Tafsir of Sad 38:20

‘Abd bin Humayd, Ibn Jarir, and Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: A man from the Children of Israel sued another before David, peace be upon him, over a cow. The defendant denied it, and when asked for proof, he had none. David, peace be upon him, said to them, "Depart until I consider your matter." They left him, and then David was approached in his sleep and told: "Kill the man being sued." He said, "This is a dream, and I will not be hasty." He was approached the second night and told: "Kill the man," but he did not. He was approached the third night and told: "Kill the man, or punishment from Allah the Exalted will come upon you." So, he, peace be upon him, sent for the man and said: "Allah the Exalted has ordered me to kill you." The man said: "Will you kill me without proof or evidence?" He replied: "Yes, by Allah, I shall carry out the order of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, regarding you." The man said to him: "Do not hasten with me until I inform you. By Allah, I did not take it for this offense, but I had assassinated the father of this man and killed him; so for that, I am being seized." David, peace be upon him, ordered him to be killed, and through this, his awe among the Children of Israel was magnified, and his kingdom was strengthened by it.

Ibn Abi ‘Ablah read it with a shaddah on the dal [intensively strengthening].

Thus, al-khitab is the speech addressed, and al-fasl is an infinitive used in the sense of an active participle, or speech that alerts the listener to the intended meaning without confusion—observing therein the instances of separation, connection, conjunction, initiation, ellipsis, omission, and repetition, and the like. Therefore, al-khitab is also the speech addressed, and al-fasl is an infinitive, either in the sense of the active participle—meaning the "separator" that distinguishes the intended meaning from others—or in the sense of the passive participle, meaning the "judged/distinguished" [meaning], i.e., that which has been distinguished from other forms of speech by its conciseness and observation of what you have heard, or that which has had its parts separated one from another and was not left as a confusing, jumbled mass.

It is also possible that "the judgment of speech" refers to moderate speech that is neither so brief as to be deficient nor so excessive as to be tedious—as described in the speech of our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: "neither too little nor too much." Here, al-khitab refers to the speech addressed as previously stated, and al-fasl refers to the "separator," because the moderate path is a divider between two extremes—here, the overly brief and the boringly verbose—or because the distinction between what is intended and what is not is more evident in moderate speech, whereas one extreme leads to deficiency and the other leads to boredom, which results in the neglect of part of the intention. Or [it is the "separated"], because the aforementioned speech is distinct and clear to the listener, saved from deficiency and tedium.

In the first instance, the genitive construction is of an infinitive to its object, and in the others, it is of an attribute to its noun. Regarding what is narrated from Ali—may Allah ennoble his face—and Al-Sha’bi, and what Al-Tabarsi narrated from the majority, that "the judgment of speech" is his saying: "The burden of proof is on the claimant, and the oath is on the defendant"—it has been said that this is included in "the judgment of speech" in the second sense, as it contains the separation between the claimant and the defendant, and it is a judgment between truth and falsehood. It is mentioned in some narrations that it is [specifically] the requirement of proof from the claimant and the oath from the defendant. Perhaps it is intended that "the judgment of speech" in the first sense—that is, the judging of disputes—was [exercised] through that [ruling], and he identified it [as the judgment of speech] by way of hyperbole.

As for what is narrated from Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Al-Suddi, that it is judging between people with truth, correctness, and understanding, it is nothing beyond what was mentioned first. Ibn Jarir narrated from Al-Sha’bi, and Ibn Abi Hatim and Al-Daylami from Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari, that the "judgment of speech" granted to him, peace be upon him, is the phrase "As for what follows" (amma ba'd). Abu Musa mentioned that he, peace be upon him, was the first to say it. It is said that this is included in "the judgment of speech," and "the judgment of speech" is not limited to it, for it separates the intended meaning from what was introduced as a preface of praise, prayer, or the mention of Allah the Exalted in general. Its apparent meaning supports considering "the judgment of speech" as speech that alerts the listener to the intended meaning until the end of what has passed.

The actions of some might suggest its inclusion [of amma ba'd] based on the second meaning of "judgment of speech," but that is not tenable. Treating the report as restrictive is not appropriate, as there is no great favor implied in being granted this particular phrase. Furthermore, the appearance is that what is meant by "As for what follows" is the meaning conveyed by such phrases, not the specific wording itself, because it is an Arabic phrase, and David was not of the Arabs, nor was he their prophet, nor was he even among them. Thus, it is apparent that he did not speak in Arabic.

What I find most preferred is that "the judgment of speech" means the judging of disputes, which depends on advanced knowledge, understanding, the ability to make others understand, and so on. Granting it entails the granting of all upon which it depends, and in this is a favor of great magnitude. This is most perfectly suited to the saying of Allah the Exalted: [...]