Al-Jathiyah: 24

"And they said, 'What is it...'"

(And they said) — this is an elucidation of the rulings concerning their being led astray, the sealing of their hearing and hearts, and the placing of a veil upon their vision; the pronoun refers to the life [of the world] based on its meaning, or to the disbelievers— "What is it"—that is, what is life— "except our worldly life" which we are currently in. It is also permissible for the pronoun to refer to the "state," and the worldly life is included among those states; thus, the exception is of the same genus as that from which it is excepted, without needing to estimate the word "state" after the particle of exception. That is: "There is no state except the state of worldly life."

"We die and we live" — this is a judgment upon the species in its entirety, without regard to priority or posteriority, although the postponement of "we live" in the majestic arrangement is for the sake of the rhyming interval (fasilah). It means: a group dies and a group lives, and there is no resurrection at all. It is said that there is a reversal of order in the speech—that is, "we live and we die"—but this is not well-founded. It is also said that they meant by "death" the absence of life prior to the blowing of the soul into them—that is, we are [initially] drops [of fluid] and what precedes and follows that, and then we live after that. Others said they meant by "life" the continuation of offspring and progeny, metaphorically; as if they said: "We die ourselves, but we live through the remaining of our children and descendants." Others said they meant that some of us die and some live, using figurative attribution. It is also permitted that they meant by "life," metaphorically, the return of the soul to another body by way of transmigration (tanasukh), which is the belief of many idol worshippers; the remoteness of this is not hidden. Zayd ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) recited "wa-nuhya" with a damma on the nun (meaning: and we are made to live).

"And nothing destroys us except time (al-dahr)" — that is, the length of time. "Al-dahr" is more specific than "zaman" (time), and it is what the Sa'd favored, and they have lengthy discussions on this. Al-Raghib said: "Al-dahr," in its origin, is a name for the duration of the world from the beginning of its existence to its end; then, it is used to express every long duration. It differs from "zaman," which applies to both short and long durations. "Someone's dahr" is the duration of his life. It is said: "A calamity dahara someone," meaning it befell him; Al-Khalil narrated this, implying al-dahr here is a verbal noun (masdar).

Some of the eminent scholars mentioned that al-dahr, in the aforementioned sense, is transferred from the verbal noun, and it is said: "I dahartuhu," meaning I overcame him. Their attribution of destruction to al-dahr is a denial of the Angel of Death and his seizing of souls by the command of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic. They used to attribute events absolutely to it because of their ignorance that they are decreed from Allah, the Exalted. Their poetry is filled with complaints against time. These people were acknowledgeable of the existence of Allah, the Exalted, so they are not "Dahriyyah" (Atheists), for the Dahriyyah, while attributing events to time, do not believe in the existence of the Almighty. However, both agree on the independence of al-dahr in exerting influence. It is not far-fetched that "time" in their view is the measure of the movement of the celestial sphere, as most philosophers have held.

The prohibition against reviling time has come down. Muslim recorded: "None of you should revile time, for Allah is Time." Abu Dawud and Al-Hakim recorded it, and said: "It is authentic according to the criteria of Muslim." Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, said: "The son of Adam harms Me; he says, 'Woe to time.' So none of you should say 'Woe to time,' for I am Time; I alternate its night and its day." Al-Hakim also said: "It is authentic according to the criteria of Muslim." He also says: "Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, says: 'I sought a loan from My servant but he did not lend to Me, and My servant reviled Me while he does not know; he says "Woe to time," and I am Time.'" And Al-Bayhaqi: "Do not revile time. Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, says: 'I am the days and the nights; I renew them and wear them out, and I bring kings after kings.'" The meaning of this is that Allah, the Exalted, is the One who brings about events; thus, if you revile time thinking it is the actor, the revilement falls upon Allah, the Exalted and Majestic.

Some consider reviling it a major sin because it leads to reviling the Almighty, and that is disbelief; and whatever leads to it, its lowest degree is that it is disbelief. The position of the Shafi'is is explicit that it is disliked, not forbidden, let alone being a major sin. The correct approach to this is a detail: whoever reviles it, if he intends by it "time," there is no discussion about it being disliked; if he intends Allah, the Exalted, there is no discussion about it being disbelief. The same applies if he intends the "true influencer," for there is no one but Allah. If he speaks broadly, this is a place of hesitation due to the possibility of it being disbelief or otherwise. The outward meaning of their words here is also dislike, because what is immediately understood from it is "time," and its application to Allah, the Exalted, as some eminent scholars said, is only by way of metaphor.

Some people said: "It is a major sin if he believes it has influence over what befalls him, as the ignorant ones among the Arabs believed." There is scrutiny in this, because believing that is disbelief, and that is not the subject of the discussion. Some denied that what is in the hadith of Abu Dawud and Al-Hakim, "Fa-inni ana al-dahru" (with a damma on the ra), is correct, saying: "If it were so, al-dahr would be among the names of the Almighty." They narrated it as "Fa-inni ana al-dahra" (with a fatha on the ra), as an adverbial phrase for "I alternate," meaning: "For I alternate the night and the day throughout the duration of time and its passage." The objection to this is that Muslim’s narration, "For Allah is Time," refutes what he claimed. Hence, the majority hold the damma on the ra. It does not follow that it is one of His names, for the reason mentioned—that this is by way of metaphor.

Al-Raghib narrated from some that the second "dahr" in Muslim's hadith is different from the first, and that it is a verbal noun meaning "the Doer." The meaning is that Allah, the Exalted, is the Dahr, i.e., the Disposer, the Regulator, the One who emanates what happens. There is remoteness in this. Abdullah recited: "Illa dahrun" (nominative), and its interpretation is: "Except a time that passes."

"And they have no..." — that is, regarding what was mentioned about limiting life to what is in the world and attributing destruction to time— "knowledge" — based on intellect or transmission— "they are only guessing." "They are but a people whose utmost effort is conjecture and imitation, without having anything they can legitimately cling to in any aspect; this is their corrupt creed regarding themselves."