Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:107

His saying—the Exalted—“You will not see therein” (meaning in the places where the mountains stood, or on the earth, according to the details provided) “any crookedness nor any ruggedness” (107).

This is a commencing statement (isti’naf) clarifying the nature of the aforementioned qa’an safsaf (level plain), or it is another circumstantial state (hal), or an attribute for the qa’an. The vision here is optical, and the address is for anyone capable of it. It (the vision) is suspended upon ‘iwaj (crookedness—with a kasrah on the ‘ayn), which is not perceived by the eyesight, but rather by insight (basirah). This is because what is intended by it is the subtle crookedness that requires geometric measurement—perceived by the intellect—to be confirmed. Thus, it is joined to that which is purely intellectual, and for that reason, that term was applied to it. This is in contrast to ‘awaj (with a fathah on the ‘ayn), for it is what is perceived by the eyesight, such as the crookedness of a wall or a stick. It is in this way that the two are distinguished in al-Jamharah and elsewhere.

Al-Marzuqi chose in his explanation of al-Fasih that there is no difference between them. Abu ‘Amr said: “‘Iwaj (with kasrah) is used for the lack of uprightness, both abstract and tangible. As for ‘awaj (with fathah), it is an infinitive, and the waw remains sound in it because it is derived from i‘waja (to be crooked). Since it is sound in the (verb of the) intellect, it remains sound in the infinitive as well.”

Al-Amt means hills. The usage of indefinite nouns (tanwin) in both terms is for the purpose of minimization. From Ibn Abbas: ‘iwajan means a deviation, and la amtan means no trace, like a strap (shirak). In another narration from him: ‘iwajan means a valley, and la amtan means a mound. From Qatadah: ‘iwajan means a fissure, and la amtan means a hillock. It has been said: al-amt refers to cracks in the earth. Al-Zajjaj said: It means that one place is thick and another is thin. It has also been said: al-amt in the verse refers to crookedness in the sky relative to the wind, while al-‘iwaj on the earth is specific to breadth. The prepositional phrase is placed before the direct object for the reason already mentioned more than once.