Tafsir of Muhammad 47:38

"Behold! You are those..."

That is: You, the addressed ones, are those described by what is contained in His saying: "If He were to ask you for it [your wealth]..." and so on. The sentence is a nominal clause consisting of a subject and predicate. The warning particle hā (in hā antum) is repeated for emphasis.

His saying, Exalted is He: "You are invited to spend in the way of Allah..." is an inception that establishes and confirms the former, due to the unity of their intended meanings. For calling them to spend is equivalent to asking for their wealth, and the stinginess of some of them is the meaning of the refusal to give, which was mentioned briefly before.

Or, hūlā'i (those) acts as a relative pronoun, as the demonstrative pronoun is considered a relative pronoun absolutely according to the Kufans. As for the Basrans, they do not establish the demonstrative pronoun as a relative one unless preceded by the interrogative mā (by agreement) or the interrogative man (with disagreement).

Spending in the way of Allah the Exalted is the spending that is absolutely pleasing to Him, may His majesty be exalted. Thus, it includes spending on family, relatives, military expeditions, feeding guests, Zakat, and other things; it is not restricted to spending for expeditions or Zakat, as has been said.

"Yet among you are those who are stingy..." That is: there are people who are stingy. "And whoever is stingy is only being stingy against himself," meaning the harm of his stinginess does not extend to others. It is said: "I was stingy 'alayhi (against him)" and "I was stingy 'anhu (from him)." The latter is because stinginess contains the meaning of withholding and the meaning of constriction against the one from whom kindness is withheld and harmed. Thus, it is appropriate to attach it with 'an for the former and 'ala for the latter. It is obvious that whoever withholds kindness from himself, his harm is against himself, so there is no difference between the two expressions in the final result.

Al-Tayyibi said: It is possible to say "he is stingy 'an (from/away from) his own self," meaning that stinginess emanates from his soul, for it is the place and source of stinginess, like His saying, Exalted is He: "And whoever is saved from the stinginess of his own soul..." And this is as you see.

"And Allah is the Self-Sufficient, while you are the needy..." Those who are perfect in neediness regarding what He, the Glorified, commands you to do. For you are in need of that which contains interests that wisdom dictates cannot be attained without it. If you comply, it is for your own benefit; if you turn away, it is to your own detriment.

His saying, Exalted is He: "And if you turn away..." is a conjunction to His saying: "If you believe..." meaning: If you turn away from faith and piety, "He will replace you with a people other than you"—He will create in your place other people, similar to His saying: "He will bring a new creation," "then they will not be the likes of you" in turning away from faith and piety; rather, they will be desirous of them.

The "then" (thumma) is for sequence, whether in reality or due to the distance in rank between the former and the latter. The intended people here are the Persians. For Abd al-Razzaq, Abd ibn Hamid, Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Tabarani in al-Awsat, al-Bayhaqi in al-Dala'il, and al-Tirmidhi—in a hadith considered authentic on the conditions of Muslim—recorded from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) recited this verse, "And if you turn away..." and they asked: "O Messenger of Allah, who are these people who, if we turn away, will be brought in our place and will not be like us?" The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) struck the shoulder of Salman and said: "This man and his people. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if faith were suspended at the Pleiades, men from Persia would attain it."

In a report by Ibn Marduyah from Jabir, "religion" is used instead of "faith." It has been said: they are the Ansar, or the people of Yemen, or Kinda and Nakha', or the non-Arabs (al-'Ajam), or the Romans, or the angels. Attributing the "people" to angels is weak in usage, and since the [Persian] hadith is authentic, it is my position.

The address is directed to the Quraysh, or to the people of Medina—there are two opinions. The apparent meaning is that it is to those previously addressed. The conditional [event] did not occur; according to al-Kalbi, the replacement was conditional upon their turning away, but they did not turn away, so He, Exalted is He, did not replace them with another people. And Allah the Exalted knows best.

(From the spiritual allusions provided by some regarding certain verses): "O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you." Support for Allah the Exalted from the servant is in two ways: in form and in meaning. As for His support in form, it is the support of His religion, may His majesty be glorified, by clarifying the evidence, explaining His obligatory acts and customs, and manifesting His meanings, secrets, and realities through striving for it, exalting His word, and suppressing His enemies. As for His support in meaning, it is by annihilating the human condition (nasut) into the Divine nature (lahut).

Allah's support for the servant is also in two ways, in form and in meaning. His support for the servant in form is by sending messengers, revealing books, manifesting miracles and signs, and clarifying the paths to paradise and hell. Then, [it is continued] by commanding the lesser and greater struggle and granting success in them while seeking His pleasure, may He be exalted. As for His support for the servant in meaning, it is by annihilating his existence into His existence, Exalted is He, through the manifestation of the attributes of His beauty and majesty.

"The likeness of the Paradise which the righteous have been promised..." This refers to the Paradise of the hearts of the masters of realities who have been righteous, refraining from everything other than Him, the Glorified.

"In it are rivers of water incorruptible..." This is the water of spiritual life, which does not change by staying long.

"And rivers of milk..." This is the true knowledge that is the nourishment of souls, or the milk of innate nature (fitra) upon which people were created.

"Whose taste does not change..." By the sourness of doubts, illusions, whims, or innovations.

"And rivers of wine, delicious to those who drink..." This is the wine of longing and love. [One says]: "They tell me to describe it, for you are an expert in its description. I have knowledge of its qualities: purity without water, gentleness without air, light without fire, and spirit without body."

"And rivers of honey..." This is the honey of union, purified from the dregs of boredom and the fear of cessation.

"And they have therein from all fruits..." Which are the spiritual delights.

"And forgiveness from their Lord..." Which is the veiling of the sin of their existence, as it is said: "Your existence is a sin to which no other sin can be compared."

"[Is he like] he who is eternal in the Fire..." The fire of alienation.

"And are given to drink scalding water..." Which is the water of abandonment.

"Which tears their bowels apart..." From deprivation.

"And if We willed, We could show them to you, and you would know them by their mark..." This is a darkness in their existence perceived by Divine insight. It is said: The believer sees with the light of discernment (firasa), the knower ('arif) sees with the light of verification, and the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) sees through Allah, Exalted is He. It is also said: Everyone who is granted the closeness of voluntary acts sees by Him, Exalted is He, according to the hadith: "My servant continues to draw near to Me with voluntary acts until I love him; when I love him, I become his hearing with which he hears and his sight with which he sees." At that point, he sees everything. Hence, it was said that the perfect saints see the deeds of the servants when they are ascended. And glory be to the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, the All-Subtle, the All-Aware.