Tafsir of Saba' 34:50

(Say, "If I go astray," from the truth, "then I only go astray against my own soul," meaning that the harm of that and its bane return upon it, for it is the one that earns evils and is prone to vice. "And if I am guided," to the truth, "then it is by what my Lord reveals to me." For guidance is through His—the Exalted—guidance and His—the Almighty and Majestic’s—success. The word ma (what) is a relative pronoun or a particle for forming the verbal noun. The apparent meaning would have been "and if I am guided, then it is for my own soul," like the saying of the Exalted, "Whoever does righteousness, it is for his own soul, and whoever does evil, it is against it." Or "If I go astray, then I only go astray by my own self," to show the contrast; however, he turned away from that, finding sufficiency in the contrast according to the meaning. For the discourse concerns the totality of it; every harm is from the soul, because of it, and its bane is upon it. The word ‘ala (against/upon) in the first clause signifies the meaning of lam (for) in the second, and the ba (by) in the second signifies the meaning of causality in the first. It is as if it were said: "Say, if I go astray, then I only go astray because of my own soul, against my own soul; and if I am guided, then I am only guided for my own soul by the guidance of Allah, the Exalted, and His success." He expressed this as "by what my Lord reveals to me" because it is the necessary consequence of it. Making ‘ala signify causality, even if the contrast appears in it, is an indulgence in departing from the apparent meaning without a point.

It has been permitted that the meaning of the first clause is: "Say, if I go astray, then I only go astray against myself, not against anyone else." In this, the matter of contrast does not appear at all. The ruling, according to what al-Zamakhshari said, is general; he (the Prophet, peace be upon him) was commanded to attribute it to himself because if the Messenger is included under it, despite his exalted station and the rectitude of his path, then others are more entitled to it. The Imam said: "Meaning, my going astray is like your going astray because it emanates from my soul and its bane is upon it. As for my guidance, it is not like your guidance through reflection and deduction; rather, it is through illuminating revelation." Thus, the sum of the two rulings according to him is specific to him (peace and blessings be upon him). In what he mentioned is an indication—as al-Tayyibi said—that the evidence of transmission (naql) is higher and more magnificent than the evidence of reason (‘aql), though there is debate in this.

Al-Hasan, Ibn Wathab, and Abd al-Rahman al-Muqri read ḍalaltu with a kasra under the lam and aḍillu with a fatha over the dad, which is the dialect of Tamim. Abd al-Rahman read the hamza of aḍillu with a kasra. It was also read rabbi with a fatha on the ya.

"Indeed, He is Hearing, Near." Nothing of the speech or action of either the guided or the astray is hidden from Him, the Exalted, even if they go to extremes in concealing them, so He will recompense each with what is befitting.