Tafsir of Ar-Rum 30:40

"Allah is He who created you, then provided for you, then will cause you to die, then will bring you to life. Are there any of your 'partners' who does any of that?"

The manifest interpretation is that the Glorious Name [Allah] is the subject (mubtada') and alladhi (He who) is its predicate. The interrogation is one of negation. Min shuraka'ikum (of your partners) is a fronted predicate, and man (who) is the deferred subject. The min in min shuraka'ikum signifies partition (tab'id). Min dhalikum (of that) is an adjective for shay'in (anything); it was brought forward and thus functioned as a state (hal), and the min here also signifies partition. Shay'in is the object of yaf'al (does), and the min prefixed to it is an intensifier for the sake of encompassing negation.

Al-Zamakhshari permitted that the Glorious Name be the subject and alladhi be its adjective, while the predicate is "Are there any of your partners... etc." The link (rabit) is the demonstrative pronoun, referring to the preceding acts of the Exalted [Allah]; thus, min dhalikum means "of His acts." The aforementioned sentence functions as a predicate because it is a negation in meaning, even if it is interrogative in form. It is as if it were said: "Allah, the Creator, the Provider, the Giver of Death, and the Giver of Life, has nothing among those who do not perform these acts as His partner." Others held it to be a predicate based on an implicit "saying" (taqdir al-qawl), as if it were said: "Allah, described as being the Creator, Provider, Giver of Death, and Giver of Life, is one about whom it is asked: 'Are there any of your partners who are described as He is described?'"

Abu Hayyan contested this, stating that a demonstrative pronoun cannot serve as a link unless it refers to the subject, and here it does not refer to it. However, it is similar to what Al-Farra permitted regarding linking via meaning—though people differed with him on this—in the verse: "And those who are taken in death among you and leave wives behind, [the wives] shall wait..." (2:234). The interpretation there is "their wives shall wait," whereby the pronoun was implied to be annexed to a pronoun referring to "those," thus achieving the link. Similarly, Al-Zamakhshari implied min dhalikum to mean "from His acts," annexed to a pronoun referring to the subject. Yet, it is not hidden that the annexation is not explicit, and if one considers it to be, it necessitates implying another annexed noun.

It was also permitted that the first min serves to clarify who does [the acts], with its related component being implicit, and man yaf'al being the subject of an implicit verb—meaning: "Has there occurred and been established one who does [these acts], being one of your partners?" Likewise, it was permitted that the second min serves to clarify the encompassing [nature of the negation]. It has been said that the first and second min are redundant, like the third, but this is as you can see.

According to what we mentioned first, the verse contains two sentences: the first indicates the establishment of attributes that are necessary consequences equal to divinity—Creation, Provision, Giving Death, and Giving Life—belonging to Him, the Exalted. The second sentence, through the conversion of a universal negative, conveys the absolute negation of these attributes from the partners they associated with Him, the Exalted—the idols and others—emphasized by the interrogation. Reason judges that what is taken as a partner is like what has been taken regarding the aforementioned ruling, meaning the negation of the possibility of these acts proceeding from it.

If you wish, you may consider shuraka'ikum (your partners) to encompass both categories [of partners and the idols], and from this, the invalidity of the partnership is understood, for it is not conceivable that one who is not a god can be a partner, due to the absence of the prerequisites of divinity in him for one who is a god in divinity. To emphasize this, the Exalted said: "Exalted is He and high above what they associate [with Him]"—meaning, above their shirk. The use of the present tense denotes the strangeness of the shirk or intimates its persistence and renewal by them.

Some have pointed out that from these two sentences, two premises—one affirmative and one universal negative—are derived, arranged in the form of a syllogism of the second figure, and that the saying of the Exalted, "Exalted is He," is derived as a universal negative representing the conclusion of that syllogism. Thus, the two aforementioned sentences are in the status of a second-figure syllogism, and the saying of the Exalted, "Exalted is He," is in the status of its conclusion. It is not hidden that this requires affectation; therefore, reflect deeply.

Al-A’mash and Ibn Wathab recited tushrikun (you associate) with the ta [indicating the second person].