Surah Saba' 34:47
ﳍ ﳎ ﳏ ﳐ ﳑ ﳒ ﳓ ﳔ ﳕ ﳖ ﳗ ﳘ ﳙ ﳚ ﳛ ﳜ ﳝ ﳞ ﳟ
Say, "Whatever payment I might have asked of you - it is yours. My payment is only from Allah, and He is, over all things, Witness."
Tafsir of Saba' 34:47
Tafsir
Ruh al-Ma'ani
Verse range: 34:47
(Say, "Whatever I have asked you for of a reward") Meaning: Whatever benefit I have requested of you for conveying the message.
(It is for you) The intent here is to negate the request altogether, similar to your saying to a companion, "If you have given me anything, then take it," while you know that he has given you nothing. "Whatever" (*ma*) is conditional and is the object of "I have asked you for" (*sa’altukum*). This is what has been narrated from Qatadah.
It has been said that it is relative (mawsulah), with the pronominal referent omitted, and "from" (min) is for clarification. The particle fa entered the predicate due to its inclusion of a conditional meaning; that is: "That which I have asked of you as a reward, it is for you," and its fruit returns to you. According to what has been narrated from Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with both of them—this is an allusion to the "affection for kindred" (al-mawaddah fi al-qurba) mentioned in the verse of Allah the Exalted: (Say, "I do not ask you for this any reward except affection for kindred"). That this is for them—according to the view that "kindred" means their own relatives—is manifest. As for the view that it means His (the Prophet's) relatives, it is because His relatives—peace and blessings be upon him—are also their relatives. Or, it is an allusion to that, and to what is contained in the verse of Allah the Exalted: (Say, "I do not ask you for it any reward, except for whoever wills to take a path to his Lord"). It is apparent that taking a path to Him, the Exalted, is their greatest benefit.
It is permissible that "what" (ma) is negative and "from" (min) is a reinforcement. His statement, the Exalted, (It is for you) is the response to an implied condition; that is: "If I have not asked you for anything, then it is for you," but this is contrary to the apparent meaning.