Tafsir of Ad-Dukhan 44:18

(That restore to me the servants of Allah): Meaning: Release them and hand them over to me. The intended meaning by them is the Children of Israel, whom Pharaoh had enslaved. Expressing them as "the servants of Allah" serves to indicate that his enslaving of them was an injustice on his part. "Restoration" (al-ada') is used figuratively to mean what has been mentioned, similar to his peace be upon him [Musa’s] statement: "Send with us the Children of Israel and do not torment them." This has been narrated from Ibn Zayd, Mujahid, and Qatadah.

Alternatively, [it means]: "Restore to me the right of Allah, the Exalted, which is faith and the acceptance of the invitation, O servants of Allah." In this interpretation, the object of "restore" (addu) is omitted, and "servants" (‘ibad) is a vocative, addressing both the Children of Israel and the Copts. "Restoration" here is in the sense of the act of obedience and accepting the call. This is narrated from Ibn Abbas.

Regarding the particle an (that) in the verse, it has been said that it is the an of the infinitive (masdariyyah), preceded by an implied preposition connected to "there came to them" (ja’ahum), meaning: "That [he came to them] by saying: 'Restore to me...'" This is refuted on the grounds that your saying "He came to them with the payment" makes no sense, and interpreting it as "a request for restoration" is not devoid of forced interpretation. It was countered that it is by estimating a verb of saying, which is common and regular; its estimation is: "He came to them saying: 'Restore to me...'" This is not devoid of some burden, and furthermore, this matter is built upon the permissibility of connecting the infinitive an with imperative and prohibitive verbs, which is not unanimously agreed upon. Yes, the more correct view is its permissibility.

It has also been said that it is the lightened form of the heavy anna (mukhaffafah min al-thaqilah). This is countered by the fact that it would then require an implied "pronoun of state" (damir al-sha’n), and its clarifier must be a declarative sentence. Furthermore, it necessitates that it be followed by negation, qad, sawfa, or law, or that it be preceded by a cognitive verb or the like. It was answered that the coming of the messenger implies the meaning of an act of declaration, similar to "informing." The aforementioned distinction is not universally agreed upon; indeed, al-Mubarrad, following the Baghdadis, held that it is not a requirement. The claim that this is irregular and that the Quran should be protected from such is not accepted. The requirement that the clarifier of the damir al-sha’n must be a declarative sentence is a matter of disagreement, as understood from the words of some scholars. In al-Mughni, in the fourth chapter regarding the damir al-sha’n, nothing was mentioned except the requirement that its clarifier be a sentence, without specifying that it be declarative. He did not touch upon the disagreement. Yes, he said in the fifth chapter, eighth type: They [grammarians] require in some of it a declarative sentence and in others an imperative one, and he counted from the first [category] the predicate of anna and the damir al-sha’n. However, he said afterwards: "What is required from this in the predicate of anna and the damir al-sha’n is the predicate of the lightened anna (with a fatha), for it is permissible for it to be an invocative sentence, as in His, the Exalted’s, saying: 'And the fifth [oath is] that the wrath of Allah be upon her' (in the reading of those who read anna and ghadab as a verb, with the Majestic Name as the subject)."

Some prominent scholars have verified that informing about the damir al-sha’n with an imperative sentence is permissible according to al-Zamakhshari. Or [it is that] it is explanatory, and what points to the meaning, rather than its literal letters, has preceded, because the coming of the messenger involves a message and a call. It is as if the estimated explanation is: "He came to them with the call, which is: 'Restore to me the servants of Allah (for I am to you a trustworthy messenger).'"