Tafsir of Al-Ahqaf 46:33

"Do they not see..."

The interrogative particle (al-hamza) is for denial, and the conjunction (al-waw), according to one of the two scholarly opinions, is a conjunction connecting to an implied preceding phrase that the interrogative entered upon, as necessitated by the context. The "seeing" is mental (qalbiyyah), meaning: have they not reflected and realized that Allah created the heavens and the earth and was not exhausted by their creation?

Meaning: He did not tire of that at all. 'Aya (to be exhausted), with a kasra on the 'ayn, and its doubled form is permissible, signifies becoming tired, similar to a'ya. Al-Kisa'i said: "I became a'yaytu due to fatigue, and I became 'ayaytu due to a lack of strategy, incapacity, and confusion regarding a matter." They cited the poem: "They were exhausted ('ayu) in their affair, just as the dove was exhausted ('ayat) regarding its egg." That is, He was not incapable of creating them, nor was He confused by them. Some scholars chose not to distinguish between the two forms.

Al-Hasan read it as wa lam ya'i (with a kasra on the 'ayn and a sukun on the ya'). The reasoning is that in the past tense, the middle letter of the root was given a fatha—as they said baqiya with a fatha on the qaf followed by an alif—which is the dialect of the Tayy tribe. When the past tense was constructed on a verb with a fatha on the middle radical (fa'ala), its present tense was constructed on the pattern yaf'alu with a kasra on the middle radical, resulting in ya'ya. When the jussive particle entered, the ya' was dropped, resulting in ya'i by transferring the vowel of the ya' to the 'ayn, leaving the ya' with a sukun.

His saying, Exalted is He: "is able" (bi-qadir), is in the nominative position because it is the predicate of anna. The letter ba' is redundant here, and its redundancy is made elegant by the fact that the preceding word is within the scope of negation. Al-Zajjaj permitted saying "I did not think that anyone bi-qa'im (is standing)" based on this analogy. Abu Hayyan said: "The correct view is to restrict this usage to what has been heard from the Arabs." It is as if it was said here: "Is Allah not able to revive the dead?" And for this reason, it was answered with His saying: "Yes, indeed He is over everything competent."

"An affirmation of power in a general sense, acting as a proof for the intended meaning."

Therefore, it was said: This refers to the major premise of a syllogism whose minor premise is easily obtained. It is as if it was said: Reviving the dead is a "thing," and every "thing" is within His power; thus, it follows that reviving the dead is within His power. By this necessity, He is "able to revive the dead."

Al-Jahdari, Zayd ibn Ali, 'Amr ibn 'Ubayd, 'Isa, al-A'raj (with a dissenting report), and Ya'qub read yaqdiru (He has power/is able) instead of bi-qadir, in the present tense form indicating continuity. This recitation, it is said, also conforms to the Uthmanic codex.