Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:96

The address is directed to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. "You will find them" (wa-latajidannahum) is derived from wajada (to find), used in the sense of knowing (‘ilma), which takes two objects: the pronoun "them" as the first object, and "most greedy" (ahras) as the second. The possibility that it is derived from wajada in the sense of "to encounter or hit upon"—which would take only one object—would make "most greedy" a circumstantial qualifier (hal), but this does not hold according to the school of thought which maintains that the annexation of an af’al (superlative) form—as will be explained—is purely nominal.

The pronoun refers to the Jews, about whom it was previously reported that they do not wish for death. It is also said to refer to all of them, or to the scholars of the Children of Israel. "People" (al-nas) is used in a generic sense, which is the most apparent meaning; it is also said to be specific (‘ahd), referring to a group known for being overwhelmed by greed.

The word "life" (hayah) is indefinite because it refers to a specific type of life: extended longevity. Thus, the tanwin (indefinite marking) serves the purpose of aggrandizement. It is also possible that it serves to belittle, for the true life is the life of the Hereafter ("And indeed, the home of the Hereafter—that is the life indeed"). It may also be indefinite for the sake of ambiguity; in fact, it has been said that this is the most appropriate interpretation—meaning a vague life of unknown duration. From this, their greed for extended life is known a fortiori. Abu Hayyan permitted the interpretation that there is an elided noun or adjective, meaning "a long life." You know, however, that there is no need for such an assumption.

The clause is either a circumstantial qualifier for the agent of "Say" (as held by al-Zajjaj) or it is an interjection intended to emphasize their lack of desire for death. Ubayy read "for the life" (‘ala al-hayah) with the definite article.

"And of those who associate others with Allah" (wa min alladhina ashraku) refers to the Magians (Zoroastrians). They are described as associating others with Allah because they believe in Light and Darkness, and their greeting when someone sneezed was "Live a thousand years." Others say it refers to the polytheists of the Arabs who worshipped idols. This is an application of the meaning, as if He said, "More greedy than the people, and than those who..." based on the view of Ibn al-Sarraj, Abd al-Qahir, al-Juzuli, and Abu Ali that the annexation of the af’al form, when intended to imply something greater than what it is annexed to, is merely a verbal annexation—since the meaning rests on the establishment of "from" (min) as an initial preposition. The prepositional phrase is in the place of an accusative object. Sibawayh considers it a semantic annexation with an implied "for" (lam).

The meaning of "people" here, under this interpretation, is everyone except the Jews, since it is established that the object of the preposition "from" is subordinate to the one described by the superlative in all its parts, or it is the most general category. There is no contradiction in preferring something over itself, because the af’al form possesses two aspects: the establishment of the base meaning and the addition. Its inclusion in the group is based on the first aspect, not the second. It is accompanied by "from" (min) because it is a condition for the af’al form—when intended to signify an increase over the one it is annexed to—that it be annexed to something that is a part of it, as it is designed to be a constituent of a specific whole that follows it, composed of it and its peers. There is no doubt that the Jews are not included in "those who associate others with Allah," for it is common in the Quran for them to be mentioned as opposites.

It is also possible that this is a case of omission, meaning "more greedy than those who..." This is the view of Muqatil. According to the school of Sibawayh, and in either interpretation, mentioning the polytheists is a specification after a generalization, which is the apparent way of using the preposition to indicate intensity in their greed. The addition serves to rebuke and reproach them, as they—despite being "People of the Book" who hope for reward and fear punishment—are greedier than those who hope for no such thing, believe in no resurrection, and know nothing but the immediate life. Their greed is more profound because they know they are destined for the punishment; and one who anticipates evil is the most averse to it and the most greedy for means to distance himself from it.

Some have permitted the view that "from those who associate others with Allah" is an adjective for an elided noun that is conjoined to the accusative pronoun in "you will find them," and the sentence involves a transposition, meaning: "You will find them and a faction of those who associate others with Allah to be the most greedy of people." I do not think anyone with the slightest taste would allow such a thing in the Book of Allah, for even if the meaning is correct in itself, the structure is averse to it, eloquence rejects it, and there is no necessity for it—especially for those who restrict transposition to cases of necessity.

Yes, it is possible that there is an elided subject, and the mentioned part is its adjective, or that the mentioned part is the predicate of an elided subject whose adjective is "each of them wishes" (yawaddu ahaduhum). The omission of the described noun in a sentence, when it is a part of what preceded it (the one governed by "from"), is permissible in standard speech. Otherwise, it is restricted to necessity, such as the verse: "I am the son of Jala and the raiser of banners."

In this case, "those who associate others with Allah" would mean the Jews, because "they said: Uzair is the son of God," and the explicit noun was placed in the position of the pronoun to rebuke them for their shirk (polytheism). Some permitted that this refers to the species, and "each of them wishes" refers to the Jews—meaning every one of them—but this is far-fetched.

The clause "he wishes," according to the first two interpretations, is an inception, as if it were said: "How intense is their greed?" It is also said to be a circumstantial qualifier of "those who associate others with Allah," or the pronoun in "they associate," or the pronoun in "you will find them."

