An-Nahl: (30) "And it was said to those who feared [Allah]..."

(And it was said to those who feared [Allah])—meaning the believers. They were described as such to indicate that the response which issued from them was rooted in piety (taqwa).

(What has your Lord revealed? They said: "Good")—meaning He has revealed good. (Ma-dha) is a single compound noun for interrogation, meaning "what thing." Its grammatical position is that of the accusative object of (anzala), and (khayran) is the object of an omitted verb. Choosing this phrasing is evidence that they did not stammer in their response and that they aligned it perfectly with the question, acknowledging the revelation, unlike the disbelievers who deviated from the question and said: (Stories of the ancients), which has nothing to do with revelation. Indeed, Zayd bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) recited it as (khayrun) in the nominative. Thus, (ma) is an interrogative noun, and (dha) is a relative noun meaning "that which." It means: "What is the thing that your Lord revealed?" and (khayrun) is the predicate of an omitted subject. In this way, the sentences of the response and the question correspond, as both are nominal sentences. Making (madha) accusative as an object—as was mentioned—and raising (khayrun) as a predicate for an omitted subject is permissible, but it is less preferred. In al-Kashf, it is stated that it is apparent, upon pondering the intent of the author of al-Kashshaf in this context, that the benefit of the accusative case—despite the nominative being stronger—is to dispel ambiguity so that it remains definitive regarding the object sought, just as the accusative was preferred in His saying (Exalted is He): (Indeed, everything We have created by measure) for that same reason. His intent is resolved by returning to what we previously quoted from him and contemplating it; so ponder it, for it is subtle.

Furthermore, we did not find a disagreement regarding the inquirer here as there was regarding the inquirer previously. What we have observed in many of the commentaries we have encountered is that the inquirer is the delegation that was the inquirer in the first instance according to some of the accounts reported there. Many of them, including Ibn Abi Hatim, mentioned that he is the inquirer in both places. He narrated from as-Suddi that he said: The Quraysh gathered and said: "Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is a man with a sweet tongue; when a man speaks to him, he takes away his reason. So, look for people from among your nobles whose lineages are known, and send them to every path leading into Mecca at a night's or two nights' distance. Whoever comes intending him, turn them away." So, a group of them went out on every path. When a man would approach as a delegate for his people, he would look at what Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) says. When he would descend upon them, they would say to him: "O so-and-so, son of so-and-so," identifying him by his lineage, and they would say: "We will tell you about Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace); he is a liar, and no one has followed him in his affair except the foolish, the slaves, and those in whom there is no good. As for the elders of his people and their best, they have parted from him." So one of them would return. This is the meaning of His saying (Exalted is He): (And when it is said to them: "What has your Lord revealed?" They say: "Stories of the ancients.") But if the delegate was someone whom Allah (Exalted is He) intended for guidance, and they said such things to him, he would say: "I am a miserable delegate for my people if I have traveled a day's journey only to return before meeting this man and seeing what he says and bringing my people a clarification of his affair." So he would enter Mecca and meet the believers and ask them: "What does Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) say?" And they would say: "Good," etc.

Yes, it is mentally permissible for the inquirer to be one of them asking another to strengthen his own position with the answer, or for something similar, such as the delight in hearing the response. Often, a lover asks about the conditions of his beloved, which he already knows, out of pleasure in keeping his memory alive and embellishing his hearing with the brilliance of his pearls: Oh, give me wine to drink and tell me it is wine; do not give it to me in secret when an open pouring is possible. Indeed, it is also permissible for the inquirer to be one of the stubborn disbelievers, and his purpose in that is mockery and ridicule.

(For those who did good)—those who performed good, righteous deeds—(in this) worldly (abode, is good)—a good reward for their goodness. The prepositional phrase is connected to what follows it, in the sense that this good belongs to them in the world, and by it is meant—as is reported from ad-Dahhak—victory and conquest. It is also said: praise and commendation from Him (Exalted is He). The Imam said: It is possible that it refers to the opening of the doors of revelation (mukashafat), witnessing (mushahadat), and graces, like His saying (Exalted is He): (And those who are guided, He increases them in guidance.) It is also said: it is connected to what precedes it, and in that case, the speech might be on the assumption of a similar phrase connected to what follows, or rather, this "good" that occurs is the reward for their goodness in the world [to be realized] in the Hereafter. Some limited themselves to this possibility, and the "good" in that case refers either to the great reward that Allah (Exalted is He) has prepared on the Day of Resurrection for the doers of good, or the multiplication of rewards by ten times up to seven hundred times, and to what no one knows except He (Glorified and Exalted is He). It was tested that it is connected to what follows because it is more consistent with His saying (Glorified is He): (And the home of the Hereafter is better.) The speech—as the discourse of more than one indicates—is an ellipsis of an added term (mudaf); meaning: "And the reward of the home of the Hereafter—meaning their reward therein—is better than what they were given in the world in terms of reward."

It is permissible for the meaning to be "better" absolutely, so the attribution of superiority can be made to the home of the Hereafter itself. (And excellent is the home of the pious)—meaning the home of the Hereafter. It is an ellipsis due to the indication of what preceded it, as stated by Ibn Atiyyah, az-Zajjaj, Ibn al-Anbari, and others. This is an initial statement, a promise from Him (Exalted is He) to those who feared [Allah] regarding their statement; and it is in terms of the promise here equivalent to (Let them bear their burdens) in the warning mentioned previously.

It is permissible for (khayran) to be the object of (qalu) because it functions as a sentence—like "he recited a poem" or as an attribute of a verbal noun (masdar), meaning "a good statement." This sentence acts as a substitute for it, so it takes the accusative case, or it is an explanatory clause for it, and thus it has no grammatical position. In both interpretations, it is their statement in reality for those who performed good deeds, except that Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) named it "good" and then related it, as you would say: "So-and-so said something beautiful regarding our purpose; his right is incumbent upon us." According to what has been mentioned, the accusative case does not serve as evidence for what was mentioned previously; rather, it is from the perspective of Allah’s testimony to the goodness of their statement.

It is possible to make it—as in al-Kashf—the object of (anzala), and its naming as "good" is from Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala), as in His saying (Glorified is He): (He will surely say: "The Almighty, the All-Knowing created them.") This is so that the correspondence is felt as soon as it strikes the ear, without regard to understanding its meaning. As for their saying: "For those who did good," meaning they said "He revealed" this statement—the understanding of the correspondence comes after reflecting on the meaning. Some claimed that it is not permissible to make it accusative through "anzala" because this statement was not revealed by Allah (Exalted is He), and thus the correspondence dies. This is a statement born of a lack of reflection. In al-Bahr, the apparent meaning is that (for those), etc., is included under the [category of] statement, and it is an interpretation of the "good" which Allah revealed in the revelation. Its apparent sense is that it is a different angle from what was mentioned, and it also refutes the aforementioned claimant. Perhaps their limitation to this [interpretation] among what was revealed is because it is a comprehensive statement containing an enticement for the inquirer. The preferred view among these angles, according to a group, is the first; indeed, it is said that it is the angle [that holds].