Tafsir of Ya seen 36:26-27

This is an initiation to explain what befell him after his previous statement. The apparent meaning is that the command given to him to enter Paradise was a literal entry, indicating that the man had departed from this world. Ibn Mas‘ud stated that after he said what he said, they killed him by trampling him with their feet until his intestines emerged from his rear, and he was thrown into a well, which is the Rass. Al-Suddi said: They pelted him with stones while he was saying, "O Allah, guide my people," until he died. Al-Kalbi said: They threw him into a pit and covered him with soil, and he died. From al-Hasan, it is reported that they burned him until he died and hung him at the gate of the city; his grave is in the wall of Antioch. It is also said: They sawed him with a saw until it emerged from between his legs.

His entry into Paradise after death is the entry of his soul and its roaming therein, like the entry of all other martyrs. It is also said that the command was for glad tidings, not for literal entry. The angels of death said this to him as good news that he is one of the people of Paradise, which he shall enter when the believers enter it after the Resurrection. A similar view is narrated from Mujahid.

‘Abd ibn Humayd, Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from him (Mujahid) regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted: { It was said, "Enter Paradise" }, that it means: Paradise has become obligatory for him. A narration from al-Hasan states: When his people wanted to kill him, Allah the Exalted raised him to heaven alive, just as ‘Isa, peace be upon him, was raised. He is in Paradise, not dying except with the perishing of the heavens and the destruction of Paradise. When Allah the Exalted restores Paradise, his entry into it will be restored, so the command is as in the first interpretation. The majority hold that he was killed, and Ibn ‘Atiyyah claimed that the reports and narrations regarding this are mutawatir (mass-transmitted). The statement of Qatadah, "Allah entered him into Paradise, and he is therein alive, provided for," is not an explicit text negating his killing. In al-Bahr, it is suggested that by his statement "and he is therein alive, provided for," he intended the saying of Allah the Exalted: { Rather, they are alive with their Lord, being provided for }.

Some say the sentence is an answer to an implied question. It is as if it were asked: "What is his state when meeting his Lord, the Almighty and Majestic, after that steadfastness in his religion?" And it was said: { It was said, "Enter Paradise" }. Using the past tense denotes the certainty of the occurrence. Perhaps what we indicated first is better. The reason it was not said "it was said to him" is because the important purpose is to clarify what was said, not the speaker or the one to whom it was said.

His saying, { He said, "I wish my people knew of how my Lord has forgiven me and placed me among the honored" } is also an explanatory initiation. It is as if it were asked, after what was reported about him: "So what did he say upon attaining that noble honor?" It was said: "He said..." etc. He wished for his people to know of his state so that it might lead them to attain the like of it through repentance from disbelief and by entering into faith and obedience, following the way of the saints in suppressing anger and showing mercy to enemies. In the Hadith, he advised his people both alive and dead.

It is said: It is possible that his wish was so they would know they were in grave error regarding him, and that he was upon truth, sincerity, and compassion, and that their enmity brought him nothing but success and resulted in nothing but happiness; for in that is an increase in his joy and a doubling of his pleasure and delight. The first view is superior.

The apparent meaning is that ma (in bima) is masdariyyah (a particle for a verbal noun), though it is permissible for it to be a relative pronoun (mawṣūlah) with an implied antecedent—meaning: "I wish my people knew of that by which my Lord has forgiven me," i.e., by reason of which He forgave me, or "by that which He forgave," meaning the forgiveness which my Lord granted me. The intent is to magnify His forgiveness, so it reverts to the masdariyyah meaning. Al-Zamakhshari said: It means "by that which my Lord forgave me of sins." This is objected to as being weak, as it would imply he wished for them to know his forgiven sins, which is not appropriate. Similarly, the conjunction { and placed me among the honored } does not fit well. What is said—that the purpose is to inform them of the greatness of Allah’s forgiveness, the abundance of His generosity, and the breadth of His mercy—makes the intent to imply awareness of this not unlikely. Indeed, it is more impactful upon the soul than mentioning forgiveness in isolation from the object of forgiveness, due to the possibility of it being trivial.

Al-Farra’ permitted ma to be interrogative, with the preposition being connected to "forgave," i.e., "For what did my Lord forgive me?" intending by this his migration from their religion and his endurance of their harm until he was killed. Al-Kisa’i objected to this, saying that if this were correct, it would have been written as bim (without the alif), because the eloquent language dictates its removal when the interrogative ma is governed by a preposition, such as ‘amma yatasa'alūn (about what they inquire). His (the poet's) saying: "On what (‘ala ma) do I say the spear weighs heavy on my shoulder..." is a distinction between it and the relative ma, and retaining the alif is rare. It is said to be restricted to poetic necessity, like his saying: "On what (‘ala ma) did he stand cursing me like a pig rolling in ashes," and his saying: "We killed your notables, the standard-bearers, so for what (fima) is there much killing?"

‘Ikrimah and ‘Isa recited: { ‘Amma yatasa'alūn }. The word { honored } (al-mukramīn) is read with a stressed ra, a fatha on it, and a fatha on the kaf.