Tafsir of Ar-Ra'd 13:29

(Al-Ra'd: 29) "Those who believe and do..."

"(Those who believe and do righteous deeds) is an appositive (badal) for 'the hearts'. That is, the hearts of those who believed. It is more apparent that it is an appositive of the whole (badal al-kull), because the hearts mentioned in the first instance [in the previous verse] are the hearts of the believers who are at rest. Likewise, if one generalizes the 'heart' to mean that the hearts of these exalted ones are the only true hearts, since the hearts of the disbelievers are empty air. As for interpreting it as an appositive of the part (badal al-ba'd) to generalize the heart without the aforementioned consideration, and inferring this meaning from the badal, it is far-fetched.

As for the possibility of it being an appositive of inclusion (badal al-ishtimal)—although al-Tayyibi favored it—it is weak. It could also be an initial subject (mubtada') whose predicate is the hortatory sentence based on interpretation—namely, His saying, the Sublime: (Blessedness is for them [Tuba lahum]). That is, it is said to them: 'Blessedness is for you.' There is no need for interpretation; the sentence is declarative, or it is the predicate of an implied subject, or it is in the accusative case as an expression of praise, so 'Tuba lahum' is a latent state (hal muqaddarah), and the active agent in it is the two verbs.

Some precise scholars have said: Perhaps the most plausible view is another one, which is that the speech concludes at His saying, the Exalted: '(to He who turns back).' Then it is said: '(Those who believe and whose hearts find rest)' in opposition to '(And those who disbelieve say: "Why has no sign been sent down...")'. His saying, the Exalted, '(Verily, in the remembrance of Allah [do hearts find rest])' is a parenthetical sentence clarifying why their hearts do not find rest in Him, as there is no rest for the heart except in Him. His saying, the Almighty, '(Those who believe)' is an appositive to the first one, containing an indication that the remembrance of Allah the Exalted is the best of righteous deeds; nay, it is all of them. And '(Blessedness is for them)' is the predicate of the first, thus completing the opposition between the two pairs: '(And those who disbelieve say...)' and '(Those who believe and whose hearts find rest)', and between the two parts of the epilogue: '(He leads astray whom He wills, and guides to Himself him who turns back)'. Some people have claimed that the first relative pronoun is a subject and the second relative pronoun is its predicate, and '(Verily, in the remembrance of Allah)' is parenthetical, and '(Blessedness is for them)' is an invocation—but this is as you see.

Regarding '(Tuba)', it is said to be a verbal noun derived from taba (to be good), like bushra and zulfa. The waw is transposed from a ya', like musir and muqin. Al-A'rabi read it as "Taybi" to preserve the ya'. Abu al-Hasan al-Hana'i said it is the plural of tayyibah, just as they say kusa for kisah. Abu Hayyan refuted this by stating that fu'la is not among the structures of plurals, so perhaps he intended that it is a collective noun.

Following the first view, there are various expressions regarding the meaning intended. Ibn Jarir and others reported from Ibn Abbas that the meaning is 'joy and comfort of the eye for them.' From al-Dahhak: 'envy (in a good way) for them.' From Qatadah: 'a good thing for them,' and in another narration from him: 'they have attained goodness.' From al-Nakha'i: 'much goodness for them,' and in another narration from him: 'dignity/honor for them.' From Sumayt ibn 'Ajlan: 'lasting goodness for them.' All of these return to the meaning of a 'good life' for them.

In a narration from Ibn Abbas and Ibn Jubayr, '(Tuba)' is a name for Paradise in Abyssinian; it is also said in Indian. Al-Qurtubi said: The correct view is that it is a proper name for a tree in Paradise. Ahmad, Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Hibban, al-Tabarani, and al-Bayhaqi in al-Ba'th wa al-Nushur—and it was authenticated by al-Suhayli and others—reported from 'Utbah ibn 'Abd that a Bedouin came to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and asked: 'O Messenger of Allah, is there fruit in Paradise?' He replied: 'Yes, there is a tree in it called Tuba; it is the girdle of Paradise.' He asked: 'Does any tree of our earth resemble it?' He replied: 'It does not resemble any tree of your earth. But have you visited the Levant?' He said: 'No.' He said: 'It resembles a tree in the Levant called the 'Walnut' (al-Jawzah), which grows on a single trunk, and then its top spreads out.' He asked: 'How big is its trunk?' He replied: 'If you were to drive a camel of your people around its base, you would not encompass its base until it broke its collarbone from old age.' He asked: 'Are there grapes in it?' He replied: 'Yes.' He asked: 'How big is the cluster of them?' He replied: 'A month's journey for a speckled crow.'

The reports explicitly stating that it is a tree in Paradise are very widespread. If so, there is no issue with starting a sentence with it, even if it is indefinite, because the justification for starting with it is what Sibawayh went by: that it is treated as an invocation, like their saying 'Peace be upon you' (Salamun 'alayk). However, Ibn Malik held that it is obligated to be in the nominative case as an initial subject. This was refuted by the fact that Isa al-Thaqafi read '(And a goodly return)' (wa husnu ma'ab) in the accusative case. Tha'lab interpreted this as being conjoined to Tuba, meaning that it is in the place of an accusative. It is, in his view, a verbal noun governed by an implied verb, meaning 'it has become good,' and the lam is for clarification, as in 'water for him' (suqya lahu).

Some estimate that 'Tuba lahum' is a complete phrase. The author of al-Lawami' said the estimation is 'O Tuba for them, and O good return,' where husn is conjoined to the vocative, and it is genitive to the pronoun, and the lam is inserted as in his saying: 'O misery for ignorance, the bane of nations.' Therefore, the tanwin was dropped from bu's. It is as if it were said: 'O their goodness, and O their good return,' meaning 'How good they are, and how good their return is,' just as you say, 'How good is the night' (Ya tayyibaha laylatan), meaning 'How good the night is.' The forced nature of this is not hidden. Al-Safaqisi answered Ibn Malik by saying it is permissible to make husn accusative by an implied verb, meaning 'And their provision is a goodly return,' but this is far-fetched. It was also read hasana ma'abin (with the nun of hasana opened and ma'abin in the genitive case), and this is explained by hasana being a past tense verb whose root is hasuna, where the damma of the sin was moved to the ha'. Something similar is permissible in the verb if it is for praise or dispraise, as they say: 'How good is this in manners' (Hasuna dha adaban)."