ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ ﲵ ﲶ ﲷ ﲸ ﲹ ﲺ ﲻ ﲼ
And he had over them no authority except [it was decreed] that We might make evident who believes in the Hereafter from who is thereof in doubt. And your Lord, over all things, is Guardian.
Tafsir
Verse range: 34:21
( Man ) is a relative pronoun. To interpret it as interrogative is far-fetched. The future knowledge referred to as the cause is not the eternal knowledge inherent in the Sacred Essence; rather, it is its manifestation concerning the known within the world of observation, upon which the requital of reward and punishment is predicated. It implies the meaning of "distinguishing," as if to say: "He had no authority over them for any reason, except for the connection of Our knowledge to the one who believes in the Hereafter, distinguishing him from the one who is in doubt regarding it—a manifestation of knowledge that leads to requital." Many masters of interpretation point to this.
It has been said: The meaning is "so that We may make the believer manifest and distinct from others in the external world, so he becomes distinguished in the eyes of people."
It has been said: The intention of placing knowledge in the future is to refer to the occurrence of the known object, for it is its necessary corollary. It is as if it were said: "This was not for any reason except that he who is destined for faith may believe, and he who is destined for misguidance may go astray." The text shifts from this to what is in the sublime arrangement (of the Quran) for the sake of hyperbole, for it makes the known thing synonymous with the knowledge itself.
It has been said: The intent of "knowledge" here is "requital," as if it were said: "upon faith and its opposite."
It has been said: "Knowledge" is to be taken literally, except that the future tense holds the meaning of the past, and Allah’s eternal knowledge regarding the people of doubt necessitates the devil's authority over them.
It has been said: The intention is "that We may treat them as one who does not know that, so He acts as if He is waiting to know."
It has been said: The intention is "that Our allies and Our party may know that." The weakness in some of these opinions is not hidden from you.
The apparent phrasing would have been: "except that We might make evident who believes in the Hereafter from who does not believe in it." However, it shifts to the sublime arrangement for a subtle point: faith is contrasted with "doubt" to signal that the lowest level of disbelief is ruinous.
The present tense verb is used in the first clause to indicate that what matters in faith is the conclusion, and because it is achieved through gradual, renewed contemplation. The second clause uses a nominal sentence to indicate that what matters regarding doubt is persistence and steadfastness in it until death.
"Doubt" (shakkan) is used in the indefinite form to signify insignificance. The preposition "in" (fi) is used to indicate that even a little of it is as if it encompasses its possessor. It is constructed with "from it" (minha) rather than "in it" (fiha) and placed first, because the doubt that causes harm is that which originates from the Hereafter, and that a mere "doubt" regarding what pertains to it is sufficient.
Al-Zuhri recited it as li-yu'lama (to be made known), with the ya (y) dammaed and the lam (l) fathaed, in the passive voice.
