Tafsir of Ad-Dukhan 44:7

This is an appositive (badal) to "your Lord," or an explanatory clause (bayan), or an adjective (na‘t). More than one of the seven [canonical] readers—as well as al-A‘raj, Ibn Abi Ishaq, Abu Ja‘far, and Shaybah—read it in the nominative case (al-raf‘), predicated as another predicate for "Indeed" (Inna), or as the predicate of an omitted subject—meaning: "He is the Lord." The sentence is an initiation (istinaf) intended to establish and provide the reasoning for what preceded it.

Meaning: If you are among those who possess some degree of certainty and a portion of certain knowledge. This is on the basis that a transitive adjective is treated as an intransitive one, as there is no intent to specify what it relates to. The response to the conditional (jawab al-shart) is omitted; it means: "If you are among the people of certainty, you would know that He—Glory be to Him—is the Lord of the heavens and the earth," because it is among the most manifest of certainties in terms of evidence. In this case, it necessarily follows that one must accept what was mentioned earlier [i.e., that there is no god but Him].

It is also permissible that its object is understood; it means: "If you are certain in your acknowledgment—when you are asked who created the heavens and the earth and you say, 'Allah the Exalted created them.'" The response is likewise omitted, meaning: "If you are certain in your acknowledgment of that, you would know what it necessitates of the aforementioned matters," due to the clarity of that necessity.

Many scholars have held that the response, in both interpretations, is: "What we have said is confirmed to you." They did not permit it to be the content of "The Lord of the heavens...," because He—Glory be to Him—is such, regardless of whether they are certain or not; thus, there is no meaning in making it a proof of that. Likewise, making it the content of what follows in this [passage] is not sound in terms of knowledge.

In this [addressing the polytheists as if they were not certain], there is a treatment of their certainty as if it were non-existent, because the contrary of what they acknowledge is manifest in their actions. This is what is meant by those who say: "It is of the category of treating the one who knows as one who does not know," due to their failure to act in accordance with the dictates of that knowledge. It has been said: "It is not correct to say they were treated as skeptics," because of His—Glory be to Him—subsequent saying: (Nay, they are in doubt). I see no harm in saying that they were first treated as such, then they were declared to be in doubt, because even if they acknowledged that He—Mighty and Majestic is He—is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, they were not free from doubt due to their heresy regarding His attributes and their associating partners with Him—Exalted is His status.

It is also permissible that "certain" (muqinin) is used metaphorically for "desiring certainty," and the response is also omitted, meaning: "If you desire certainty, then know this." However, this is far-fetched. As for taking "if" (in) as a negative particle—as reported by al-Naysaburi—it is of no account, as is obvious.