Tafsir of An-Najm 53:22

"That" is a reference to the division understood from the interrogative sentence.

"An unfair division" means unjust, in that you have assigned to Him, Glory be to Him, what you yourselves disdain. This is how Ibn Abbas and Qatadah interpreted dīzā (unfair/unjust). Sufyan interpreted it as "deficient"; Ibn Zayd as "contrary"; Mujahid and Muqatil as "crooked"; and al-Hasan as "not balanced."

The apparent meaning is that it is an adjective. There is disagreement regarding its formation (riyā'ihi): It is said to be derived from a wāw (root), and it is said to be original (aṣliyya). Its measure is fuʿlā with a ḍamma on the first letter, like ḥublā (pregnant) and unthā (female); then the first letter was changed to a kasra to accommodate the yāʾ, just as was done with bīḍ (white), the plural of abyaḍ. The measure of bīḍ is fuʿl with a ḍamma on the first letter, like ḥumr (red), then the first letter was given a kasra for the reason mentioned. This pattern is common.

It was not considered fiʿlā with an initial kasra because of the view held by Sibawayh, who maintained that fiʿlā with a kasra does not exist among the Arabs for adjectives. Some, however, considered it as such, clinging to the occurrence of such forms, as Tha’lab narrated: ḥīkā (a gait), kayṣī (a man), and others, such as ʿizhiy (a woman) and saʿliy (a woman). This was refuted by stating that these are rare, and it is more appropriate to rely on the frequent, standard rules for such categories. Furthermore, it is possible to apply to ḥīkā and kayṣī the same explanation applied to dīzā. The occurrences of ʿizhiy and saʿliy are rejected, as the known forms are ʿizhāh and saʿlāh.

It is permitted that dīzā is fiʿlā with an initial kasra in the sense of a verbal noun (masdar), like dhikrā (remembrance), used as an adjective for emphasis. The arrival of this descriptor in verbal nouns is as mentioned, and it is frequent in rigid nouns like diflā (oleander) and shiʿrā (dog star), and in plurals like ḥajalā (partridges).

Ibn Kathir recited it as ḍiʾzī with a hamza, as a verbal noun used as an adjective. It is also possible that it is an adjective that is originally with a ḍamma but treated like a weak-lettered word because it reverts to it. Ibn Zayd recited it as ḍayzā with a fatḥa on the ḍād and a yāʾ, as if it were daʿwā or kisrā. It is also said ḍuʾzā with a wāw, a hamza, and a ḍamma on the first letter. Al-Kisa'i narrated ḍaʾaza, yaḍʾazu, ḍaʾzan with a hamza. Al-Akhfash recited: "If you move away from her, you will be hunted; and if you are absent, your arrow is maḍʾūr (misses the mark/deflected), and your nose is rubbed in the dust." The most common form is ḍāza without a hamza, as in the saying of Imru’ al-Qais: "The tribe of Asad acted unjustly (ḍāzat) in their judgment, when they made the head like the tail." Ibn Abbas cited this poem as evidence for his aforementioned interpretation.