Tafsir of Yunus 10:9

"Indeed, those who believed"—meaning, in what is obligatory to believe. Included in this primarily is belief in the signs (verses) that the heedless have overlooked, and it is possible that the object of this belief is specified [as such] in view of the context.

"And did righteous deeds"—meaning deeds that are righteous in themselves and fitting for faith. The description (the righteous) is omitted because the adjective is treated as a noun.

"Their Lord guides them by their faith"—meaning He guides them, by reason of their faith, to their dwelling place and their destination, which is Paradise. It is mentioned only [by reference] because of its obviousness and the soul’s natural inclination toward it, especially when observing what preceded in the exposition of the disbelievers' abode and the evil deeds that led them to it, as well as witnessing what followed by way of allusion and explicit statement.

The intended meaning of this "faith," which is made the cause for what was mentioned, is the specific faith accompanied by righteous deeds—not faith stripped of them, nor is it the more general concept. On this, no two rams should butt heads. The verse is far from indicating anything contrary to the view of the community (the Jumhur) that faith devoid of righteous deeds leads to Paradise in some sense and that its possessor does not dwell in the Fire forever. For its literal wording (manṭūq) establishes that faith accompanied by righteous deeds is a cause for guidance to Paradise; but that everything that is a cause for it must be only this is something neither this verse nor any other indicates. How could it be otherwise, when His saying—Exalted is He—"Those who believe and do not mix their faith with injustice, those will have security, and they are [rightly] guided" (6:82) proclaims the opposite, based on the interpretation of "injustice" as shirk (polytheism) upon which they have reached consensus? Even if it were to be taken literally, it still includes in the guidance those who believed and did not perform a righteous deed, then died before they committed an injustice by doing a forbidden act or neglecting an obligatory one.

Al-Zamakhshari favored interpreting "faith" in the way we have mentioned, stating: The verse indicates that the faith considered for guidance to Paradise is the faith qualified by righteous deeds. He justifies this by noting that the ṣilah (relative clause) combines both matters, as if it were said: "Those who combined faith and righteous deeds," then it was said: "by their faith," meaning: this faith, which has had righteous deeds joined to it. Some have claimed that his position is built upon the Mu‘tazilite doctrine of the eternal punishment of the non-righteous in the Fire. He then argued that the verse offers no indication of what they claim, for it makes absolute faith the cause for guidance to Paradise. As for the claim that adding "faith" to the pronoun of the righteous necessitates taking "righteousness" as a condition for its effectiveness, this is denied, for the pronoun returns to the entities regardless of the attributes. Furthermore, the fact that the ṣilah serves as the cause for the predicate by way of concept (mafhūm) does not contradict an explicit causative statement (manṭūq). Moreover, not every predicate regarding the relative pronoun necessitates this; do you not see that [a statement like] "He who was with us yesterday did such-and-such" is free from the implications they mention in [cases like] "He who believes enters Paradise"?

Al-Zamakhshari was defended by the argument that combining faith and righteous deeds clearly implies they are both the cause, and explicitly stating the causality of the faith added to the pronoun of "those who believed and did righteous deeds" is like a text stipulating that it is that faith accompanied by what it is accompanied by, not the absolute faith. However, it was mentioned [as "faith"] due to its primacy and increased nobility; this does not necessitate that its mention is a mere corrective or that it is independent in its causality.

This contains a refutation of Al-Qadi Al-Baydawi, who claimed that while the mafhūm (implication) of the sequence suggests that the cause of guidance is faith and righteous deeds, the manṭūq (explicit wording) of His saying "by their faith" indicates the independence of faith. It was also denied in Al-Kashf that the manṭūq is as he stated, basing this on the idea that the inference is derived from placing faith and righteous deeds in the ṣilah so that they function as a cause; then, when "faith" was repeated in the genitive case, it was a reference to the accompanied faith, since it is established that such usage only occurs where there is a known referent, and the previous referent is this one, and the default is that there is no other. He then said: "Even if it were granted that the manṭūq is as such, it would not harm Al-Zamakhshari, for the deed would then be considered a condition, thereby combining the manṭūq and the mafhūm to the extent possible, so neither the coupling of the deed nor the indication of causality is nullified." This is the benefit of specifying it again, along with its primacy and increased nobility. No one from the community disagrees with this, because sinners are not [rightly] guided. As for the claim that everyone who is not "rightly guided" is eternally in the Fire, this is denied in the strongest terms.

There is something [doubtful] in my heart regarding this denial; it is better to rely on what we have presented in establishing that the verse is far from indicating anything contrary to what the community holds. Guidance, in this view, may be interpreted as the direction that leads to the goal, or merely as direction. The chosen view is the first. The second was chosen by those who said the meaning is: "He guides them to the path of Paradise by the light of their faith," either by assuming an omitted noun or on the basis that their faith manifests as a light before them. It is also said that the meaning is: "He directs them, by reason of their faith, to remain steadfast in following the path that leads to reward," and guidance in this sense is according to the first meaning. It is also said that the intent is: "He guides them to grasp the realities of things, so they are revealed to them by that means." In any case, the shift in His saying—Exalted is He—"their Lord" is to honor them by attributing the Lordship to them, while also indicating the cause of the guidance.

His saying, Exalted is He: "Rivers flow beneath them"—meaning beneath their dwellings or from before them—is a syntactic or explanatory initiation, and thus has no place in grammatical inflection, or it is a second predicate for Inna, and thus its place is the nominative. It is also permitted that it be in the accusative case as a state (ḥāl) from the object of "guides them," assuming the one guided to is what they desire in Paradise, as Abu al-Baqa’ said. If it were made an "expected state" (ḥāl muntazara), there would be no need for this assumption, though it is contrary to the apparent meaning. Al-Zamakhshari, when interpreting "Their Lord guides them" as "He directs them..." and so on, made this sentence an explanation of it, because clinging to the cause of happiness is like reaching it. It is not hidden that the nature of this explanation is that of a substitute (badal), and Al-Tayyibi explicitly stated this. In that case, its place is the nominative, because it is the place of the sentence it replaces.

His saying, Exalted is He: "In Gardens of Bliss"—is another predicate, or another state from the object of "guides them" (making them serial states), or from "the rivers" (making them nested), or it is connected to "flow" or "guides." The intent, according to what has been said, regarding the one guided to, is either their dwellings in Paradise or what they desire therein.