Tafsir of Muhammad 47:17

And those who are guided—meaning to the path of truth—He increases them in—that is, Allah, the Exalted and Majestic—guidance, by means of success and inspiration. The word "those" (alladhīna) is potentially nominative as an initial subject, or accusative due to an implied verb which the following verb explains. Guidance (hudan) is a second object, for the verb "to increase" (zāda) may take two objects; it is also possible that it is a specifier (tamīz), though the former is the more apparent reading. Its indefinite form (tanwīn) is for glorification—that is, "an immense guidance."

And He gives them their piety. This means He bestows upon them their piety toward Him, the Glorified, by creating it within them, based on the position of the Ash'arites regarding the actions of servants. Or, it is by creating within them a capacity for it that is effective in its performance by His permission—the Exalted—according to what al-Kurani attributed to al-Ash'ari and the rest of the verifiers regarding the actions of servants: that they are by a capacity created by Allah, the Exalted, within them, which is effective by His permission. The statement of some—that He caused them to be pious toward Him—can be applied to both positions.

Al-Baydawi said: "He clarifies to them what they should avoid, or assists them in their piety, or gives them its reward." According to him, "giving" (ītā') is a metaphor for clarification or assistance, or it is used in its literal sense—the reward for piety—because piety is the cause of it, or there is an implied genitive addition. There is nothing in any of these interpretations that the school of the People of Truth rejects.

Al-Zamakhshari mentioned the second and third of these [interpretations], and al-Tibi chose the first of those two, saying: "It is more consistent with the arrangement of the noble composition, for most of this noble chapter observes a parallelism. Thus, 'those whose hearts Allah has sealed' is contrasted with His saying, the Exalted, 'And those who are guided, He increases them in guidance,' because the seal results from the increase of rust and the succession of what adds to disbelief. And His saying, 'And followed their desires,' is contrasted with His saying, the Exalted, 'And He gives them their piety.' Therefore, it is interpreted as the perfection of piety, which is for the Gnostic to be purified from what distracts his inner self from the Truth, and to devote himself to Him, the Exalted, with his entire being. This is the true piety meant by His saying, the Exalted: 'Fear Allah with the fear due to Him.' For the increase upon an increase of guidance is an increase beyond which there is no further increase. In refraining from following desire, there is a turning toward the Patron and a distancing from the appetites of the worldly life."

Furthermore, attributing the bestowing of piety to Allah, the Exalted, while attributing the following of desire to them, is an allusion to the meaning of His saying, by way of narrative: 'And when I am ill, it is He who cures me.' It is a subtle hint that following desire is a spiritual ailment, and adhering to piety is the divine cure.

What he mentioned regarding the parallelism also applies to what we have stated. Similarly, the parallelism holds if "giving piety" is interpreted as clarifying what is to be avoided, as the speech points to the fact that what they are upon is not the commission of desire and whim, but rather a matter of truth built upon a firm foundation. The interpretation of this as "giving the reward for piety" is narrated from Sa'id ibn Jubayr and was adopted by al-Jubba'i; the discussion of it is beneficial, though it is further from the emphasis [of the text] without a need to interpret piety as its highest ranks. The matter of parallelism is simple, for it may be said that His saying 'are guided' is in opposition to 'followed their desires,' and His saying, the Exalted, 'increases them in guidance' is in opposition to 'Allah has sealed their hearts.' So let one contemplate this.

It has been said: The subject of 'He increases them' is a pronoun referring to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), understood from His saying, the Exalted: 'And among them are those who listen to you,' and His saying, the Exalted: 'What has he said just now?' Likewise, the subject of 'gives them'—meaning He assists them or clarifies for them. This attribution is metaphorical, and it is not hidden that this is contrary to the apparent meaning. Furthermore, if His saying 'He increases them in guidance' is in opposition to His saying 'Allah has sealed their hearts,' it is more appropriate that the subject of the former be the same as the subject of the latter, and for something similar to that to be applied to what al-Tibi said, so that there is no fragmentation of the subject.

It is permitted that it [the pronoun] refers back to the statement of the hypocrites, for that is something the believer wonders at, so he praises Allah, the Exalted, for his faith, which increases his insight into his religion. However, this is very remote; indeed, it is hardly worthy of consideration.