Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:130

(And who would turn away from the creed of Abraham) – This is a negation and an expression of improbability that anyone among the rational beings would turn away from his creed, as it is the truth, manifest with the utmost clarity. That is, no one turns away from it except the one who degrades his own soul, meaning he has made it lowly and humiliated. The root of safah (foolishness) is lightness, and from this is the expression "a safih rein," meaning light. Safaha with a kasra on the fa is transitive in itself, as stated by al-Mubarrad and Tha'lab, and "his soul" is its direct object. As for safuha with a damma, it is intransitive. Supporting this is what is mentioned in the hadith: "Arrogance is to treat the truth with disdain (safah) and to belittle people." It is also said that it is intransitive and extends to an object due to its inclusion of the meaning of a verb that is transitive, i.e., he has treated his soul with ignorance due to the lightness of his intellect and his lack of reflection; this is the view of al-Zajjaj. Others say it means he has destroyed it; this is the view of Abu Ubaidah. Some say the accusative case is due to the removal of the preposition, meaning "in his soul," so it does not contradict its intransitivity; this is the view of some Basrans. Others say it is a discernment (tamyiz), like the saying of al-Nabigha al-Dhubyani: "We take after him the remnants of a life, [with] a bowed back, having no hump." Others say it is an analogy to the direct object. Abu Hayyan objected to all of this, saying that "inclusion" and the accusative by removal of the preposition are not subject to analogy, that analogy to the direct object is restricted—according to the majority—to descriptions (as was said regarding the verse), and that the Basrans forbade the coming of discernment as a definite noun. Thus, the truth that should not be transgressed is the opinion that it is transitive.

The word "who" (man) is either a relative pronoun or an adjective, in a state of nominative case according to the preferred view, as a substitute for the pronoun in "turns away," because it is an exception from something that is not positive. The occasion of the revelation of the verse is what is narrated: that Abdullah ibn Salam invited his two nephews, Salamah and Muhajir, to Islam, saying to them, "You both know that Allah the Exalted said in the Torah: 'I am sending from the offspring of Ishmael a prophet whose name is Ahmad; whoever believes in him has attained guidance and righteousness, and whoever does not believe in him is cursed.'" Salamah accepted Islam, while Muhajir refused, so this was revealed.

(And We have certainly chosen him in the world) – meaning, We selected him for the mission through that creed, and We chose him from among all creation. Its root is the taking of the "choicest" of a thing, i.e., its pure part. (And indeed, in the Hereafter he is among the righteous) – meaning those who are witnessed to have maintained steadfastness, uprightness, and righteousness. This sentence is conjoined to the one before it, and in terms of meaning, it is a clear proof that the one who turns away from the creed of Abraham is a fool, since selection and honor in this world are the pinnacle of worldly goals, and righteousness comprises the perfections of the Hereafter. There is no objective for a person who is not a fool other than the good of the two abodes.

As for the grammatical aspect, it is possible that it acts as a state (hal) confirming the dimension of the negation, and the lam is the lam of inception; that is, "Does he turn away from his creed while there is with him that which necessitates the opposite?" This is the apparent meaning of the wording, as there is no need to assume an oath, and al-Radi found this acceptable. It is also possible that it is a conjunction to what preceded it, or an interpolation between two conjoined clauses, and the lam is the answer to an assumed oath. This is the apparent meaning because the default in sentences is independence, and to provide the increased emphasis required in this context, and to signal that the claimant is not in need of clarification. The intention is to praise him, peace be upon him. The first sentence is in the past tense to signify its occurrence at the time of the report, and the second is a nominal sentence to avoid restricting it to a time, because his inclusion in the group of the righteous of the Hereafter is a continuous matter in both abodes, not something that occurs only in the Hereafter. The emphasis (with inna and the lam) is because matters of the Hereafter are hidden from the addressees, so their need for emphasis is greater than for matters whose effects we witness. The word "in" is linked to "the righteous," provided that "the" (al) is for definition, not a relative pronoun, so as to avoid the requirement of having part of the sila (relative clause) precede it—given that what is sometimes excused in a prepositional phrase is not excused elsewhere—or linked to an omitted term, meaning "righteous," or "I mean." Making it linked to "We have chosen him" involves a displacement (taqdim wa ta'khir) in the verse. Or it may be linked to an omitted term acting as a state from the implicit pronoun in the description, though this is far-fetched.