Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:84

His saying, the Exalted: "He said: They are close upon my track, and I hastened to You, my Lord, that You might be pleased" (84) contains an exposition of his apology, peace be upon him. Its essence is the presentation of an error in judgment. It is as if he—peace be upon him—said: "They have not strayed far from me, and my preceding them was a minor error; I presumed that such a thing would not be disapproved, and I was motivated to it by the desire for the continuity of Your pleasure or the attainment of its increase. I presumed that such a motive warrants being excused for such a deed, and it did not occur to me that there was any obstacle to disapprove of me regarding it."

This is akin to the haste that removes focus in order to catch the Imam in bowing, seeking to perform that pillar with the congregation in which the pleasure of the Lord, the Exalted, lies—for they have said that such haste is not prescribed. He—peace be upon him—prioritized the apology over denying the action itself, as that was more important.

Some have said: The interrogation is a question regarding the cause of the haste, and it entails a disapproval of it, as the act in itself is a deficiency, compounded by neglect and the suggestion of presumption. Thus, he—peace be upon him—responded regarding the cause by saying it was for the continuity of pleasure or the attainment of its increase, and regarding the disapproval by the essence that they had not strayed far from him, and that he had presumed that minor precedence—being customary among people—would not be disapproved nor counted as a deficiency.

This response was prioritized for the reason mentioned. An objection has been raised that the course of his speech, by its apparent meaning, indicates that the question regarding the cause is literal, and you are aware that literal interrogation is impossible for Allah, the Exalted, so there is no basis to construct the speech upon it. It has been answered that questioning from the Knower of the Unseen is impossible if it is for the sake of seeking knowledge, but if it is for informing another, or for rebuking, or for alerting, then it is not impossible. This has been countered by the assertion that it is not fitting here for the question to be for any of these mentioned purposes, and the prompt implication is that it is for disapproval.

In al-Intisaf, it is stated that the intent of the question from Musa—peace be upon him—regarding the cause of the haste—and He, the Exalted, is more knowing—is to teach him the etiquette of travel, which is that it is befitting for the leader of a group to be behind them so that his gaze is upon them and he is overseeing them. This meaning cannot be attained with precedence. Do you not see how Allah, the Exalted, taught this etiquette to Lut, saying: "And follow behind them" (15:65), commanding him to be the last of them? Musa—peace be upon him—only neglected this matter by hastening toward the pleasure of Allah, the Exalted, and rushing to the appointment. That is the state of one promised that which delights him; he wishes he could ride the wings of birds, and there is nothing faster than the appointment of Allah, the Exalted, for him—peace be upon him.

You know that questioning about the cause, unless the intent is to disapprove of the effect, does not allow for this teaching.

Others have said: What occurs to the mind is that the meaning is "What has hastened you, alone, apart from your people?" The disapproval is intrinsically directed at the separation from them, so it is focused on the constraint (the isolation), as is known in such examples. The disapproval of the haste is only because it was a means to that [separation]. Musa—peace be upon him—apologized for it by saying: "I erred in judgment and presumed that the minor degree of precedence would not violate the togetherness, nor be counted as separation, nor detract from companionship." The motive for it was the request for the continuity of Your pleasure by hastening to comply with Your command. Thus, the answer is his saying: "They are close upon my track," and his saying: "And I hastened to You, my Lord, that You might be pleased" is like a completion to it. In my view, this is not devoid of merit.

It has been said: The question regarding the cause and the answer is only his saying "I hastened," and what preceded it is a preamble to it. There is a scrutiny to be had in this. According to this and the previous view, the answer of Musa—peace be upon him—was not regarding two matters, so that the question of sequence would arise, to be answered by what has passed or by what al-Zamakhshari mentioned: that he—peace be upon him—was in a state of awe regarding the reproach of Allah, the Exalted, which distracted him from a response that is consistent and ordered according to the boundaries of speech. However, it is said in al-Bahr: "In this response there is a lack of etiquette toward the prophets—peace be upon them—and that is the nature of al-Zamakhshari toward them."

The intent of "to You" is the place of Your promise; thus, it is not suitable as evidence for the Mujassima (anthropomorphists) to establish a place for Him, the Exalted. Calling upon Him, the Exalted, with the title of Lordship is for the sake of greater supplication and beseeching, desiring the acceptance of the apology.

"They" (ula) is a demonstrative pronoun, as is well known, in the place of nominative as the predicate for "they." "Close upon my track" (ala athari) is a predicate after a predicate, or a circumstantial qualifier, as Abu Hayyan said. Al-Tabarsi permitted "they" to be a substitute for "they" (as a pronoun reference), and "close upon my track" to be the predicate. Abu al-Baqa' said: "They" (ula) is a relative pronoun, and "close upon my track" is its relative clause, and this is the Kufan school of thought.

Al-Hasan and Ibn Mu'adh from his father recited it as ula'i with a kasra on the ya. Ibn Wathab and 'Isa, in one narration, recited it as ula with the shortened form. A group recited it as ula'i with a fatha on the ya. 'Isa, Ya'qub, 'Abd al-Warith from Abu 'Amr, and Zayd bin 'Ali—may Allah be pleased with them—recited athari with a kasra on the hamza and a sukun on the tha. Al-Kisa'i related atari with a damma on the hamza and a sukun on the tha, and it is related from 'Isa. In al-Kashshaf: Athar with two fathas is more eloquent than athr with a kasra and a sukun. As for athr, it is heard in "the edge of the sword" and recorded in the foundations; it is said "the athr of the sword and its atharu," and it being in the meaning of "track" is strange.