Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:81

Surah Ta-Ha 20:81

ﱲ ﱳ ﱴ ﱵ ﱶ ﱷ ﱸ ﱹ ﱺ ﱻ ﱼ ﱽ ﱾ ﱿ ﲀ ﲁ ﲂ ﲃ

[Saying], "Eat from the good things with which We have provided you and do not transgress [or oppress others] therein, lest My anger should descend upon you. And he upon whom My anger descends has certainly fallen."

Tafsir

Ruh al-Ma'ani

Verse range: 20:81

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81

"Eat of the good things We have provided you," meaning: of its delicacies or its lawful things, based on the principle that the 'good' (tayyib) is that which is considered good by nature or by Sacred Law. It is also permissible that the 'good things' (tayyibat) denote what combines the qualities of pleasure and lawfulness. The sentence is a new beginning, introduced to explain the permissibility of what was mentioned for them and to complete the favor upon them. Some of those mentioned earlier read it as razaqtukum (I have provided you).

The Exalted One placed the favor of deliverance from the enemy first, because it falls under the category of averting harm, which is more important than attracting benefits. Whoever has tasted the bitterness of the enemies' plotting—may Allah Almighty abandon them—and then Allah Almighty delivered him and placed their plotting in their own throats, knows the value of this favor. We ask Allah Almighty to complete His favors upon us and not to allow any enemy a path to us.

He, the Majestic and Exalted, followed this with the religious favor, as it is the highest of benefits, and delayed the worldly favor, as it is inferior to the former; woe to him who sells his religion for the world.

"And do not transgress therein," meaning: in what We have provided you by failing to thank Him, by overstepping the limits of Allah Almighty therein through extravagance and insolence, by using it to assist in sins against Allah, or by withholding the mandatory rights due in it. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: It means, do not oppress one another, taking from your companion what is not rightfully yours. It is also said: Do not hoard. Zayd ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) read wa la tatghū with a damma on the ghayn.

"Lest My wrath befall you," which is the response to the prohibition, meaning: My wrath will be binding upon you. It becomes necessary (yahl) for you. From hull of a debt: when its payment becomes due. Its origin is from hulūl (arrival/alighting), which refers to physical bodies, then it was borrowed for other things and became so common that it became a literal meaning for them.

"And he upon whom My wrath falls has certainly perished [fallen]," meaning: he has been destroyed. Its origin is falling from a height, like a mountain, then it was used for destruction because of its connection to it. It is also said: It means he fell into an abyss, and Sibawayh held this view. In some traditions, it is mentioned that there is a palace in Hell; the disbeliever is thrown from its top and he falls (yahwī) through Hell for forty autumns before reaching the salsal (hard, dry clay). This is the meaning of His saying: "has certainly perished," so it would be in its original sense if a specific instance is intended, not as a general rule.

Al-Kisa'i read fayuhilla with a damma on the ha', and man yahlul with a damma on the first lam. This is the reading of Qatada, Abu Haywa, al-A'mash, and Talha. Ibn 'Utbah agreed in yahlul with a damma. In al-Iqna' by Abu Ali al-Ahwazi, it is stated that Ibn Ghazwan read from Talha: la yahlunna 'alaykum with a doubled nun, a fatha on the lam, and a kasra on the ha', which is from the category of "I shall certainly let you see" (la-uriyannaka). In the book al-Lawamih, Qatada, Abdullah ibn Muslim ibn Yasar, Ibn Wathab, and al-A'mash read fayuhilla with a damma on the ya' and a kasra on the ha', from ihlal (to make something descend/lawful). Its subject is the pronoun of transgression, and "My wrath" is its object. It is also permissible for [My wrath] to be the subject, with the object being omitted—meaning: the punishment or the like. The meaning of yuhilla with a damma on the ha' is "to send down," from the verb halla in the land, meaning "to descend," as in al-Kashshaf.

In al-Misbah: "The punishment descends (halla) and becomes due (yahillu and yahullu)." This specific word takes kasra and damma, while others take only kasra.

Anger in humans is the boiling of the heart's blood upon desiring vengeance. In the Hadith: "Beware of anger, for it is a burning coal kindled in the heart of the son of Adam. Do you not see the swelling of his veins and the redness of his eyes?" If Allah Almighty is described by it, this meaning is definitely not intended; rather, a meaning befitting His majesty is intended. It sometimes refers to vengeance and punishment, or the intent thereof—we seek refuge in Allah Almighty from that. Describing this with "descending" (hulul) is literal according to some interpretations and metaphorical according to others. In al-Intisaf, it is stated that describing it with "descending" does not hold if it is intended to mean the intent of punishment. That would be similar to the saying of the Prophet (may Allah Almighty bless him and grant him peace): "Our Lord descends to the lowest heaven," according to the well-known interpretation, or the "descending" of the effect of the intent is expressed by the "descending" of the intent itself, expressing the effect through the cause, just as one looking at the wonders of Allah's creations says: "Look at the power of Allah," meaning the effect of the power, not the power itself.