Tafsir of Hud 11:73

They questioned her amazement, for she had been raised in the house of prophecy, the place of revelation, and the locus of miraculous phenomena. It was incumbent upon her to be composed, and not to be overwhelmed by such extraordinary occurrences as the subtle graces and refined artistry of Allah—which flow upon anyone whose manifestation is tied to His eternal will—especially those of the house of prophecy, who are who they are. She should have glorified, exalted, and praised Allah the Exalted. To this, they pointed with His saying:

"The mercy of Allah" (which entails all goodness). The manifest noun was placed in the position of the pronoun to further honor her and to indicate her greatness.

"And His blessings" (that is, His complete and abundant bounties, among which is the gift of children). It is said: "Mercy" refers to prophecy, and "blessings" refers to the tribes (asbat) of the Children of Israel, because the Prophets (peace be upon them) were from them, and they are all descendants of Ibrahim (peace be upon him). It is also said: "His mercy, His greeting, and His blessings" are His superfluous bounties bestowed through intimacy and leadership.

"Upon you, O people of the house." This is in the accusative case (nasb) as an expression of praise (madh) or specification (ikhtisas), as many grammarians have maintained. Abu Hayyan stated that there is a difference between the two, which is why Sibawayh placed them in two separate chapters: the accusative for praise is a term that, by its very nature, implies praise, just as the accusative for dispraise implies dispraise. The accusative for specification is intended to praise or disparage, but the term itself does not inherently imply it—as in the verse of Ru'bah: "Among us, Tamim, the fog is lifted."

In the Ham', it is stated that the accusative in specification occurs via a verb that is obligatorily omitted; Sibawayh estimated it as "I mean" (a'ni). It is specified by "any" (ayyu) after a first-person pronoun, such as: "I, O man, do such and such," and: "O Allah, forgive us, O group." Its rule in this category—except for Al-Sirafi and Al-Akhfash—is the rule of the vocative. It is frequently replaced by others, as Sibawayh noted, such as in the saying: "We, the children of Dhabba, are the masters of the camels." From this is the saying: "We, the daughters of Tariq, walk upon the carpets." Also, terms like "group" (ma'shar), as in the saying: "We, the group of the Ansar, have an established glory in our land, for we have favored the best of creation, Ahmad." In the Hadith: "We, the group of Prophets, do not leave behind an inheritance."

Abu 'Amr does not use the accusative for anything other than these, which is unfounded. It is rarely the case that this serves as a proper name, as in the aforementioned verse of Ru'bah in Abu Hayyan’s discourse. It is not a demonstrative pronoun, nor anything else, nor is it ever indefinite. It is not permitted for the specified noun to precede the pronoun. The occurrence of specification after a second-person pronoun is rare—such as "Glory be to You, O Allah, the Great"—and after a third-person term that is interpreted as first or second person, such as: "O seller," where the verb is in the form of the third person but carries the meaning of "upon me" or "upon you." Al-Saffar forbade this entirely, as specification is akin to the vocative, and just as the absent cannot be addressed, so too can there be no specification therein. From this, one understands some of what is in Abu Hayyan's discourse, and that interpreting the noble verse as specification involves committing the things mentioned in their discussions.

In Al-Kashshaf, it is permitted to be in the accusative as a vocative (nida'), and he prioritized this over the possibility of it being specification; perhaps he indicated by this his preference for it over the second possibility. However, some scholars mentioned that this results in the loss of the meaning of praise, which is appropriate for the context.

The intended meaning of "house" (bayt), as in Al-Bahr, is a person's shelter at night. Then, it may be used without regard for the nighttime. It applies to dwellings made of stone, mud, wool, or fur. One expresses the location of a thing by saying it is its "house." It is pluralized as buyut and abyat; the plural of the plural is abayit, buyutat, and abyawat. It is diminutive as buwayt and buwayt (with a kasra), and it is also said buwayt, as the common people say.