"If he were to be granted long life for a thousand years"—the answer to "if" (law) is elided, meaning: "he would be delighted by that." Likewise, the object of "wishes" is elided, meaning: "a long life," and it was omitted because "if he were to be granted..." points to it, just as the answer was omitted because "wishes" points to it. This is the convention of the Basrans in such contexts. Some Kufans held that law here is a gerundive meaning "that," so it has no answer, and a noun is derived from it which serves as the object of "wishes," as if he said: "Each of them wishes for the granting of a thousand years of life." It is also said that law means "would that" (layta) and needs no answer, and the clause is cited by "wishes" in the position of an object. Although this is not a statement nor in the meaning of one, it is a psychological action from which statements arise, so it is treated as such. It was originally "if I were granted," but it was presented in the third person for the sake of suitability with "wishes," as it is in the third person.

This is unlike the explicit statement, which is not permissible—one cannot say "he said: he will certainly do." If we say that law (which is for wishing) is gerundive, there is no need to consider it a citation. Ibn Malik—may Allah be pleased with him—says that law in such cases is purely gerundive, but it resembles layta (would that) in poetry for wishing, and it is not a particle inherently assigned to it like layta. In expressions like "If you come to me and speak to me" (in the subjunctive), the origin is "I wished if you would come to me," then the verb of wishing was elided because law points to it.

It is also said that it is the conditional law imbued with the meaning of wishing. The meaning of "a thousand years" is abundance, so as to include the one who wishes never to die. It is possible that "a thousand years" is meant literally; the number 1,000 is a known count from "affinity" (ulfa), as it is composed of types of numbers based on common convention, although the correct view is that a number is composed of the units beneath it, not the numbers themselves. The root of "year" (sanah) is sanwah because they say sanawat (plural). It is also said to be sanah like jabha, because they say sanahatahu and "the palm tree turned to years" (tasannahat) when years pass over it. It is also heard in the plural as sanahat.

"And it would not remove him from the punishment that he be granted long life"—"not" (ma) is in the Hijazi or Tamimi dialect. It is a pronoun referring to "each of them," serving as its subject or as the subject of an incipient clause, while "remove him" is its predicate or the predicate of the incipient clause. The ba is an additive, and "that he be granted life" is the agent of "removing." The meaning is: "None of them would be removed from the punishment by his being granted long life."

Therein is an indication of the existence of someone who is removed from the punishment by longevity, which is "whoever believes and performs righteous deeds." According to the investigators, it is not permissible for the pronoun in the nominative to be the "pronoun of the affair" (dameer al-sha'n) because its explainer is a sentence, and the ba does not enter the predicate of ma unless it is singular (according to those other than al-Farra). Abu Ali permitted this, which is an inclination toward the Kufan school that the explainer of the "pronoun of the affair" may be other than a sentence if it forms a semantic attribution, such as "He is not standing, Zaid." Yes, they permitted it to be for what "he is granted life" points to, and "that he be granted life" is a substitute for it—meaning: "His being granted life would not remove him from the punishment."

It was objected that this contains weakness due to the separation between the substitute and the original, and because of substitution without need. Some investigators answered that since the phrase for "being granted life" was not mentioned, but rather its pronoun, the substitution is elegant. If the "being granted life" had been mentioned in its literal form, the second would be an emphasis, not a substitute. And because it is in reality a repetition that yields the benefit of establishing the one subject to judgment—out of concern for the status of the judgment based on the intensity of his greed for longevity—it is permissible to separate it from the original by the predicate, as in the emphasis in the verse: "And they, regarding the Hereafter, are deniers."

It is also said that it is a vague pronoun explained by the substitute, so it returns to it and not to something preceding understood from the verb. The explanation after the vagueness makes it more impactful in the soul of the listener, and stabilizes in his mind that he is subject to that judgment. Separation by the prepositional phrase between it and its explainer is permissible, as understood from the speech of al-Rida in the discussion of the verbs of praise and blame. The possibility that "he" is a separating pronoun placed before the predicate is far-fetched.

Zahzah (removal) means to distance, and it is a reduplicated form of zahha—yazahhu—zahhan, like kavkaba from kabba. It contains exaggeration, but it is directed toward negation, as in the statement: "And your Lord is not unjust to the servants." Thus, it leads to the fact that longevity has not the slightest effect in removing the punishment. This is valid even though longevity provides a reprieve from punishment for the duration of remaining—because the delay, according to time, occurs, but because of their committing sins through that longevity, the intensity of their punishment increased. Thus, it had not the slightest effect in removing it, but rather increased it, as they incurred eternal punishment in exchange for "counted days."

"And Allah is All-Seeing of what they do"—meaning He is aware of the hidden aspects of their deeds, and He will inevitably recompense them. Attributing "sight" (basir) to knowledge—even if it is in the sense of seeing—is also an attribute of Allah, because some deeds cannot be "seen," according to the view of some investigators. In this clause is a threat and warning that is apparent. "What" (ma) is either relative or gerundive. The verb is in the imperfect form to suit the endings of the verses. Al-Hasan, Qatadah, al-A’raj, and Ya’qub read "you do" with the ta (second person), as a turn of address (iltifat).