Tafsir of Al-Ma'idah 5:109

His saying, Glory be to Him, "The Day when Allah will assemble the messengers," is said to be an adverbial qualifier for His, the Exalted's, statement, "He does not guide." Al-Halabi examined this from the perspective that He, the Exalted, does not guide them absolutely—neither on that day nor in this world. This is a possibility mentioned by al-Zamakhshari and also reported from al-Maghribi; it is apparent upon the assumption that the intended meaning is "He does not guide them to the path of Paradise." This accounts for the Mu'tazilite doctrine that the denial of absolute guidance cannot be attributed to Allah, the Majestic and Exalted; for this reason, the object of the guidance was specified.

It is also said that it is a substitute (badal) for the object of "and fear," making it an object, not an adverbial. Abu Hayyan countered this by noting that it is far-fetched due to the long separation caused by the two sentences. Al-Halabi remarked: It is not far-fetched, for these two sentences are part of the completion of the first sentence's meaning; according to those who hold to the permissibility of this, it is a badal ishtimal (substitute of inclusion). Al-'Ilm al-'Iraqi countered this, stating that, in fairness, badal ishtimal is impossible here, because it requires the substitute to include the substituted-from, or vice versa, which is impossible in this case. Hence, al-Halabi said: This interpretation requires the assumption of an added noun for it to be correct, such that the intended meaning is "fear the punishment of Allah on the Day," at which point the accusative case of "the Day" as an adverbial becomes correct.

The researcher al-Taftazani said: The justification for it being badal ishtimal lies in the association between them, which is neither based on totality nor partiality, but rather through the inclusion of the substituted-from in the substitute—not like the inclusion of a container in its contents, but in the sense that the mind shifts to it in general and necessitates it in a summary way. For example, if it is said, "Fear Allah," the mind immediately questions: regarding which of His matters, and which of the days of His actions must one show fear? Is it the day He gathers the messengers, or otherwise? An objection was raised that this requires it not to be adverbial, yet this is a temporal adverb; if it were replaced, it would suggest otherwise.

It is also said that it is in the accusative case due to a hidden verb coordinated with "fear," meaning: "Beware of" or "Remember the Day..." For remembering that terrifying Day is among the things that compel them to fear Allah, the Exalted, and to receive His command with an ear of obedience. It is also said that it is in the accusative case due to His, the Exalted's, saying "and listen," with a suppressed added noun, meaning: "and listen to the news of that Day."

It is also said that it is in the accusative case due to a deferred verb that has been omitted because language is too narrow to explain and describe it, due to the complete horror of what will happen therein. It is as if it were said: "The Day when Allah will assemble the messengers... there will occur such events and horrors that the range of speech cannot suffice to describe them."

The specification of the messengers for mention, even though it is a day when all people are gathered, is to manifest their honor and primacy, and to signal that there is no need to explicitly mention the gathering of others, based on the obvious fact that they are their followers. It is said—and its delicacy is not hidden according to some of the upcoming possibilities in the verse—that the context is the mention of witnesses, and the messengers, peace be upon them, are the witnesses over their nations, as indicated by His, the Exalted's, saying: "And We will extract from every nation a witness." Thus, describing their state and what will happen to them on the Day of Resurrection, they being the same witnesses under discussion, is self-evident. By this, the verse connects to what precedes it with the most perfect connection.

The manifestation of the Exalted Name in the place of a pronoun is to foster awe and intensify the terror: "Then He will say to them, 'What was the response you received?'" (i.e., in the world, when you delivered the message and fulfilled your obligation, as indicated by the deviation from beginning the address with "What did you say" to "What was the response you received"). In the deviation from "What did your nations answer?" lies that which is not hidden regarding the indication of the complete belittlement of their status and the intensity of the wrath and rage against them. The question is also to rebuke them, for otherwise, He, the Exalted, is the Knower of the unseen.

"What" (ma-dha) is related to "response received" as a cognate object (maf'ul mutlaq), meaning: "What kind of response did you receive from your nations—a response of acceptance or a response of rejection?" It is also said that the estimation is "By what did you receive a response," meaning "By what thing were you answered," so that the question is about the response, not the act of answering, and the preposition was omitted and the governed noun placed in the accusative. This was weakened by the claim that the omission of the preposition and the accusative of its governed noun is not permissible except in necessity, like his saying...

It is merely like a glad tiding of salvation from the horrors of that Day, like what is said to a patient: "No harm upon you, and no fear." It is also said that this state of bewilderment was not out of fear or sadness, but is of the category of swimming in the oceans of majesty due to the manifestation of the signs of the epiphany of Grandeur.

The Shaykh al-Islam objected to what was mentioned previously by saying that His, the Exalted's, saying, "Indeed, it is You who is the Knower of the unseen," is in the position of providing a causal explanation and does not suit what was mentioned. "Knower" ('allam) is an intensive form, and the intended meaning is one who is perfect in knowledge. "Unseen" (ghuyub) is the plural of "unseen" (ghayb), and its pluralization, even if it is an infinitive according to what al-Samin said, is for the variety of its types. If by it the absent thing is intended, or if we say it is a lightened form of "unseen," the matter is clear.

"Knower" ('allam) was recited in the accusative case, based on the idea that the sentence ended at "Indeed, it is You," and the description is in the accusative case for praise, or as a vocative, or as a substitute for the noun of "indeed" (inna). The meaning of "Indeed, it is You" is: "Indeed, You are the One described by Your well-known attributes," and the speech is in the manner of: "I am Abu al-Najm, and my poetry is my poetry."

Abu Bakr and Hamzah recited "the Unseen" (al-ghuyub) with a kasra on the ghayn wherever it occurs; it has been heard in every plural on the pattern of fu'ul (like buyut) that its first letter is vocalized with a kasra so that two dammas and a waw do not follow each other.