Tafsir of Al Imran 3:108

Surah Al Imran 3:108

ﳅ ﳆ ﳇ ﳈ ﳉ ﳊ ﳋ ﳌ ﳍ ﳎ ﳏ ﳐ

These are the verses of Allah. We recite them to you, [O Muhammad], in truth; and Allah wants no injustice to the worlds.

Tafsir

Ruh al-Ma'ani

Verse range: 3:108

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*Āl ʿImrān: 108*

(Those): meaning those previously mentioned, the magnitude of which is great.

(Are the verses of Allah We recite to you): meaning We read them to you part by part. Attributing this to Him, the Exalted, is a metaphor, for the reciter is Gabriel, peace be upon him, by His—the Glorified and Exalted’s—command. In shifting from the literal truth to the first-person plural of majesty, there is a hidden concern for the recitation and the one to whom it is recited. The verbal sentence is in the state of being an adverbial state (ḥāl) for "the verses," and the operative factor therein is the meaning of the indication.

It has been permitted that it be in the position of a predicate for "Those," and "verses" be a substitute (badal) for it. It has also been recited as yatlūhā (He recites them) in the third-person form.

(In truth): meaning accompanied by, or being accompanied by, sincerity or justice in all that those verses indicate and speak of. Thus, the prepositional phrase is in the position of a confirming state (ḥāl mu’akkidah) for either the subject or the object.

(And Allah does not desire injustice for the worlds): by inflicting upon them, out of justice, a punishment they do not deserve, or by diminishing their reward, out of grace, for what they have earned. This sentence confirms the content of what preceded it in the most perfect manner, as "injustice" is indefinite (nakirah), and the negation is directed toward the desire for it in the present tense (muḍāriʿ), which—with the aid of the context—conveys the permanence of the negation. The ruling is linked to the Glorified Name, and injustice is the placing of a thing in other than its appropriate place or the omission of an obligation. This is impossible for Him, the Exalted, due to the proofs established for that. The negation of a thing does not necessitate its possibility; for the impossible is indeed negated, as in His, the Exalted’s, saying: “He neither begets nor is He begotten.”

It has been said: The apparent meaning is that Allah does not desire what constitutes injustice among the servants themselves, not that everything He does is not injustice on His part. For the context is one of explaining that He does not allow the reward of the righteous to go to waste, nor does He neglect the disbeliever, but rather recompenses him for his disbelief. If the intended meaning were that everything He does is not injustice, this would not be derived from the text, and in that [assertion] is what is hidden.