harmful than what preceded, given what you have heard.

This is despite the offense of conjoining a command to an informative statement, which is a matter of dispute. "Resolve" (ajmi'u)—with a qat' hamza—is, as Abu al-Baqa said, from "I resolved upon the matter" when you determine [to do it], except that the preposition was omitted, so the verb became transitive. It is said that ajma'a is transitive in itself, and it is supported by the verse of al-Harith ibn Hilliza: "They resolved their plan by night, and when they awoke, they had a commotion." Al-Sadusi asserted that not bringing 'ala (as in "I resolved the matter") is more eloquent than bringing it (as in "I resolved upon the matter"). Abu al-Haytham said: The meaning of ajma'a one's affair is to make it collected after it was dispersed, and its dispersion is to say once, "I will do this," and another time, "I will do that." When he determines, he has gathered what was dispersed of his determination, then it became synonymous with determination until it was connected with 'ala. Its origin is transitivity by itself. There is no difference between ajma'a and jama'a according to some, while others differentiated between them by stating that the first is used for abstract concepts and the second for physical entities; thus, one says, "I resolved my affair" and "I gathered the army." Perhaps this is frequent, not absolute. The "affair" here refers to things like plotting and deception.

"And [with] your partners"—that is, those you claimed were partners to Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala). It is in the accusative case as an object accompaniment (ma'ahu) to the agent, because the "partners" are the ones who are determined [to act], not the ones being determined upon. This is supported by the recitation of al-Hasan, Ibn Abi Ishaq, Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, and Isa al-Thaqafi in the nominative, for it is apparent that in that case it is conjoined to the connected nominative pronoun, and the presence of the separator stands in place of the emphasis by the separate pronoun. It is said that it is a subject with an omitted predicate, meaning: "And your partners are resolving," and so on. It is also said that the accusative is by conjunction to "your plan" by omitting the genitive (mudaf), meaning "and the plan of your partners," based on the idea that ajma'a relates to abstract concepts, and the speech is uttered in the mode of mockery, given that the partners intended are the idols. It is said that it is on its literal meaning, and the intent is those who are upon their religion. It is also permitted that there is no omission and the speech is an attribution to a metaphorical object, similar to what was said in "Ask the village." Others said it is in the accusative as a direct object to an omitted verb, as said in the verse: "I fed it hay and cold water"—meaning "Call your partners," as Ubayy (may Allah be pleased with him) recited it. Nafi' recited "so gather" (fa-jma'u) with a connecting hamza and an opened mim from jama'a, and the conjunction of the partners to the "plan" in this recitation is apparent, based on the fact that one says, "I gathered my partners" just as one says, "I gathered my plan." Some claimed the meaning is "the possessors of your plan," which is as you see. The meaning is a command to them to determine and unite in their intent and to strive in destroying him by whatever manner of deception or otherwise they can, due to their trust in Allah (Ta'ala) and their lack of concern for them; it is not the reality of the plan.

"Then let not your plan"—this—"be hidden from you" (ghumma). That is, covered. From "it was veiled" (ghammahu) if he covered it. From this is the hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr: "There is no ghumma in the obligatory duties of Allah (Ta'ala)," meaning: do not cover it or conceal it, but rather make it manifest and public. The prepositional phrase is connected to ghumma. The intent is to forbid them from engaging in what would make that a cover, for a command is not forbidden; this entails a command to manifest it. So the meaning is: "Make it manifest and declare it to me," for covering is only resorted to in order to block the path of achieving escape or similar [actions]. Since that is impossible in my case, there is no rationale for covering. The word "then" (thumma) is for sequence in rank, and manifesting the matter in the place of concealment is for further emphasis.

It is said: "Make it manifest" because the intent is the severe situation that befalls them from his side (peace be upon him) which they dislike, not the first affair. The intent of ghumma is grief, like distress and anguish. The prepositional phrase is connected to an omitted phrase acting as a state (hal) from it. Thumma is for sequence in time, and the meaning is: "Then let not your state be a grief that comes upon you," and [you] find relief from my destruction from the burden of my station and my reminding you of the signs of Allah (Ta'ala). It was objected to by saying that the verse of Allah (whose glory is exalted) does not support it: "Then fulfill your command upon me, and do not delay me" (i.e., perform that command which you intend, and do not grant me respite), on the basis that "fulfillment" (qada') is from "he fulfilled his debt" when he pays it, and its object is omitted, as we have indicated. In it is a suggested metaphor (isti'ara makniyya), and the "fulfillment" is imaginary (takhyeel). Sometimes qada' is interpreted as "judgment," meaning: "Judge by what you fulfill against me," in which case there is an inclusion (tadmeen) and a suggested metaphor, because the insertion of what results after the destruction between the command to resolve on its preliminaries and the command to fulfill it is of the category of separating the tree from its bark. The first view is free from that, and it is apparent. It is said that the intent of ghumma is the first meaning, and "the affair" is what preceded, and the prohibition is a command for consultation, meaning: "Resolve your affair, then consult about it." In this there is remoteness, as neither of the two sequences indicated by thumma is apparent, whether one considers the recitation of the group or the recitation of Nafi' in ijma'u. It was also recited "proceed" (afdu) to... with a fa, meaning: "Reach towards your affair," or "come out to me," from "he proceeded" if he went out to the open space, like "he became exposed" if he went out to the baraz (the wide place).