Surah Ta-Ha 20:122
ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ
Then his Lord chose him and turned to him in forgiveness and guided [him].
Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:122
Tafsir
Ruh al-Ma'ani
Verse range: 20:122
(Then his Lord chose him) Meaning: He—Glory be to Him—selected him and drew him near to Himself by inciting him toward repentance and granting him the success to achieve it. The term *ijtaba* (he chose) is derived from *jaba* (to gather), meaning one gathered something for himself, like saying, "I collected it." Or, it is from *jaba ila kadha* (to draw near to something), whereby one draws it close; similar to the expression "I approached the bride and unveiled her." The root meaning of the word is gathering; thus, the chosen one is as if he were, in origin, one in whom virtues were gathered until another selected him and brought him close. The reference to the title of Lordship, combined with the attribution to his pronoun—peace be upon him—contains additional honor for him.
(And He turned to him) Meaning: He returned to him with mercy and accepted his repentance when he repented. This was when he and his wife said: *(Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers).*
(And guided [him]) Meaning: To steadfastness upon repentance and to clinging to what pleases the Master—Glory be to Him, the Exalted. It is also said: [He guided him] to the manner of repentance by teaching him the words; the *waw* (and) is for absolute conjunction, so it does not matter that this occurred before his repentance. It is also said: [He guided him] to Prophethood and the fulfillment of its requirements. Abu Hayyan prioritized this above the other possibilities he mentioned. Al-Naysaburi interpreted *al-ijtiba* (choosing) as selection for the message, and he made the verse evidence that what occurred happened before the mission.
He—Glory be to Him—did not explicitly attribute the disobedience and the going astray to Eve by assigning them to the dual pronoun that refers to her and Adam—peace be upon him—as He did with the eating and what followed. This is done to avoid excessive blame upon the woman, and because the most important matter, concerning the flow of the story, is the declaration of what was attributed to Adam—peace be upon him. This also encompasses the observation of the rhyme schemes. Since the Majestic and Exalted did not explicitly mention her disobedience, He did not address the success granted to her for repentance or its acceptance from her. Some have said: He—the Exalted—sufficed with mentioning the affair of Adam—peace be upon him—because Eve follows him in the ruling; for this reason, the mention of women is omitted in most places in the Book and the Sunnah.