Tafsir of Sad 38:23

“Indeed, this is my brother...” This is an initiation [of speech] to clarify the subject of the dispute. The intended meaning of "brotherhood" is either religious brotherhood, brotherhood of friendship and intimacy, or brotherhood of partnership and association, based on His saying, “And indeed, many of the associates...” Each of these types of brotherhood provides a right that prohibits aggression and injustice. It is said that it is brotherhood by lineage, and that the two disputants were brothers from the Children of Israel, from the same father and mother. It is not hidden that the well-known view is that they were angels; indeed, it is said there is no disagreement regarding this.

“My brother” is an explanatory apposition (bayan) according to Ibn Atiyyah, or a substitute (badal) or predicate (khabar) according to Al-Zamakhshari. Regarding the latter, perhaps the intended meaning of the genitive construction is what is indicated by His saying, “He has ninety-nine ewes, and I have one ewe.” The na’jah (ewe) is the female of the wild ox, the sheep, and the mountain goat, and it is frequently used metaphorically for a woman, similar to the word shah (sheep). An example is the saying of Ibn Awn: "I am their father, three [of them]—a fourth remains in the house, small ones—and my ewe [wife] is the fifth; they fulfill [their duties]. Oh, for a generous youth who would sustain them." Also the saying of Antarah: "Oh, what a sheep for hunting is she, for whom it became lawful while it was forbidden to her neighbor, yet she was not forbidden." And the saying of Al-A’sha: "I struck the unguarded side of his 'sheep,' and I hit the core of her heart and her spleen." The apparent meaning is to keep it to its literal sense here, intending the female sheep. However, the interpretation of it as a woman is permitted, and what relates to that will follow, God willing.

Al-Hasan and Zayd ibn Ali recited tis’un and tis’in with a fatha on the ta in both. It is common for the [the forms] fi’l and fa’l to carry the same meaning, like al-sukr and al-sakr. This is not far-fetched for tis’, especially since it is adjacent to ’ashr. Al-Hasan and Ibn Hurmuz recited ni’jah with a kasra on the nun, which is a dialect of some of the Banu Tamim. Ibn Mas’ud recited, “And I have one ewe [female].” Al-Zamakhshari interpreted this by saying that one says "a female woman" (imra'atan untha) to denote a beautiful, lovely woman. The meaning is describing her as deeply imbued with the softness and languor of femininity; this makes her more charming and adds to her graceful swaying and coyness. Do you not see their description of her as "lazy" (kasul) and "very lazy" (miksal)? And the saying: "Languid in rising, brief in speech, for the chill of the evening when she does not sleep." And the saying of Qays ibn al-Khatim: "She sleeps due to the magnitude of her status, and if she rises slowly, she is almost carried away."

In this speech, there is a fulfillment of the rights of both parts: the part pertaining to the oppressor and the part pertaining to the oppressed. It is as if it were said: "Despite his abundance of wealth and the intensity of my need, he wronged me regarding my right." This is apparent if the "ewe" is a metaphor; otherwise, it is more fitting to emphasize her femininity, that she is perfect in it, making her more productive and more milk-yielding in what is sought from her. Furthermore, it contains an allusion to what was narrated concerning him: “So he overpowered me with it” (akfilniha), meaning "put it in my charge." Its reality is "make me responsible for it, just as I am responsible for what is under my hand." Ibn Kaysan said: "Make it my kifl, meaning my share." From Ibn Abbas and Ibn Mas’ud: "Transfer it to me," which is an explanation of the intended meaning and closer to the aspect of the metaphor.

“And he overpowered me” (wa ‘azzani), meaning he defeated me. In the proverb: "He who is stronger, strips [the other]," meaning he who defeats, plunders. The poet said: "A sand grouse, whom a snare overpowered, so he spent the night pulling at it, and the wing had become entangled."

“And in discourse”—that is, his addressing me by arguing, in that he brought forward arguments I could not refute. Al-Dahhak said: "That is, if he spoke, he was more eloquent than I, and if he fought, he was more powerful than I." Ibn Atiyyah said: "He was more handsome and stronger than I, so when I addressed him, his speech was stronger than mine and his power was greater than mine." It is said that it means he defeated me in his struggling with me in the proposal—assuming al-khitab is from the proposal of a woman, and he also proposed to her, so he competed with me in the proposal and defeated me, as he married her instead of me. This is the view of those who consider the ewe a metaphor. The author of al-Kashshaf critiqued this, saying: "Carrying 'discourse' to mean competing in the proposal of women does not suit the eloquence of the Revelation, because the analogy falls short of it, as the phrase 'and I have one ewe' is very distant from that, and similarly the phrase 'put it in my charge,' for upon that interpretation, he would have had to address the guardian of the woman being proposed to—unless one takes the first as a metaphor for the final result, as in 'I press wine,' and the second as a metaphor for abandoning the proposal. The complexity in both is evident. Moreover, its explicitness contradicts the purpose of the analogy, which is to draw attention to the greatness of what occurred from him, peace be upon him, and that it is a matter one is shy of revealing while shielding it and preserving its sanctity." This concludes [the citation], so reflect upon it.

Abu Haywah and Talhah recited wa ‘azani with a light za (shortened). Abu al-Fath said: One of the two zas was elided for lightness, just as one of the two sins was elided in the saying of Abu Zubayd: "Be beautiful with it, for they are haughty toward him." This was likewise narrated from Asim.

Abdullah, Abu Wa’il, Masruq, al-Dahhak, al-Hasan, and Ubayd ibn Umayr recited wa ‘azani with an alif after the ’ayn and a shadda on the za.