Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:60

"They said, 'We heard a youth mentioning them...'"

They said (i.e., some of them, namely those who heard his saying—peace be upon him—"By Allah, I will surely plot against your idols," at certain times), "We heard a youth mentioning them," meaning, disparaging them. Perhaps he is the one who did that to them.

As for "hearing" (sam'a), as some of the great scholars have stated, it is proper for it to take a single object, like all other verbs of the senses, as al-Suhayli has established. It frequently takes its object directly, and sometimes it takes it via ila, al-lam, or al-ba'. Its taking two objects is a matter of disagreement. Al-Akhfash, al-Farisi in al-Idah, Ibn Malik, and others maintained that if it is followed by something that is audible, it takes one object, as in "I heard the speech" (sami'tu al-hadith), and this is agreed upon. If it is followed by something that is not audible, it takes two objects, the second of which must be something that indicates a sound.

Some stipulated that the second object must be a clause, such as "I heard Zayd saying such-and-such," but not "I heard Zayd" (without the clause), because it indicates a substance that is not audible. As for the saying of the Exalted, "Do they hear you when you call?" (Hal yasma'unakum idh tad'un), it is based on the assumption of a genitive, meaning "Do they hear your call?" Others said the object is implied by the adverbial context, though this is questionable. Some said it takes one object by the assumption of a noun like "sound" (masmu') before the name of the substance. A clause after a definite noun is a state (hal), and after an indefinite noun, it is a descriptor (sifa). It cannot be a second object because that only occurs with verbs that introduce a subject and a predicate, and this is not one of them.

This has been challenged by the fact that it is among those verbs equated to verbs of knowledge, since hearing is a path to knowledge, as stated in al-Tashil and its commentaries. Thus, it is permitted here for "youth" (fata) to be the first object and the clause "mentioning them" (yadhkuruhum) to be the second. Alternatively, "youth" is the object and the clause is a descriptor for it, since it is indefinite. It is also said that it is an appositive (badal) to it; some prefer this because it dispenses with the need for metaphorical interpretation or ellipsis, as the clause is heard, and the appositive is the intended meaning. Replacing a single word with a clause is permissible. In al-Ham', it states that replacing a single word with a clause is an apposition of inclusion (badal ishtimal), and in al-Tasrih, it says a clause may replace a single word as an apposition of total identity (badal kull min kull), so do not overlook this.

Some said that the clause being a descriptor is more eloquent in attributing the mention to him—peace be upon him—because it involves applying the action to the one from whom it is heard, placing it in the position of being heard as a hyperbole for the absence of mediation, implying they heard him without an intermediary. Some justified the eloquence in ways other than what has been mentioned and examined. Perhaps the aforementioned face is what is achievable on the assumption of apposition, so the hyperbole does not perish with it. It may be said: this construction, however it is parsed, is more eloquent than saying "We heard the mention of a youth" or similar phrases that do not require two objects by consensus, because when "we heard" is attached to "youth," it indicates in a summary fashion that what was heard is something like his mention, since there is no meaning in the substance itself being audible; then, when "mentioning them" is stated, that is known a second time, and because it possesses the reinforcement of the judgment through the repetition of predication, as explained in the science of rhetoric. For this reason, I prefer the style of the verse over others; reflect upon it.

The saying of the Exalted, "who is called Abraham": This is a descriptor for "youth." It is permissible that it is a separate explanatory statement, but the first is more apparent. "Abraham" is in the nominative case as the deputy subject (na'ib al-fa'il) of "is called" (yuqal), according to the choice of al-Zamakhshari and Ibn 'Atiyyah. The intended meaning is his name; that is, this term is applied to him.

There is a difference of opinion regarding the permissibility of the object of "say" (qala) being a single word when its meaning is not a clause, like "I said a poem or an oration," nor is it a verbal noun for "say" or its descriptor, like "I said a saying or [I said] the truth." Al-Zajjaj, al-Zamakhshari, Ibn Kharuf, and Ibn Malik went to the permissibility if the single word is intended to mean its own name. In fact, al-Danushari mentioned that if what is meant by the single word appearing after "say" is the word itself, it must be quoted and its inflection observed. Others went to the prohibition. Abu Hayyan said: This is the correct view, as it is not recorded in their language that one says, "Such-and-such said Zayd," nor "said [he] hit." "Say" only occurred in their speech for quoting clauses and what bears their meaning. Those who prohibit it consider "Abraham" nominative as the predicate of an omitted subject—that is, "He is Abraham"—and the clause is quoted by the verb "say," as in the verse: "If you tasted her mouth, you would say: the taste of musk."

It is also permissible for it to be a subject whose predicate is omitted—that is, "Abraham is his name"—or that it is a vocative from which the vocative particle has been omitted, meaning, "It is said to him when he is summoned, 'O Abraham.'" In my view, the verse is apparent in what al-Zamakhshari and Ibn 'Atiyyah chose, and the appearance is sufficient as a preference in such matters. Al-A'lam held that "Abraham" is nominative due to neglect (ihmal), because it was not preceded by an operator that affects its pronunciation, since "say" does not affect anything except a single word containing the meaning of a clause, so it remained neglected. When a neglected word is joined to another, it is in the nominative, such as their saying, "one and two," when counting, without inserting an operator in pronunciation or assumption, and they coordinate some numbers with others. It is not hidden that what this al-A'lam says would not be uttered by anyone but the most ignorant, and for a man to be "more successful" is better for him than to speak like this.