Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:116

Then, He—Exalted is He—emphasized what is understood from the restriction by prohibiting the forbidding and permitting based on whims, saying: “And do not say, concerning that which your tongues describe...” to the end. There is no contradiction in this conjunction, as is not hidden. The lam (in lima) is connected to "say" (i.e., taqulu), similar to His saying: "And do not say of those who are killed in the way of Allah: 'Dead'." And your saying: "Do not say of nabidh (date wine) that it is lawful." Its meaning is specification (ikhtisas). Ma is a relative noun (mawsula), and the referent (al-'a'id) is omitted; meaning: Do not speak regarding that which your tongues describe—from the cattle—by declaring it lawful or forbidden, in your saying: "What is in the bellies of these cattle is exclusively for our males and forbidden to our wives," without that description resulting from observation or reflection, let alone being based upon revelation or analogy built upon it, but rather merely speech with the tongue.

"The lie" (al-kadhib) is in the accusative case as the direct object of taqulu. His saying—Sublime is He—"This is lawful and this is forbidden" is an appositive (badal) to it—an appositive of inclusion (badal kull). It is also said that it is in the accusative by the omission of the verb "I mean" (a'ni). It is also said that "The lie" is in the accusative as an infinitive (masdariyah), and "This" is the articulated speech (maqul al-qawl).

It is permitted that it be an appositive of comprehension (badal ishtimal). It is also permitted that "the lie" be the articulated speech itself, and another "saying" is omitted after the description, while the lam remains as it is; meaning: Do not say the lie regarding that which your tongues describe, so that you say: "This is forbidden." This clause explains and interprets His saying: "your tongues describe," as in His saying: "Then repent to your Creator and kill yourselves." It is permitted that the "saying" not be omitted, according to the Kufan school, and that its speaker be estimated, provided that the estimated (subject) is a circumstantial qualifier (hal) from "the tongues."

It is also permitted that the lam is for causation (ta'lil) and ma is an infinitive (masdariyah), and "the lie" is the object of "describe," while "This is lawful," etc., is the articulated speech. That is: Do not say, "This is lawful and this is forbidden" because of your tongues describing the lie. To this went al-Kisa'i and al-Zajjaj. The essence of it is: Do not permit and do not forbid based merely on your tongues describing the lie and imaging it and affirming its essence. It is as if their tongues, because they are the origin of the lie and the source of falsehood, are a person knowledgeable of its nature and encompassing its reality, describing it to people and defining it with the clearest description and most manifest definition. Such a thing appears in the speech of the Arabs and non-Arabs; you say: "He has a face that describes beauty," "saliva that describes [the quality of] wine," and "an eye that describes enchantment." The verse has employed hyperbole in that it made their speech a "lie," then made the tongue speaking that statement its fountainhead, imaging it in the form it possesses. This is from the category of metaphorical metonymy (isti'arah bil-kinayah). Some have made it of the category of metaphorical attribution (al-isnad al-majaziy), like "his day is fasting," as if their tongues, being described by the lie, became as if they were its reality and its source from which it is known—as if it describes and defines it.

Al-Hasan, Ibn Ya'mar, Talha, al-A'raj, Ibn Abi Ishaq, Ibn 'Ubayd, and Nu'aym bin Maysarah read "the lie" (al-kadhib) with the genitive case (jarr), interpreted as an appositive to ma along with its complement. More than one scholar made it an adjective for ma (infinitive) along with its complement.

Abu Hayyan criticized this, arguing that the source (masdar) formed from ma or an with the verb is definite, like a pronoun; it is not permitted to describe it. One does not say: "Your performing fast" ('ajabani an taquma al-sari'a), just as one does not say: "Your fast the fast" ('ajabani qiyamuka al-sari'). Not everything estimated has the same ruling as that which is expressed, and one must follow the speech of the Arabs in this.

Mu'adh, Ibn Abi 'Abla, and some of the people of al-Sham read "the lie" (al-kudhub) with the damma on all three letters, as an adjective for the tongues, and it is the plural of kadhub (liar), like sabur and subur. The author of al-Lawami' said: Or it is the plural of kadhdhab (with a kasra on the kaf and a light dha), a noun like qital, described as an intensive form. It is the plural of fa'ul like kitab and kutub, or the plural of kadhib (liar) like sharif and shuruf. Muslima bin Muharib—or Ya'qub, as the author of al-Lawami' said—read it as "the lie" (al-kudhub) with two dammas and an accusative case. This is interpreted in several ways: First, that it is in the accusative as an expression of insult and blame, and it is an adjective for the tongues that is cut off (from the preceding adjective). Second, that it is the direct object of "describe" or "say," and the meaning is "the lying words." Third, that it is an absolute object (maf'ul mutlaq) for "describe" from its meaning, as it is the plural of kadhdhab (the noun). "This is lawful" is parsed as previously mentioned, and there is no difficulty in its being an appositive because it is "words" regarding its material, and two "speeches" in appearance.

"That you may fabricate a lie against Allah"—the lam here is for consequence and outcome ('aqiba wa-sayrura), or for causation, because what was issued by them was not for the sake of fabricating against Allah, but for other goals, and this (fabrication) resulted from that. To this went al-Zamakhshari and a group. Others said: It is permitted for it to be for causation, and it is not far-fetched that they intended that, as they said: "We found our fathers upon it, and Allah commanded us with it." In al-Bahr, it is stated that this is apparent and is not by way of emphasis for the previous causation, based on the probability that the lam is for causation and ma is an infinitive, because in this there is an alert regarding whom they fabricated the lie against. This is not in the previous interpretation; rather, that interpretation proves the lie absolutely. Thus, there is an indication that due to their practice of lying, they dared to lie against Allah, so they attributed what they permitted and forbade to Him—Sublime is He.

Al-Wahidi said: "To fabricate" is an appositive to "that which your tongues describe" because their describing the lie is in itself a fabrication against Allah. This is also, according to what is in al-Bahr, upon the assumption that ma is an infinitive, because if it is made a relative noun, the lam would not be for causation so that it could be an appositive to something that conveys causation. It is said that there is no obstacle to causation upon the assumption of its being a relative noun; when causation is intended, the apposition is permissible. The essence of the meaning of the verse, as al-'Askari stated, is: Do not name what has not come to you as lawful or forbidden from Allah and His Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—as lawful or forbidden, so that you become liars against Allah. For the axis of lawfulness and prohibition is His command—Sublime is He. Hence, Abu Nadra said: "I have not ceased fearing [the responsibility of] giving fatwas since I heard the verse in Surah al-Nahl until this day of mine." Ibn al-'Arabi said: Malik and a group disliked that a jurist says "This is lawful and this is forbidden" in issues of jurisprudence (ijtihad). That should only be said regarding what Allah has explicitly stated. In issues of ijtihad, one should say: "I dislike such and such," and the like, for that is further removed from containing what might be imagined as a fabrication against Allah—Sublime is He. "Indeed, those who fabricate a lie against Allah" regarding any matter "will not succeed"—they will not attain the desired outcome.