Tafsir of An-Nur 24:38

His statement—Exalted is He—(That Allah may reward them) relates, as Abu Hayyan has deemed most apparent, to "they glorify" [yusabbihu]. Abu al-Baqa permitted it to relate to "their trade and sale do not divert them" [la tulhihim] or to "they fear" [yakhafun]. However, it is not hidden that its connection to either of those mentioned requires interpretation. Perhaps its connection to an implicit verb—indicated by what was narrated concerning them initially—is more appropriate than all of that; meaning: they perform what they perform of glorification, remembrance, the giving of Zakat, and fear—with nothing diverting them from that—in order that Allah the Exalted may reward them (for the best of what they were doing). In all these interpretations, the lam [the "li" in liyajziyahum] is for the purpose of causality (ta'lil).

Abu al-Baqa stated: It is permissible for the lam to be the lam of consequence (sayrura), such as that in the saying of the Exalted, "That he may be to them an enemy and a grief." In this case, the clause is in the position of a state (hal), and the estimation is: they fear, being inspired that Allah may reward them. But this is as you see.

Al-Jaza' (reward) is the recompense and compensation for that which is praiseworthy. It is transitive to the person being rewarded with the particle 'an (as in the saying of the Exalted, "No soul shall avail another in the least"), and to the act for which the reward is given using the particle 'ala (one says: jazaytuhu 'ala fi'lihi). It is sometimes transitive to the act using the particle bi, so one says: jazaytuhu bi-fi'lihi. Regarding that which occurs as the recompense itself, it can be transitive directly or with the particle bi. Al-Raghib stated: It is said "I rewarded him [with] such and such."

The apparent meaning is that ahsan (the best) is what occurs in the position of recompense; thus, the verb jaza' is transitive to it directly, and it necessitates the estimation of an omitted genitive (mudaf); meaning: "That He may reward them [with] the best reward for what they did," or that which they did, according to what was promised to them: for a single good deed, ten times its like up to seven hundredfold, so that "the best" is of the genus of the reward.

It is also permitted that ahsan refers to the action being rewarded, or the person by whom it is done, without any omitted genitive, and the discourse implies an omitted preposition; meaning: "That He may reward them for or with the best of what they did." "The best of deeds" refers to the lowest level of the recommended (mandub), thereby excluding the "good" which is the merely permissible (mubah), for there is no reward for that. The first view is considered stronger because it is free from the omission of a preposition, which is not standard in such a context, unlike the omission of a genitive, which is frequent and standard. It is also permitted that the omitted genitive before ahsan is: "the reward for the best of what they did." It is apparent that what is meant by "what they did" is more general than what was previously mentioned, and some have interpreted it accordingly.

(And He will increase them from His bounty): That is, He will bestow upon them things the specificities, quantities, or qualities of which were not promised to them, nor did they cross their minds. Rather, they were promised only in a general way, as in the saying of the Exalted, "For those who have done good is the best [reward] and increase," and his saying—peace and blessings be upon him—narrating from the Almighty: "I have prepared for My righteous servants what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and has not crossed the heart of any human," in addition to other noble promises, among which is His statement—Exalted is He—(And Allah gives provision to whom He wills without account).

(38) This is an appended confirmation for the "increase," and a noble promise that He—the Exalted—will give them, besides the rewards for their deeds, blessings that calculation cannot encompass. The relative pronoun [the "whom" in "to whom He wills"] is an expression for those whose beautiful qualities were mentioned; it is as if it were said: "And Allah provides for them without account." Its placement in the position of the pronoun [referring to them] is to alert—via what is contained within the relative clause—that the basis of this provision is the pure will of Allah—Exalted is He—not their deeds which were narrated, just as His will is the basis for the previous guidance to His light. It is also intended to signal that they are among those whom Allah has willed to provide for, just as they are among those whom He has willed to guide to His light, as evidenced by what was detailed of their good deeds, for all of them are the effects of that guidance.