Tafsir of Al-Hijr 15:56

"He said: And who despairs..."

This is an interrogative of denial, meaning: No one despairs of his Lord's mercy except the astray.

That is to say, the disbelievers who have missed the path to knowing Allah—Exalted is He—and therefore do not recognize the vastness of His mercy, the perfection of His knowledge, and His power. This is similar to the words of His servant Ya'qub (Jacob): "Indeed, no one despairs of the relief of Allah except the disbelieving people."

His intent—peace be upon him—was to negate despair from himself in the most eloquent manner. That is: "I have no despair regarding His mercy; rather, what I say is to illustrate how my state contradicts the outpouring of that magnificent blessing upon me." In invoking the titles of Lordship (Rububiyyah) and Mercy, there is an obvious gravity and excellence.

Ibn Waththab, Talha, al-A'mash, and—in one narration—Abu 'Amr, recited it as al-qanitin. The two grammarians (al-Kisa'i and al-Farra') and al-A'mash recited yaqnitu with a kasra on the nun, while the rest of the seven reciters recited it with a fatha. Zayd ibn 'Ali—may Allah be pleased with both of them—and al-Ash'ab recited it with a damma, which is irregular (shadhdh), as is its past tense form.

The verse is used as evidence for the interpretation of "the astray" as mentioned, due to what you have heard from the verse regarding the fact that despair—which, as al-Raghib states, is the loss of hope for good—is disbelief. This is a matter of scholarly debate. The Shafi'is hold that despairing, as well as feeling secure from the stratagem (makr) of Allah, are among the major sins, based on the hadith—whether mawquf (attributed to Ibn Mas'ud) or marfu' (attributed to the Prophet)—that: "Among the major sins are associating partners with Allah, despairing of the relief of Allah, and feeling secure from the stratagem of Allah."

Kamal ibn Abi Sharif stated: "Linking them to associating partners with Allah in the sense of absolute disbelief necessitates distinction. If by 'despair' one means denying the vastness of Allah's mercy, and by 'feeling secure' one means believing that there is no stratagem from Him, then both are disbelief by consensus, for they constitute a rejection of the Great Qur'an. If, however, it is meant as considering one's sins too great and deeming pardon unlikely to the point that it crosses into the limit of despair, or if one is overcome by a sense of self-assurance that enters into the limit of feeling secure, then it is a major sin by consensus."

The discussion regarding this has already preceded, so remember it.