Tafsir of Saba' 34:28

The most immediate understanding is that kaffatan is a state (hal) of "mankind" (al-nas), brought forward before "except" (illa) for the purpose of giving it importance, as Ibn Atiyyah stated. Its origin is from al-kaff, meaning to restrain/prevent; it was intended to signify universality because of the restraint it implies against straying. It became so famous in this usage that the original meaning of restraint was abandoned entirely. Thus, the meaning of "The people came kaffatan" is "they came all together."

Pointing to this grammatical analysis is what Ibn Abi Shaybah and Ibn al-Mundhir recorded from Mujahid, who said regarding the verse: "meaning, to all people." Similarly, what Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Muhammad ibn Ka‘b: "meaning, for all people." Likewise, what ‘Abd ibn Humayd, Ibn Jarir, and Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Qatadah regarding the verse: "Allah the Almighty sent Muhammad (peace be upon him) to the Arabs and non-Arabs; the most noble of them to Allah the Almighty is the one most obedient to Him." This is also what is reported from Ibn Abbas: "meaning, to the Arabs, non-Arabs, and all other nations."

This is based on the permissibility of placing the state (hal) before its possessor (sahib al-hal) when the latter is governed by a preposition (majrur). This is the position held—contrary to many grammarians—by Abu ‘Ali, Ibn Kaysan, Ibn Burhan, al-Radi, and Ibn Malik, who said: "They refused the precedence of a state over what is governed by a preposition, but I do not forbid it, for it has occurred." Also Abu Hayyan, who, after citing the permission from those mentioned (excluding al-Radi), said: "This is the correct view." Among Abu ‘Ali's examples: Zayd khayran ma yakunu khayrun minka (Zayd is the best he can be, better than you). The poet said: "If a person is overcome by a lack of chivalry in his youth, seeking it in middle age is difficult for him." Another said: "I took comfort—longing for you—after our separation, by remembering you until it was as if you were with me." The precedence of the state over its governed possessor and what it relates to has occurred. Among this is the saying: Mashufatan bika qad shaghaftu (Infatuated with you, I have become), and the saying of another: "Neglectfully, death exposes itself to the man, and he is called—there is no time for refusal." If it is permissible to place it before the governed possessor and the operative agent (‘amil), then placing it before it without the agent is even more permissible. This, they argued, is the best of the viewpoints regarding the verse, stating that anything else is forced.

It was objected that this necessitates that the operative agent before illa (which is arsalnaka) acts upon what is after illa (which is li-al-nas), even though it is neither an exception, nor the subject of an exception, nor a follower thereof, which they forbade. It was answered that the underlying structure is "We have not sent you for people except as kaffatan," so it is forward in rank; such is sufficient for the validity of the operation, given that they allow in the case of adverbial/prepositional phrases (zarf) what they do not allow elsewhere.

Al-Khafaji—may mercy be upon him—said: The best is to make li-al-nas the exception, provided the exception is mufarragh (unrestricted), and its origin is "We have not sent you for any of the things except for the conveying [of the message] to all people." As for estimating it as "We have not sent you to creation absolutely except to all people" on the basis that it is the object of the exception, it is very weak. It is not hidden that in the verse, according to what he favors, there is an ellipsis of an added term (mudaf), a separation between the exception tool and the excepted, and the precedence of the state over its possessor—all of which are contrary to the original rule, and such things rarely gather in eloquent speech. He was also objected to on the grounds that it necessitates making the lam in (li-al-nas) mean "to" (ila), which is baseless because arsala (to send) takes both lam and ila, as mentioned by Abu Hayyan and others. Thus, there is no need to make it mean "to," and even if it were made to mean that, it would not necessitate an error at all, as both lam and ila are used to mean one another. Likewise, there is no need to make it causative except based on what al-Khafaji favored.

