Az-Zumar: (61) And Allah will save those...

"And Allah will save those who feared [Him] from what those arrogant ones are characterized by, from Hell."

It is recited as yunajjī (with a light jim), derived from injā' (to rescue). Mafāzat-ihim (their mafāzah) is an ism masdar (a verbal noun), like falāh (success), according to the Kashf, or a masdar mīmī (a gerund starting with mīm) according to others, derived from the verb fāza bi-kadhā (he attained such and such), meaning he succeeded through it and obtained his desire. Al-Rāghib said: It is the masdar of fāza or the name of fawz (victory/success), and it is intended to mean the attainment of the goal in the most perfect way, like falāh. Al-Suddī interpreted it this way. The bā’ (in bi-mafāzat-ihim) indicates accompaniment (mulābasah) and is linked to an implied element—which is a state (hāl) of the relative pronoun (alladhīna—those)—signifying that their rescue from the torment is concurrent with their attainment of reward. That is: Allah the Exalted saves them from Hell, the abode of the arrogant, because of their piety regarding those things the arrogant were characterized by, while they (the pious) are accompanied by their success and attainment of their goal, which is Paradise. The meaning is: He saves them from the Fire and admits them into Paradise. That Paradise is the goal of the pious, whoever they may be, is not in doubt. Indeed, it is the goal for some of the pious in that it is the place of viewing their Beloved, which is their ultimate desire. You may also generalize the goal.

His saying, "No evil shall touch them, nor shall they grieve," is also in the position of a state (hāl), either referring to the relative pronoun (alladhīna) or to the pronoun in mafāzat-ihim. It signifies that for them—concerning their being saved or their success—the touching of the genus of evil and grief is negated permanently. It is apparent that this state is a future-oriented one (muqaddarah). It has been said: It is a concurrent one, signifying that their rescue or their success in Paradise is not preceded by the touching of torment or grief. It is not hidden that this cannot hold true for all the pious, as some among them are inevitably touched by torment and grieve. Attributing the non-existence of this to their being slain or its cessation being "as if it never existed" is a far-fetched, forced interpretation. It is permitted that mafāzah be taken to mean falāh (success), and that His saying, "No evil shall touch them..." be taken as a new sentence (isti'nāf) to explain it, as if it were asked: "What is their success?" and the reply was: "No evil shall touch them..." In this case, the bā’, according to the Kashf, is one of causality (sababiyyah) linked to yunajjī (saves), meaning: He saves them by means of the negation of evil and grief from them. This has been criticized, as making the absence of grief and the absence of evil the cause of salvation is forced; rather, they are parts of salvation. It is apparent that if the bā’ were also taken for accompaniment in this reading, this criticism would not arise.

It is also permitted that mafāzah be a place noun (ism makān), meaning the place of success, and it has been interpreted as manjāh (the place of safety). This is valid because safety is success and flourishing. In this case, the bā’ is taken for causality, with an implied genitive addition (mudāf) based on the evidence of the bā’ of causality—since the place of safety cannot be the cause itself—meaning: Their place of safety saves them, which is faith. This is almost like an explicit confirmation of what the connection of the verb to the preceding relative pronoun implied. Al-Zamakhsharī interpreted it as "righteous deeds" and strengthened this by what he narrated from Ibn Abbas to support his school of thought. Or, there is no mudāf, but rather a metaphor based on that evidence, using the cause to name the effect. The sentence following, under both possibilities of this view, is a state (hāl). It is not hidden that mafāzah meaning manjāh is Paradise, and faith or righteous deeds are not themselves the cause of it, but rather the cause of entering it; thus, this must be considered, so do not be heedless.

It is permitted that mafāzah is a masdar mīmī from fāza minhu (he escaped from it), meaning he was saved from it. It is said: "Glad tidings to he who fāza (attained) the reward and fāza (escaped) from the punishment," meaning he won the former and escaped the latter. The bā’ is either for accompaniment—the sentence being an explanation of the mafāzah, meaning: Allah the Exalted saves them while they are accompanied by their specific salvation—or for causality, either by way of an implied genitive or metaphor, similar to what was mentioned earlier. There is no need here to consider the entry [into Paradise], as is not hidden. The sentence is also in the position of a state.

It is also permitted, according to some views, that bi-mafāzat-ihim is linked to what follows it, though this is clearly against the apparent meaning. In short, the intellectual possibilities regarding the verse are numerous because mafāzah is either an ism masdar, a masdar mīmī, or a place noun, either from fāza bi-hi (attained) or fāza minhu (escaped), and the bā’ is either for accompaniment, causality, or seeking help, and it is either linked to what precedes it or what follows it. These are thirty-six possibilities. If you add to them the possibility of an implied genitive in bi-mafāzat-ihim in the sense of "their place of safety" or "their safety," the possibility of metaphor therein as well, as well as the possibility that the sentence "No evil shall touch them..." is a state from the relative pronoun, or a state from the pronoun of mafāzat-ihim, and the possibility that the state is future-oriented or concurrent, they increase significantly. It is not hidden that among these are accepted views and lesser ones, and indeed some that cannot hold at all, so ponder deeply and do not remain stagnant.

Al-Sulamī, al-Hasan, al-A'raj, al-A'mash, Hamzah, al-Kisā'ī, and Abū Bakr recited it as bi-mafāzāt-ihim (plural), to correspond with the genitive-linked pronoun (hum) in signifying plurality explicitly.