Tafsir of An-Nur 24:25

His saying, "On that day," is an adverbial phrase for His, the Exalted's, saying: "Allah will pay them their due recompense—the Truth." The tanwin (nunation) is a substitute for the clause to which it is annexed. Tawfiyah means to give something in full. "Due" (din) here means recompense; from this is the saying, "As you judge, so shall you be judged." "The Truth" (al-haqq) is the One who brings things into existence according to the dictates of wisdom. Close to this is its interpretation as the "Fixed Reality" that must inevitably be established for them; meaning, on the day their aforementioned limbs testify against them regarding their ugly deeds, Allah, the Exalted, gives them their recompense—which corresponds to the requirements of wisdom—in full and complete measure. The speech is an initiation intended to clarify the ordering of the judgment of the testimony upon them, containing a clarification of that ambiguous, omitted matter mentioned previously in summary. It is permissible that "on that day" be an appositive (badal) for "the day [their tongues] bear witness," for those who hold that the latter relates to "He will pay them." Zayd ibn Ali, may Allah be pleased with them both, read it as yuwaffihim (in a lightened form). Abdullah, Mujahid, Abu Rawq, and Abu Haywah read "the Truth" (al-haqq) in the nominative case (raf’) as an adjective for the Majestic Name; it is permissible to separate the described and its adjective with an object. The meaning of "the Truth" according to this reading, as al-Raghib stated, is the One who brings things into existence according to what wisdom requires. Some interpreted it as "The Just," and the majority interpreted it as "The Necessary by His Essence" (al-wajib li-dhatihi). It is the same in His, the Exalted's, saying: "And they will know that Allah is the Manifest Truth."

"The Manifest" (al-mubin) is derived either from the intransitive abana, meaning the One whose truthfulness is apparent (on the assumption that it is an adjective for "The Truth"), or the One whose divinity is apparent (on the assumption that it is a second predicate). Alternatively, it is from the transitive abana, meaning the One who makes things manifest just as they are in themselves. The clause "and they will know" is conjoined to the clause "Allah will pay them." If it is restricted by the same condition as the first, the meaning is: "On the day their aforementioned limbs testify against them regarding their ugly deeds, they will know that Allah..." If it is not restricted by that, it is permissible that the meaning be: "And they will know, upon witnessing the terrors and calamities, that Allah..." It is apparent that for the testimony in the first case, and for the witnessing in the second, there is an input into the soundness of the knowledge regarding the content of what is in the position of "they will know." Reflect on this to understand the method of inference, for it contains subtlety, especially when observing the restriction derived from the definition of the two parts and the pronoun of separation (damir al-fasl).

It is said that the knowledge of the creation regarding the attributes of Allah, the Exalted, on the Day of Resurrection is necessary (self-evident), even if they vary in that from some aspects; thus, they know what is mentioned without the involvement of either of the two aforementioned matters. Perhaps the benefit of this knowledge is their despair of anyone rescuing them from what they are in, or the closing of the door of objection—which brings some relief to the heart—or the clarification of their error in casting falsehood upon the chaste wife of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). For His Truthfulness refuses that He, the Exalted, be "The Truth"—that is, the One who brings things into existence according to the requirements of wisdom—because we have previously established that the immorality of the wives of the prophets (peace be upon them) disrupts the wisdom of the mission. Likewise, it refuses that He, the Exalted, be "The Truth"—that is, Necessary by His Essence—based on the fact that necessary existence entails being characterized by wisdom, and indeed, by all perfect attributes.

This clause is extremely manifest in that the verse concerns Ibn Ubayy and his ilk among the hypocrites who cast slander upon the chaste wife of the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), because the believer has known that Allah, the Exalted, is the Manifest Truth since he was in the world, not that this knowledge occurs to him only on the Day of Resurrection. As for those who held that it concerns those among the believers who cast slander, or both them and the hypocrites, they said: It is possible that the intent of "knowing" is the mind’s focus and orientation toward it; this does not preclude it having been obtained beforehand. The Master, the Pillar (may his secret be sanctified), in his annotations on the Matali’, interpreted "knowledge" in their definition of dalalah (indication)—that a thing is in a state where knowledge of it necessitates knowledge of something else—in this way, so that it would not be objected that it entails, on the apparent meaning, that the word would not be an indication when repeated (due to the impossibility of knowing what is already known). It is also possible that their knowledge, which was obtained beforehand, has been treated as if it were not obtained, due to the lack of the necessary consequence of refraining from slander being applied to it; such a treatment is common in the Glorious Book. It is also possible that the meaning is: "They will know by sight" the consequence of the fact that Allah is the Manifest Truth—meaning, the requital of the oppressor for the sake of the oppressed—and other possibilities exist. You know that all of these are contrary to the apparent meaning, so ponder.