Many have said: Kaffatan is an active participle (ism fa‘il) from kaffa, and the ta is for hyperbole (intensification), like the ta in rawiyah (great narrator) and the like. It is a state of the object of arsalnaka, and li-al-nas relates to it. Abu Hayyan leaned toward this: meaning, "We have not sent you except as one who restrains/prevents mankind from disbelief and disobedience."

Abu ‘Ali also leaned toward the state being for the subject (ka), but he said: "The meaning is: except as one gathering mankind in the conveying of the message." Abu Hayyan countered this by saying that the language does not support this because it is not recorded that kaffa means "to gather." However, there is an evident refutation here, for it is said: "He kaffa (hemmed/gathered) the edge of the shirt," and "He kaffa (bandaged) the wound with a cloth surrounding it." Ibn Durayd said: "Everything you have gathered, you have kaffaftahu (hemmed/gathered)." Even if it is considered a metaphor for restraint, because what is gathered is prevented from scattering and spreading.

It is said that it is a verbal noun (masdar) like al-kadhibah (the lie), al-‘aqibah (the end), and al-‘afiyah (well-being). It is also a state of the subject, either remaining as a verbal noun without implying something for the sake of hyperbole, or through the interpretation of an active participle, or by implying an added term: "except as a possessor of kaffah," meaning a possessor of restraint for mankind from disbelief. Or "a possessor of restraint from them straying from your conveying [of the message]."

Some held that it is a verbal noun functioning as an accusative for the sake of which the action is done (maf‘ul lahu), and did not stipulate the unification of the agent for its accusative status, as approved by al-Radi.

The scholar al-Zamakhshari held that it is an active participle from kaff, an attribute for an elided verbal noun, and its ta is for the feminine (generic/noun status), meaning "We have not sent you except with a mission (irsalah) that is kaffah," i.e., encompassing them and surrounding them, because when it encompasses them, it prevents any of them from exiting its scope. He was objected to on the grounds that kaffah has not been recorded from the Arabs except as an accusative state (hal), restricted to a plurality of rational beings, and that the deletion of the described noun and the substitution of the attribute only occurs when the description is so well-known that it is not fit for others. It was answered that kaffah here is different from what they insisted must be a state, even if they return to the same meaning. What was said about the Arabs not using it except in that way is baseless. The substitution of an attribute for its described noun is a regular, consistent analogy without condition when there is an indication. Mentioning the verb before it indicates the estimation of its verbal noun, as in qumtu tawilan and hasanan (I stood for a long time and well), meaning qiyaman tawilan (a long standing). In the Hawashi Khafaji, it is verified that Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said in his letter to the house of Banu Kakalah: "I have allotted for the house of Banu Kakalah, upon the kaffah (all) the house of the Muslims, for every year two hundred mithqals of pure gold." Ali (may Allah honor his face) also said it when he sanctioned it. Thus, these two Imams used kaffah for non-rational things and not in the accusative state.

It is not hidden that some of what was objected to regarding this view is also objected to regarding some of the previous views, and the answer to one is the answer to the other.

As for what I choose regarding the verse, it is the immediate, straightforward meaning. There is no harm in the precedence; the usage exists and there is no analogy that forbids it. The matter of the operative agent passing over something that is neither an exception nor the subject of an exception is simple, due to the talk of expansion regarding prepositional phrases. The verse in this state is more manifest in arguing for the universality of his message (peace be upon him). In this regard, it is like His saying: {Say, "O mankind, I am the Messenger of Allah to you all"}. If Judge Abu Sa‘id had argued with it, the Jew would have been silenced. It is also sometimes used in arguments with what can hardly be denied from the actions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) with the Jews of his era and his call to them to Islam—as a "bringer of glad tidings" (bashiran) to those who embrace Islam, with reward, and a "warner" (nadhiran) to those who do not, with punishment. Both descriptions are states of the object of arsalnaka. They may also be made, according to some of the previous views, as a substitution for kaffah—like the substitution of the specific for the general. Reflect upon this.

{But most of the people do not know} that; so their ignorance leads them to persist in the deviation and misguidance they are upon.