Tafsir of Al-Furqan 25:74

"And those who say: Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and our offspring coolness of eyes."

By granting them success in obedience, as has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, al-Hasan, Ikrimah, and Mujahid. For when a sincere believer sees that his family has joined him in obedience, his eyes are cooled and his heart is gladdened, and he anticipates their benefit to him in this world, whether he is alive or dead, and their joining him in the Hereafter. It is mentioned that in the early days of Islam, a father might be guided while his son was a disbeliever, or a husband while his wife was a disbeliever, and the life of that guided person would not be pleasant. Thus, he would pray with what has been mentioned. From Ibn Abbas: The coolness of a father's eye regarding his child is to see him writing [the science of] jurisprudence.

The preposition "min" (from) is related to "grant us," meaning: grant us from their side. It is also permitted that it be explanatory (bayaniyyah), as if it were said: "Grant us a coolness of eyes," and then the "coolness" was clarified and interpreted by His saying, the Almighty: "from among our wives and our offspring." This is based on the premise that "min" can be used for explanation and that the clarified (mubayyan) may precede the clarifier (bayyan).

"Coolness of eye" (qurrat al-ayn) is a metaphor for joy and happiness. It is derived from qurr, which is coldness, because the tear of joy is cool. Hence, its opposite is said: "May Allah, the Exalted, heat his eye" (askhana Allahu 'aynahu). To this pertains the saying of Abu Tammam: "As for the eyes of the lovers, they were heated; and as for the eyes of the gloaters, they were cooled." It is also said that it is derived from qarar (stability/settling), because that which brings joy causes the gaze to settle upon it, such that one does not look elsewhere. It is said that the opposite, "may Allah heat his eye," carries the meaning of making one fearful and expectant of what grieves him, looking right and left, in front and behind, not knowing from where it will come to him, until his eye heats up due to the excessive movement that causes heat—though this is forced.

It is said that "eyes" (a'yun) is in the indefinite form—even though it refers to the eyes of those who say it, and they are specific—for the purpose of indefinite nouns being added to show magnification, which cannot occur without the indefinite form of the mudaf ilayh (the noun to which it is added). It is the plural of paucity (jam' al-qillah), as al-Zamakhshari said, because the eyes of the God-fearing are few in comparison to the eyes of others. Abu Hayyan and Ibn al-Munir countered this by saying that although the God-fearing may be few compared to others, they are numerous in themselves, and what counts in the usage of the plural of paucity is that the totality be few in itself, not relative to others. It was answered that what is meant is that the aforementioned plural was used in the sense of paucity, stripped of numerical consideration, based on the context of the large number of those who say it and their eyes. Ibn al-Munir suggested that it is because the narrated speech belongs to each one of the God-fearing, as if it were said: "Each one of them says: Grant us from among our wives and our offspring coolness of eyes." Reflect on this and contemplate the reason for selecting this plural here, as it does not apply in other places in the way they have described here.

I suspect that "eyes" (a'yun) was chosen as the plural for the seeing eye (ayn basirah), and "springs" (uyun) as the plural for the flowing spring (ayn jariyah) throughout the entire Holy Quran. Something has occurred to me regarding the reason for this, but I do not deem it sound; perhaps you will succeed in finding what makes you independent of needing me to mention it, and Allah, the Exalted, is the Guardian of success.

Talha, Abu Amr, and the people of Kufa—except Hafs—read "our offspring" (dhurriyatina) in the singular. Abdullah, Abu al-Darda, and Abu Hurairah read "coolnesses" (qurrat) as a plural.

"And make us for the God-fearing an example (imam)." Meaning: Make us such that they emulate us in establishing the rites of religion through the dissemination of knowledge and the granting of success in action. "Imam" is used both in the singular and plural, like hajan. The intended meaning here is the plural, to correspond with the first object of the verb "make." It was chosen over "imams" (a'immah) because it is more consistent with the preceding and succeeding pauses. It is also said that it is a singular, and it was put in the singular despite the requirement for agreement because it is a generic noun (ism jins), so it is permissible to apply it to the meaning of the plural metaphorically by stripping it of the constraint of unity, or because it is originally an infinitive (masdar). Since it is set for the essence of the thing, it includes the few and the many by definition; thus, when transferred to something else, its origin may be observed. Or, it may be because what is intended is "make each one of us an example," or because they are like a single soul due to the unity of their path and the agreement of their word.

In Irshad al-Aql al-Salim, after quoting what has been mentioned, it states that the point of the explanation is that this supplication was issued by all of them by way of collectivity, which is not what occurred, or by each one, which is not established. The manifest view is that it was issued by each one saying, "Make me for the God-fearing an example," and they expressed it for them in the plural form for brevity, while keeping "example" as it is. This was criticized as being forced and arbitrary, and contrary to the rules of Arabic, and that the basis of the matter is not that, but that they joined together in the narration in a single wording due to the unity of what was issued by them. Moreover, it is permissible to choose the second [explanation] because joining in supplication is more conducive to its answering. So understand this and do not be heedless.

It is narrated from Mujahid that "imam" is a plural of a'im (meaning one who aims or intends), like siyam is the plural of sa'im (fasting). The meaning would be: "Make us those who aim for the God-fearing and emulate them." What was mentioned first is closer, as is not hidden. There is no request for leadership in this, as al-Nakha'i said, but rather it is simply a matter of them being models in religion and learned, practicing individuals. It is said that in the verse there is evidence that leadership in religion is something that should be sought.

The repetition of the relative pronoun in the seven positions, despite the sufficiency of mentioning the prayer by way of conjunction to the connection of the first relative pronoun, serves to notify that each of what is mentioned within the scope of the connections of the mentioned relative pronouns is a glorious quality in itself, possessing a grave status, worthy of having an independent descriptor assigned to it, and not having any part of it made a completion for another. The placement of the conjunction between the relative pronouns is for the purpose of treating the difference in title as equivalent to a difference in essence, as you have known more than once before.