Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:53

"Whatever of blessing you have, it is from Allah" (An-Nahl: 53)

Meaning: Whatever thing is joined to you and accompanies you—that is, whatever blessing it may be—it is from Him, Exalted is He. The word mā is a relative pronoun (mawṣūlah) functioning as the subject (mubtada’), containing the sense of a conditional. The phrase min Allāh is its predicate (khabar), and the fā’ is redundant in the predicate due to that implied sense. The phrase min ni‘mah is an explanatory clause for the relative pronoun, and bikum is its connective (ṣilah).

Al-Farrā’, followed by Al-Ḥūfī, permitted that mā be conditional (sharṭiyyah), with the verb of the condition omitted—meaning: "Whatever blessing may be with you, etc." Abū Ḥayyān objected to this, stating that the conditional mā is not omitted except after in specifically, and only in two contexts: (1) the chapter of engagement (ishtighāl), such as “And if any one of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection” (At-Tawbah: 6); and (2) that the conditional in be followed by the negative lā, provided the condition has been indicated by what preceded it, such as his verse: “Then divorce her, for I am not a match for her / Or else the blade shall sever your neck.” Omitting it outside of these cases is a necessity of poetic license, such as the verse: “The daughters of the uncle said: 'O Salmā, even if he were a poor, destitute man?' She said: 'Yes,'” and the verse: “Wherever the wind inclines it, it inclines.”

It has been countered that Al-Farrā’ does not concede this; thus, what he permitted is founded upon his own school of thought. The matter of it being conditional poses a difficulty in both views, given that the condition must be a cause for the response (jazā’), as you say: "If you embrace Islam, you will enter Paradise," for Islam is the cause for entering Paradise. Here, the case is the reverse; the first part—the stability of the blessing with those addressed—cannot be a cause for the second—that it is from Allah—in the sense that the latter is a derivative of the former.

In Īḍāḥ al-Mufaṣṣal, it is answered that the verse was brought forth to address a people who possessed settled blessings but were ignorant of their Bestower, or were in doubt about Him, or behaved in a way that implied they were in doubt. Thus, the stability of these blessings being ignored or doubted is the cause for the report that they are from Allah, the Exalted. Consequently, the condition and the conditional elements are according to what is known—that the first is a cause and the second is an effect. It is a misconception to say that the condition may be an effect. In Al-Kashshaf, it is noted that the condition and the response are not according to the literal surface, for the first is not the cause for the second; rather, the matter is the opposite. However, the intent behind it is to remind them and inform them, so the connection is the cause of the knowledge that it is from Allah, the Exalted. This is better than what Ibn al-Ḥājib posited—that it is a cause for informing that it is from Him—because this is addressed to people who possessed stable blessings but were ignorant of their Bestower or doubted Him. Do you not see what he built upon later, showing how they know that He, the Exalted, is the Bestower of blessings, but they are compelled to turn to Him when in distress and then flee after being saved? That is the end of his words.

The rebuttal to this is that their knowledge is regarded as nonexistent due to their failure to acknowledge it, and their actions which contradict it are treated as equivalent to ignorance. Thus, they are informed of this, just as you say to one you are rebuking: "Have I not given you such-and-such? Have I not?"

"Then when harm touches you"—touching you in a minor way—"to Him you cry out."

"You supplicate"—in seeking its removal, not to anyone else, as indicated by the fronting of the prepositional phrase. Ju’ār (crying out) is originally the howling of wild beasts, and it has been used for raising one's voice in supplication and pleading for help. Al-A‘shā says, describing a monk: “He persists in the prayers of the King, at times prostrating and at times crying out.” Az-Zuhri read it as tajarūn, omitting the hamza and moving its vowel to the jīm.

There is evident elegance and grandeur in: mentioning "the touch" (al-masās) which indicates the slightest bit of affliction; presenting it with a verbal sentence that suggests occurrence; using "then" (thumma) which indicates its happening after a period of time; adorning "harm" (al-ḍurr) with the definite article of the genus (lām al-jins), which benefits the implication of the slightest touch that falls under the name of the genus; and presenting "the blessing" (an-ni‘mah) with a nominal sentence that suggests permanence, while expressing its accompaniment to the addressees with the bā’ of association, and using mā which denotes generalization.

Perhaps the use of idhā (when) rather than an (if) serves to facilitate the certainty of the occurrence of the response; so said Mawlā Abū al-Su‘ūd. There is more to this which becomes known by the slightest reflection upon the response to it. It would have been natural—according to what has been said—to say after “Then would you fear other than Allah?”: "And no harm touches you except from Him," to strengthen the denial of fearing anyone else, Exalted is He. But mentioning the benefit implies the harm through it, and He limited it to that as a sign of the precedence of His mercy and its universality. With this meaning in view, it is said that the connection of "Whatever of blessing you have, it is from Allah" to what precedes it becomes apparent.

What relates to this will come shortly, if Allah the Exalted wills. The verse is used as evidence that Allah, the Exalted, has blessings upon the disbeliever, and that faith is something created by Him, the Exalted.