Tafsir of Az-Zukhruf 43:88

"And his saying, 'O my Lord, indeed these are a people who do not believe.'"

(88) Regarding the word qīlihi (his saying), it is read with a kasra (genitive) by ‘Asim, Hamzah, al-Sulami, Ibn Wathab, and al-A‘mash. Al-A‘raj, Abu Qilabah, Mujahid, al-Hasan, Qatadah, and Muslim ibn Jundub read it with a damma (nominative), which is a rare (shadhdh) reading. The majority read it with a fatha (accusative).

There is disagreement regarding the grammatical derivation (tawjih):

• The Genitive (Jarr): It is considered an appositive to the word "the Hour" (as-sa‘ah) in His saying, "And with Him is the knowledge of the Hour"—meaning, with Him is the knowledge of his (the Prophet’s) saying.
• The Accusative (Nasb): It is an appositive to the location (mahall) of "the Hour," because "the Hour" is in the place of an accusative due to the word "knowledge" (‘ilm) being annexed to it; for, as we have mentioned, it is a verbal noun (masdar) annexed to its object. It is as if it were said: "He knows the Hour and He knows his saying."
• The Nominative (Raf‘): It is an appositive to "the knowledge of the Hour" with an implied annexation, the original being "and the knowledge of his saying." The annexed word (mudaf) was omitted, and the possessor of the annexation (mudaf ilayh) took its place.

The first view is attributed to Abu ‘Ali, the third to Ibn Jinni, and all three views to al-Zajjaj. The pronoun in "his saying" refers to the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who is understood from His saying, "And if you ask them." Qīl and qāl are verbal nouns (masdar) of the same degree and meaning. The address ("O my Lord") and what follows it is the content of the utterance. The speech is expressed in the manner of grief, sorrow, and complaint regarding the lack of faith in those people. Referring to them as "these" instead of "my people" or the like serves to belittle them and express dissociation from them due to their wretched state. The intent of Allah’s informing of His knowledge of this is a threat from Him (Exalted is He) against them.

It is also said: The genitive implies a hidden oath particle; the accusative implies a hidden verb of which the phrase is the object; and the nominative is like "by your life, I shall certainly do [such and such]." Al-Zamakhshari favored this, treating the content of the utterance ("O my Lord...") and the subsequent statement "Indeed these are a people who do not believe" as the answer to the oath under all three grammatical interpretations. In this case, the pronoun in "his saying" is as previously mentioned. The speech is an announcement from Him (Exalted is He) that they will not believe, and He swears by the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) own words, "O my Lord," to elevate his status (peace and blessings be upon him) and to magnify his supplication and his resort to Allah. In this view, the waw (and) is for conjunction—meaning the conjunction of the oath sentence to the conditional sentence. However, since an oath has the status of a parenthetical sentence, the waw effectively loses its sense of conjunction. The objection here is that the omission required for this derivation—among words commonly used in oaths like "by your life" (la‘amruka)—is clear, but in other contexts, such as the qīl here, it is not free from weakness.

Other views include:

• Genitive: The waw is for swearing, and the answer is omitted (i.e., "We shall surely help him," or "We shall surely do with them as We will").
• Accusative: It is an appositive to the object of "they write" (yaktubūn), which is omitted—meaning, "they write down their words and their actions."
• Other: It is an appositive to the object of "they know" (i.e., the Truth), but this is barely intelligible.
• Al-Akhfash: It is an appositive to "their secrets and their private counsels." This was rejected as being weak in meaning, as it involves an interruption that is not elegant, and a disharmony in the structure. It was countered that the interruption is clear, but the weakness of meaning and disharmony are not conceded; the structure is: "Or do they think that We do not hear their secrets and their private counsels, and [that] We do not hear his saying..." which is perfectly structured.

Al-Akhfash also suggested it is an implied verb acting upon qīl as a verbal noun (i.e., "He said his saying"). This is supported by the reading of Ibn Mas‘ud: "And the Messenger said." This is rejected because it does not appear to be an elegant conjunction to the preceding sentence, the emphasis with the verbal noun is not in its proper place, and there is no connection to "so turn away from them."

The scholar al-Tibi stated: "It is as if He said to you, 'And if you ask them...' and you replied, 'O my Lord,' in despair of their faith. It is placed in the third person through iltifat (shifting the pronoun) as if he (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is beside himself with grief for them, since his striving and efforts were of no use."

Another view: The waw is for the state (hal) with an implied "already" (qad), meaning: "So how are they deluded, while the Messenger has already said, 'O my Lord...'"

In my view, the most valid opinions are those attributed to al-Zajjaj. The objections against them are easily dismissed, and the claims of weak meaning and disharmony are not accepted. In al-Kashf, after mentioning al-Zajjaj’s derivation of the genitive, it is noted that the separator (the speech from "And to Him you will be returned" to "how are they deluded") functions as a parenthesis because the statement "And with Him is the knowledge of the Hour" is linked to "until they meet their Day which they are promised." The speech is meant as a severe threat, and "And to Him you will be returned" through "...and they know" is connected to "And with Him is the knowledge of the Hour" with a tight, inseparable connection. "And if you ask them" is an address to anyone from whom such a question might come, completing the speech to show they deserve what they are threatened with due to their extreme obstinacy. From this, the occurrence of astonishment in "how are they deluded" becomes clear. Based on this, the link between "knowledge of his saying" and "with Him is the knowledge of the Hour" becomes evident.

Abu Qurrah read "Ya Rabba" (O Lord) with a fatha on the ba. Its justification is evident.