Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:102

They allow some of its types, such as intercession for an increase in degrees in Paradise, but this is not devoid of far-fetchedness; and Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

The word "law" (if only) in the saying of the Exalted, "If only we had a return," is used for wishful thinking (tamannee), as evidenced by the accusative case of His saying, "so we would be among the believers," which acts as its response. Its origin is the "law" of impossibility, and since wishful thinking pertains to that which is impossible, it was intended as such through a figurative metaphor (majaz mursal) or a derivative metaphor (isti'ara taba'iyya). It then became so widespread that it became like the literal meaning in that context. It is said: It is literal for what was mentioned. It is also said: Its origin is the source/gerund, but this is nothing.

The meaning is: "We wish we had a return to the world, so we would be among the believers, and then, when we die and are resurrected, we would not suffer the same state of torment we are in, wherein no one can benefit anyone."

It is permitted for "law" to be conditional, with its response being elided; the intended meaning being: "We would have done such-and-such good deeds," or "We would have been saved from the torment," or "We would have had intercessors and friends," or "The criminals would not have led us astray." The first estimation is more eloquent. The elided part is estimated after "so we would be," because the source/gerund derived from it is coordinated with "return"—meaning: "If we had a return, and we became believers, we would have done such-and-such."

The Shaykh al-Islam critiqued this, stating that it only signifies the realization of the content of the response upon the hypothetical realization of both their return and their faith, without any indication that the return necessitates faith at all, even though that is the intended meaning. Regarding his saying, "without any indication," there is a point of contention, as it could be said: The purport of the verse is that if the return and the faith following it were made easy for us, we would have done such acts of worship belonging to the people of faith as cannot be expressed in words; and committing to the fruits of faith is a commitment to faith itself. Their intention is to explain that the return necessitates the performance of all good deeds, whereas the faith itself, after these observations, does not need to be explained.

Some people said: Their saying "so we would be among the believers" means "so we would be among those whose faith is accepted." Allah’s acceptance of their faith is not predicated upon their return at all, but rather it is possible that it might not be accepted. Therefore, their intention must be: "If the return were made easy for us, and our faith were accepted, we would have done such-and-such." Thus, the intention is not to indicate that the return necessitates faith, as the Shaykh al-Islam claimed. This was countered by saying that the facilitation of the return would only be due to the mercy and pardon of Allah, and that necessitates the acceptance of their faith.

The truth is that one should not pay heed to the possibility of "law" being conditional, nor to the artificiality required for it, given the eloquence of the more obvious and immediate meaning. The discourse continues regarding His saying...