Tafsir of As-Sajdah 32:17

(No soul knows): That is, every single soul—neither a favored angel nor a sent prophet, let alone those beneath them—for the indefinite noun in a negative context implies generality. The Fa (in fala) is either causative or Fasiha (eloquent, revealing an implied condition); meaning: they were given beyond their hopes, so no soul knows.

(What has been hidden for them): That is, for those whose magnificent attributes have been enumerated.

(Of the delight of eyes): That is, of that which causes eyes to be delighted. In attributing the "delight" to "eyes" in an absolute sense, rather than specifically "their eyes," there is an indication that what has been hidden for them is at the utmost degree of beauty and perfection.

The two Shaykhs (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) and others narrated from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet (may Allah exalt his mention): "Allah the Exalted says: 'I have prepared for My righteous servants what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and has never occurred to the heart of man,' let alone what I have revealed to you. Read if you wish: 'No soul knows what has been hidden for them of the delight of eyes.'"

Al-Firyabi, Ibn Abi Shaybah, Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, At-Tabarani, and Al-Hakim (who authenticated it) narrated from Ibn Mas'ud, who said: "It is written in the Torah: 'Indeed, Allah the Exalted has prepared for those whose sides forsake their beds what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and has never occurred to the heart of man; no favored angel or sent prophet knows it.' And it is in the Quran: 'No soul knows what has been hidden for them of the delight of eyes.'"

(As a reward for what they used to do): That is, they were rewarded with a reward because of what they used to do of righteous deeds. Jaza'an (reward) is an absolute object (maf'ul mutlaq) for an implied verb, and the sentence is an initiation (musta'nafah).

It is permissible to interpret it as a state (haliyyah). It is said: It is permissible to make it an infinitive (masdar) that confirms the substance of the preceding sentence. It is also said: It is permissible for it to be an object for a reason (maf'ul lahu) for His saying, 'No soul knows,' in the sense that knowledge was withheld for the sake of the reward, or for the sake of the fact that it was "hidden"—for its concealment is due to the loftiness of its status. From Al-Hasan, it is said: "The people concealed deeds in the world, so Allah the Exalted concealed for them what no eye has seen and no ear has heard," meaning He concealed that so that the reward would be of the same nature as the work.

In Al-Kashf, it is stated that this indicates that the Fa in His saying 'Fala ta'lam' (So no soul knows) links the latter to the former, and its origin is "so they do not know" (fala ya'lamun); the shift to this phrasing is to magnify the reward. The omission of the actor in 'ukhfiya' (was hidden) serves as an intimation of it, for its concealer is the One, the Mighty, and the mind should not wander to anyone else besides Him, the Glorified. So contemplate this.

Hamzah, Ya'qub, and Al-A'mash read 'ukhfi' with a quiescent ya as a present tense verb for the first person (I hide). Ibn Mas'ud read 'nukhfi' with the nun of majesty. Al-A'mash also read 'akhfaytu' attributed to the singular first-person pronoun. Muhammad ibn Ka'b read 'akhfa' as a past tense verb in the active voice.

Ma (what) in all of these is a relative pronoun acting as the object of ta'lam (knows). "Knowing" here refers to acquaintance. The referent is the implicit pronoun acting as the subject (na'ib al-fa'il) according to the reading of the majority, while it is omitted in other readings. Abu al-Baqa' said: It is permissible for Ma to be interrogative, with its position being in the nominative as an initial subject (mubtada'), and 'ukhfiya lahum' being its predicate—according to the reading of those who vocalize the ya with a fathah. According to the reading of those who make it quiescent and treat 'ukhfi' as a present tense verb, Ma is in the accusative position governed by ukhfi. One understands its status across all other readings. If it is interrogative, "knowing" can mean acquaintance or its literal sense, in which case it takes two objects, with the interrogative sentence filling the place of those two. In both the relative and interrogative possibilities, the ambiguity serves to signify greatness.

'Abdullah, Abu al-Darda', Abu Hurayrah, 'Awn, and Al-'Uqayli read 'min qurrat a'yun' as 'qurat' (pluralized with alif and ta'), which is also a narration from Abu 'Amr, Abu Ja'far, and Al-A'mash. The noun or its infinitive is pluralized due to the different types of delight. The prepositional phrase is in the position of a state (hal).