Tafsir of Al-Isra 17:13

ألزمناه طائره (We have bound his fate to his neck): Meaning: His deeds, which proceed from him by his own choice according to what has been decreed for him—whether good or evil—as if it flew to him from the nest of the Unseen and the eyrie of Predestination. In al-Kashshaf, it is mentioned that people used to seek omens from birds and called this zajr (augury). When they traveled and a bird passed by them, they would interpret it: if it passed saniḥ (from left to right), they considered it a good omen, and if it passed bariḥ (from right to left), they considered it a bad omen; hence it was called taṭayyur (bird-omen). Since they attributed good and evil to the bird, it was used as an explicit metaphor (isti‘arah tasriḥiyyah) for what resembles them from the decree of Allah—Exalted is He—and the servant's work, as it is the cause of good and evil. From this is the phrase: "The bird of Allah—Exalted is He—not your bird," meaning the decree of Allah—Great is His Majesty—which is prevalent, and to which good and evil are attributed, not your bird with which you practice bad or good omens. They did this so frequently that they even applied it to gazelles and all other wild animals, and they called all of this taṭayyur, as stated in al-Baḥr. Interpreting it here as "deeds" is narrated from Ibn Abbas, and al-Bayhaqi narrated it in Shu‘ab al-Iman from Mujahid; many others have adopted this view.

Some interpreted it as what occurs to the servant in the eternal distribution according to his merit in eternal knowledge, from the saying: "Such and such an arrow flew toward him," and from that: "There flew for us from the arrivals Uthman ibn Maẓ‘un," meaning: We have bound to every human being his portion and share which We divided in eternity.

في عنقه (in his neck): This is a portrayal of the intensity of the binding and the perfection of the connection. Based on this, the saying came: "I have a need of you," and he replied, "Between my ears and my neck is what you want." Specifying the neck is due to the visibility of what is upon it, and it is something to which precedence and honor are attributed, and it is used to express the whole and the master of the people. The meaning is: We have bound his burden to him such that it never departs from him; rather, it adheres to him like a necklace, and the shackle is never removed from him in any state.

Ibn Marduyah narrated from Hudhayfah ibn Usayd that he heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) say: "The drop from which the human is created flits about in the womb for forty days and forty nights. No hair, skin, vein, or bone remains without it entering it, even entering between the nail and the flesh. When forty nights and forty days have passed, Allah—Exalted is He—causes it to descend to the womb, and it becomes a clot for forty days and forty nights, then a lump of flesh for forty days and forty nights. When four months are completed for it, Allah—Exalted is He—sends the Angel of the Wombs, who creates its flesh, blood, hair, and skin by His hand. Then the Exalted One says: 'Fashion it.' He says: 'O Lord, shall I fashion it as excess or deficient? Male or female? Beautiful or ugly? Curly or straight-haired? Short or tall? White or swarthy? Sound or unsound?' Then He writes what Allah—Exalted is He—commands him. Then he says: 'O Lord, wretched or happy?' If it is happy, happiness is blown into it at the end of its life, and if it is wretched, wretchedness is blown into it at the end of its life. Then he says: 'Write its traces, its sustenance, its calamities, and its deeds of obedience and disobedience.' He writes what Allah—Exalted is He—commands him. Then the Angel says: 'O Lord, what shall I do with this scroll?' He—Exalted is He—says: 'Hang it upon his neck until My judgment comes upon him.' That is the saying of the Exalted: 'And every human, We have bound his fate to his neck.'"

It is not hidden that the apparent meaning of this report is that the mention of the "neck" is not for the aforementioned portrayal, but rather that the "bird/fate" (ta'ir) refers to the scroll in which what was decreed was written. Ibn Abi Shaybah and Ibn al-Mundhir narrated from Anas that he interpreted it as such explicitly. The door of metaphor is wide; we believe in the Hadith if it is authentic, and we entrust the modality of what it indicates to the Subtle, the All-Aware—Great is His Majesty. The apparent meaning also suggests that "human" is not restricted to the "responsible" (mukallaf), and this is supported by what Abu Dawud narrated in the Book of Destiny, and Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Mujahid, who said regarding the verse: "There is no newborn born but that in his neck is a paper written upon it 'wretched' or 'happy'." The end of the verse is apparent in its restriction.

Mujahid, al-Hasan, and Abu Raja' read: ṭayrahu. It was also read: ‘unuqihi with a silent nun.

ونخرج له يوم القيامة كتابا (And We will bring forth for him on the Day of Resurrection a record): The Resurrection is for the Reckoning. Kitaban (a record) is the scroll of his deeds; it is in the accusative as the object of nukhriju. It is also possible that it is an adverbial state (ḥal) from a deleted object of nukhriju, which is the pronoun referring back to ṭa'ir, meaning: We bring it forth for him while it is a record. This is supported by the reading of Ya‘qub, Mujahid, and Ibn Muḥayṣin: yukhraju (with a ya, in the passive voice, from kharaja yakhruju), and kitaban is in the accusative because its subject at that time is the pronoun of ṭa'ir, and kitaban is a state from it; the origin is that the two readings conform. Similarly, the reading of Abu Ja‘far: yukhraju (with a ya, passive, from akhraja), and kitaban is also in the accusative. The aspect of it being a support is that there is a hidden pronoun in yukhraju at that time, which is the pronoun of ṭa'ir, and it was an object. The possibility that lahu is the deputy subject (na'ib fa‘il)—so it does not act as a support—is not to be looked at, because placing something other than the object as a deputy subject when the object exists is weak, and there is nothing there that could be a state from it, so what was mentioned is necessary, as Ibn Ya‘ish stated in his commentary on al-Mufaṣṣal. From him also: it was read yukhraju (passive) and kitabun (nominative) as the deputy subject. Al-Hasan read yakhruju (active voice, from the exiting) and kitabun (nominative) as the subject. A group read yukhriju (with a ya, from the bringing forth, active voice), the subject being the pronoun of Allah—Exalted is He—and in it is a shift from the first person to the third person.

Abu Ubayd and Ibn al-Mundhir narrated from Harun, who said regarding the reading of Ubayy ibn Ka‘b: "And every human We have bound his fate to his neck; he will read it on the Day of Resurrection as a record."

تلقاه منشورا (you will see it spread open): Meaning: The human will encounter it, or you will encounter it, manshuran (spread open), not folded, so that it can be read. In this is an indication that this is a matter prepared for him, not something he is unmindful of. The sentence talqahu is an adjective for kitaban, and manshuran is a state (ḥal) from its pronoun. It is also permissible that they are both adjectives for it; in that is the precedence of the sentential description over the singular description, which is contrary to the apparent rule. Ibn ‘Amir, Abu Ja‘far, al-Jaḥdari, and al-Hasan (with a difference from him) read: tullaqahu (with a damma on the ya, a fatha on the lam, and a shadda on the qaf from laqaytuhu), meaning: the human will encounter it.

Ibn Jarir narrated from al-Hasan that he said: "O son of Adam, a scroll has been spread out for you, and two noble angels have been appointed over you, one on your right and one on your left. Then when you die, your scroll is folded up and placed on your neck in your grave, until you come on the Day of Resurrection, and it is brought forth for you."