Tafsir of At-Tur 52:21

"And those who believed" is the beginning of a new statement intended to clarify the condition of a group of the people of Paradise, following the clarification of the condition of all of them. These are those whose offspring joined them in belief. The relative pronoun [Al-ladhina] is the subject (mubtada), and its predicate (khabar) is "We joined their offspring to them." His saying, "and their offspring followed them," is connected to "believed." It is also said that it is an interjection for the purpose of explanation. His saying, "in faith," is related to "followed"; meaning: their offspring followed them in faith, while being limited to a rank beneath the faith of the fathers—either essentially, based on the disparity in the ranks of faith itself, or considering that deeds like those of the fathers were not added to it. Considering this constraint serves to signal that the ruling is established for perfect faith originally, not by way of attachment (ilhaq). It is said: it is a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for the offspring; or for the pronoun; its nunation (tanwin) is for exaltation; or it is for both, and its nunation is for indefiniteness. The most reliable interpretation is what we have presented: "We joined their offspring to them in rank."

Sa'id bin Mansur, Hannad, Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Al-Hakim, and Al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan reported from Ibn Abbas that he said: "Verily, Allah, the Exalted, shall place the offspring of the believer with him in his rank in Paradise, even if they are below him in deeds, so that his eyes may be gladdened." Then he recited the verse. Al-Bazzar and Ibn Marduyah recorded it from him as marfu' (attributed to the Prophet, peace be upon him). In a narration by Ibn Marduyah and Al-Tabarani from him, he said: "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: 'When a man enters Paradise, he will ask about his parents, his wife, and his children. It will be said to him: They did not reach your rank or your deeds. He will say: O Lord, I performed deeds for myself and for them! So it will be ordered that they be joined to him.'" Ibn Abbas then recited the verse. The apparent meaning of the reports is that the intent of joining them to them is for them to dwell with them, not merely to have them raised to them and joined occasionally, even if only for a visit. The establishment of this as a general rule is not far from the bounty of Allah, the Exalted. What has been said—that it is perhaps specific to some and not others—is a restriction on His vast kindness, glorified be His majesty. Evidence for specification is sometimes drawn from what is narrated from Ibn Abbas: "Those who believed" are the Emigrants (Muhajirun) and the Helpers (Ansar), and the "offspring" are their followers. However, I do not believe this to be authentic.

"And We did not deprive them"—meaning: We did not diminish the fathers, by this joining, "of their deeds of anything"—meaning: of the reward for their deeds, by giving some of their rewards to their children, whereby their rewards would decrease and their rank descend. Rather, We raised them [the children] to their [the fathers'] status out of pure grace and kindness. Ibn Zayd said the pronoun returns to the children: "We did not deprive the children who were joined [to the parents] of anything from the reward of their deeds, whether good or evil; rather, We did that for them after fully recompensing them for their deeds." This is not the case, although Abu Hayyan says this possibility is bolstered by His saying, "Every person is a pledge for what he earned." The first view is what was held by Ibn Abbas, Ibn Jubayr, and the majority. The verse, according to what the majority hold, concerns the adults among the offspring; others said it concerns the young children.

It is narrated from Al-Habr [Ibn Abbas] and Al-Dahhak that they said: "Verily, Allah, the Exalted, joins young children—even if they did not reach the age of belief—to their believing fathers." They made "in faith" [bi-imanin] related to "We joined" [alhaqna]: by reason of the faith of the fathers, We joined their young offspring to them, those who died before reaching the age of accountability, so they are in Paradise with their fathers. It is said: It is as if one who says this interprets "their offspring followed them" as: they died and passed on in their footsteps before they reached puberty. It is also permitted that "in faith" is related to "followed them," meaning: they followed them in this attribute, in that it was ruled for them by way of being followers of their fathers. Thus, they were believers by ruling, due to their youth and the faith of their fathers, and a child is ruled a believer as a follower of one of his believing parents.

All of this is as you see. It is also said that the relative pronoun [Al-ladhina] is conjoined to "hur" (fair women of Paradise). The meaning is: We have paired them with the hur and with those who believed—the companions and associates among them. Thus, they enjoy themselves at times by playing with the hur and at other times by the companionship of their believing brothers. His saying, "and their offspring followed them," is conjoined to "We have paired them." And His saying, "in faith," is related to what follows it—meaning: because of a great faith, high in position, which is the faith of the fathers, We joined their offspring to their ranks, even if they were not deserving of them, as a grace to them and to their fathers, so that their joy might be complete and their bliss perfect. Or, it is because of an inferior faith—the faith of the rank of the offspring—as if it were said: By some measure of faith that does not qualify them for the rank of the fathers, We joined them to them.

