Tafsir of Al Imran 3:199

Ibn Jarir recorded from Jabir that when the Negus died, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Go out and pray for a brother of yours who has died." He went out and led us in prayer, reciting four takbirs. The hypocrites said, "Look at this man praying over a Christian slave whom he has never seen." Then Allah revealed this verse.

It was also narrated from Ibn Abbas, Anas, and Qatadah. Ata stated that it was revealed concerning forty men from the people of Najran of the Banu al-Harith ibn Ka‘b—thirty-two from the land of Abyssinia and eight from Rome—who were all followers of the religion of ‘Isa (peace be upon him) and believed in the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). It was narrated from Ibn Jurayj, Ibn Zayd, and Ibn Ishaq that it was revealed concerning a group of Jews who embraced Islam, among them Abdullah ibn Salam and those with him. Mujahid held that it was revealed concerning the believers among all the People of the Scripture. The most famous narration is that it was revealed concerning the Negus (al-Najashi). This word is with a fat-hah on the nun, as stated by al-Zarkashi. Ibn al-Sayyid reported it with a kasrah, which is followed by Ibn Dihyah. Giving the jim a fat-hah, whether light or stressed, is incorrect. It ends with a silent ya, and this is the most common narration because it is not a relative adjective. Ibn al-Athir reported it with a stress, though some considered this an error. It is a title for every king of Abyssinia, and his name was Ashama, with a fat-hah on the hamzah, a sukūn on the sad, and a ha. The Abyssinians pronounce it with a kha, meaning in their language "gift of the idol." Muqatil mentioned in Nawadir al-Tafsir that his name was Makhul ibn Sa‘sa‘ah, but the first is the most famous. He passed away in Rajab of the ninth year.

The sentence is a new beginning introduced to clarify that not all the People of the Scripture are like those whose traits were previously recounted—such as breaking covenants, distorting scripture, and so on—but rather, among them are those who possess glorious merits. It also contains an allusion to the hypocrites, who are the vilest sort of disbelievers; in this, there is a connection between this verse and the preceding ones. If you observe the partnership between these [believers] and those [other] believers regarding the reward that is with Allah, the connection becomes stronger. If you also note that the previous verses contained praise for the Emigrants (Muhajirin), and this verse contains praise for those to whom they migrated—insofar as the first migration was to them—the connection becomes stronger still. Furthermore, if you consider the interpretation of the "relative" (al-mawsul) in the verse "Let it not deceive you" as referring to the Jews, the connection gains even more strength.

The lam of initiation (lam al-ibtida’) is prefixed to the subject of inna, which is permitted here because the predicate precedes the subject. "And what has been revealed to you" refers to the glorious Quran, "and what has been revealed to them" refers to the Gospel and the Torah, or both. The delay in mentioning their belief in these scriptures relative to their belief in the Quran—even though in reality the matter is the reverse—is because the Quran is the standard and overseer of them. Their belief in those scriptures is only valid insofar as it follows their belief in the Quran, for there is no consideration given to the abrogated rulings in those two books, and what is not abrogated is only considered in light of its confirmation by the Quran. It has been said that belief in what was revealed to them was mentioned first to hasten the joy brought to them. The intent of belief in the latter is belief without distortion or concealment, which is the practice of the distorters and concealers.

"Humble to Allah" means submissive to Him, the Exalted. Ibn Zayd said: "Fearful and lowly." Al-Hasan said: "Humility (khushu‘) is the fear that persists in the heart from Allah, the Exalted." This is a state (hal) of the subject of "believe." It is pluralized to conform to the meaning after having first conformed to the grammatical form. It is also said to be a state of the pronoun in "to them," which is closer solely in terms of wording. The state was used as an allusion to the hypocrites who believe only out of fear of being killed. "To Allah" is connected to "humble." It is also said that it is connected to the negated verb that follows, and it is intended to be delayed, as if the Exalted said: "They do not sell the verses of Allah for a small price" for the sake of Allah. The first is more appropriate.

This negation explicitly states their opposition to the distorters. The sentence is also in the place of a state. The meaning is: they do not take a small compensation for distorting the scripture or concealing the truth, such as bribes or sustenance, as was done by those whom the Exalted described previously. Describing the price as "small" is either because everything taken for distortion is such, even if it were the contents of the entire world, or it is merely to disparage those who take it. Praising them for what has been mentioned is not only for their refraining from taking payment, but because this implies the manifestation of what is in the verses of guidance and the proofs of his prophethood, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

"Those" refers to those described with the aforementioned praiseworthy attributes. The choice of the form used for distant objects (ula’ika) is to indicate the loftiness of their rank and their distant station in honor and virtue. "For them is their reward with their Lord," meaning the reward for their deeds and their obedience. The attribution to the Lord is for the sake of the promise—that is, the reward specific to them which was promised to them by His words: "Those will be given their reward twice," and His saying: "He will give you two portions of His mercy." The expression using the title of Lordship, combined with the attribution to their pronoun, contains a subtlety that is not hidden. There are various grammatical ways to parse the speech: they say "Those" is the subject and the prepositional phrase is the predicate; or the phrase is a preceding predicate and "their reward" is a delayed subject, and the sentence is the predicate of the initial subject; or "with their Lord" is a state of "their reward." It is also said it is connected to it based on the estimate that the meaning is "it is ordained for them to be rewarded with their Lord." It is permitted that "their reward" is the subject and "with their Lord" is the predicate, while "for them" is connected to what the speech indicates of stability and existence, as it holds the status of a predicate. These methods are common on the tongues of grammarians.

"Indeed, Allah is swift in account" is either a metonymy for the perfection of the Exalted’s knowledge of the amounts of rewards and the levels of desert, and that He fulfills this for every worker as is appropriate and to the extent that is appropriate—in which case the sentence is a new start acting as an explanation for His words "For them is their reward with their Lord"—or it is a concluding statement (tadhyil) to clarify the reason for the ruling. Alternatively, it is a metonymy for the nearness of the promised reward, for the swiftness of the account necessitates the swiftness of the recompense; in which case, the sentence is a completion of what preceded it, as it is in the meaning of a promise, as if it were said: "They have a reward with their Lord" soon. It was separated because the ruling of the nearness of the reward serves to emphasize its certainty.