The shift of address from the singular form to the plural is so that their reply (peace be upon them) to her would also be a reply to anyone from the rest of the household whose heart might harbor such thoughts as hers.

The clause is an introductory statement through which her amazement is justified; thus, it is an informative sentence. This was chosen by a group of investigative scholars. It is said: it is supplicatory, but that is not well-founded. The verse is used as evidence for the inclusion of the wife in the "people of the house," which is the position held by the Sunnis, and it is supported by what is in Surah Al-Ahzab. The Shi'a differed in this, saying: She is not included unless she is a relative of the husband by blood, for the intended "house" is the house of lineage, not the house of mud and wood. The inclusion of Sarah (may Allah be pleased with her) here is because she is the daughter of his uncle. It is as if they interpreted "house" as nobility, which is one of its meanings, and through this, it was explained in the saying of Al-'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) praising the Prophet (peace be upon him): "Until your noble house contained the essence of Khandaf, beneath which lies the noble lineage." Then they restricted "nobility" to "lineage-based nobility." Otherwise, "house" in the sense of lineage is not common among linguists. Perhaps what prompted them to this was their hatred for 'Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), so they sought to exclude her from the ruling of: "Allah only wishes to remove from you the impurity, O people of the house, and to purify you with [extensive] purification." A detailed discussion on this will come, if Allah wills.

The verse is used as evidence for the dislike of adding to the greeting "Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings." This has been narrated from more than one of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them).

Al-Bayhaqi narrated in Al-Shu'ab from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that a man said to him: "Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings and His forgiveness." Ibn 'Umar snapped at him and said: "That which Allah the Exalted said is sufficient for you."

He also narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that a beggar stood at the door while he was with Maymunah and said: "Peace be upon you, O people of the house, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings and His prayers and His forgiveness." He said: "End the greeting with what Allah the Exalted said."

In a narration from 'Ata', he said: "I was sitting with Ibn 'Abbas when a beggar came and said: 'Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings and His forgiveness and His contentment.' He said: 'What is this greeting?' He was so angry that his cheeks turned red. 'Allah the Exalted set a limit for the greeting, then ended it, and forbade what is beyond that.' Then he recited: 'The mercy of Allah and His blessings are upon you, O people of the house.'"

"Indeed, He is Praiseworthy" (Abu al-Haytham said: meaning, His actions are praised). In Al-Kashshaf: Meaning, the One who does that for which He deserves praise from His servants, so "Praiseworthy" (Hamid) is in the sense of "the one praised" (Mahmud). Al-Raghib permitted that "Praiseworthy" here might mean "the Praiser" (Hamid), but the former is perhaps more appropriate.

"Majid" (meaning, abundant in goodness and benevolence). Ibn al-A'rabi said: It is the exalted one. It is said: Majuda (like nasara and karuma), meaning he was generous and noble. Its origin comes from "the camels have become amjad," meaning they have fallen into a vast, abundant pasture. "The shepherd has made us amjad," meaning he has placed us in that. Al-Asma'i said: It is said, "The beast has become amjad" if you have fed it excessively. Al-Layth said: "He majjada his gift," meaning he increased it. From this is the saying of Abu Hayyah al-Numayri: "She exceeds her companions, but she is not majida in food or drink," meaning she is not abundant in food or drink. Among their proverbs is: "In every tree there is fire, and the markh and 'afar trees are istamjada (yielded most abundantly)." Al-Raghib said: It means He intended vastness in bestowing the grace specific to Him. Ibn 'Atiyyah said: A thing is majjada if its qualities are beautiful. The clause, according to what is in Al-Kashf, is a beautiful concluding remark explaining that the requirement of her state is to praise the One who is worthy of praise and who has been benevolent to her, and to exalt Him, for He has honored her with that with which He has honored her. It is said: It is a justification for what preceded from His saying (Exalted is He): "The mercy of Allah and His blessings are upon you."