Al-Zamakhshari’s work is clearly inclined toward choosing the conjunction to hur, as he mentioned it as a primary aspect. Abu Hayyan critiqued him, saying that no one but this man could imagine such a thing, and that it is an "alien" (non-Arab) imagination that contradicts the understanding of pure-blooded Arabs like Ibn Abbas and others. It was said against him that this is mere fanaticism on his part. The fairness is that the obvious [reading] is that it is a new beginning (isti'naf), and the most excellent of interpretations for the verse, and the most consistent with the context, is what was presented earlier.

Abu 'Amr read "and We made them follow" (wa-atba'nahum) with the hamza cut (qata') and opened, the ta silenced, and a nun and an 'ayn with an alif after it, meaning: We made them followers of them in faith. He also read "their offspring" (dhurriyyatahum) as a plural in the accusative case; Ibn 'Amir likewise read it in the nominative. He read "their offspring" (dhurriyyatahum) with a kasra on the dhal. "And their offspring followed them" (wattaba'athum dhurriyyatuhum) with the ta as the agent (fa'il) and the offspring in the accusative as the object (maf'ul).

Al-Hasan and Ibn Kathir read "we did not deprive them" (alattnahum) with a kasra on the lam, from alata-ya'litu like 'alima-ya'lamu. According to the reading of the majority, it is of the category of daraba-yadribu. Ibn Hurmuz read alatnahum with a madd (lengthening). Ibn Mas'ud and Ubayy read latnahum from lata-yalitu—this is the reading of Talha and Al-A'mash; it is also narrated from Shibl and Ibn Kathir. It is also narrated from Talha and Al-A'mash as latnahum with a fatha on the lam. Sahl said: It is not permissible to have a fatha on the lam without an alif under any circumstances. He also rejected alatnahum with the madd and said: "It is not narrated from anyone, nor is it indicated by exegesis or Arabic." But it is not as he said; rather, the scholars of the language reported alata with the madd, as Hurmuz read. It was also read walatnahum from walata-yalitu. The meaning of all is one. Alata came to mean "to be harsh/severe"; it is narrated that a man stood before Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, and exhorted him, so he said: "Do not be harsh (la ta'lut) toward the Commander of the Believers," meaning: do not be severe with him.

"Every person is for what he earned—a pledge." Meaning: He is held as a pledge with Allah. It is as if the earning is in the place of a debt, and the soul of the servant is in the place of a pledge. The pledge is not released so long as the debt is not paid. If the deed is righteous, then it is paid, for the Lord, exalted be He, accepts righteous deeds and they ascend to Him, the Mighty and Majestic. If it is otherwise, then there is no payment, and thus no salvation, for nothing ascends to Him, the Exalted, except the good. Therefore, He, the Majestic, said: "Every soul is a pledge for what it earned, except the companions of the right hand," for the intent is that every soul is a pledge for its earnings with Allah, the Exalted, and is not released except for the companions of the right hand, for they released their necks from it through the good things they earned.

The method of connection here is that when He, the Exalted, mentioned the state of the God-fearing and that He, the Mighty and Majestic, provided them in full with what He prepared for them of reward and grace, He followed it with that statement to indicate that they had released their necks and saved them, while others remained tormented because they did not release their necks. Its place, according to the outward appearance, should have been after His saying, "He is the Beneficent, the Merciful," so that it would be a statement referring to the condition of the two called-upon groups and the God-fearing. Instead, it was placed between the rewards of the God-fearing following the mention of what was prepared for them.

In Al-Kashf, it is stated: "To indicate that salvation is also part of their rewards, and it follows that salvation is the recompense of the opposing parties by way of implication. Its location is that of an interjection to verify the completeness of what was counted, for that [completion] only occurs after salvation. It contains an indication that the joining of the children was only a grace to the fathers, not to the children initially, because grace is a branch of [the act of] release, and these are those who released themselves, so they became deserving of grace." Making it a beginning of an explanation for this meaning, as Al-Tibi did, is far-fetched.

It is also said that "pledge" (rahin) is in the form of fa'il (active participle) meaning "a pledger," i.e., constant and fixed. In Al-Irshad, it is stated that this is more appropriate for the context, for constancy necessitates no separation between a person and his deeds, and of its necessities is that nothing is diminished from the reward of the fathers. Thus, the sentence is an explanation for what precedes it. You know that fa'il in the sense of maf'ul (passive participle) comes to the mind more readily, so considering that is more appropriate, and the method of connection based on it is more consistent and delicate, as is not hidden.