Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:51

(And warn) means: Admonish and strike fear, O Muhammad, (by it), meaning by that which is revealed, or by the Quran, as is narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), and from al-Zajjaj. It is also said: It means by Allah Almighty, and this is narrated from al-Dahhak.

This is a command from Him—Subhanahu wa Ta'ala—to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) after He related to him that among the disbelievers are those who are not admonished and are not affected, having joined the dead and been arranged in the ranks of the inanimate. Thus, the medicine of warning does not benefit them, nor does exhortation and reminding avail them. Indeed, warning is for one from whom a benefit is expected in general, and from whom acceptance and hearing are hoped for. These are the ones indicated by His saying: (Those who fear that they will be gathered to their Lord).

The intended meaning of the relative pronoun are those who are candidates for gathering in the manner described hereafter, whether they are certain of its essence—like the People of the Book—or some of the polytheists who acknowledge both in principle, such as some disbelievers whose state is known, that when they hear of its report, they fear that it might be true. As for those who deny the gathering entirely, or those who speak of it while being certain of the intercession of their forefathers or the intercession of idols, they are excluded from those commanded to be warned; this is what the Shaykh al-Islam said.

It is narrated from Ibn Abbas and al-Hasan (may Allah be pleased with them) that the intended meaning of the relative pronoun are the believers. Many have accepted this, yet they qualified it by adding "the negligent," because that is what is appropriate for warning and hoping for piety. The Shaykh refuted this, stating that the preceding and following context do not support it, and rather, it contains that which implies its invalidity, and he explained it with what will be mentioned shortly, if Allah wills.

It is said: The intended meaning are the believers and the disbelievers. Imam al-Razi argued for this by saying that there is no rational person who does not fear the gathering, whether he is certain of its occurrence or is doubtful about it, because it is agreed that its falsehood is not necessarily known. Thus, this fear exists for all. Furthermore, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent to all, so he was commanded to convey the message to all. The weakness of this is not hidden.

The second object of the verb "warn" is either the punishment of the Hereafter, indicated by what is in the relative clause, or the absolute punishment which has been threatened. The reference to the title of Lordship (Rububiyyah) through the verification of fear is either because the upbringing understood from it necessitates the opposite of what they feared the gathering for, or because it informs of absolute ownership and total disposal, as has been said. The meaning of gathering "to Him"—Subhanahu—is the gathering to the place which He—Azza wa Jall—has made a location for their assembly and for judging them; thus, the verse does not serve as evidence for the anthropomorphists (Mujassimah).

His saying: (There is not for them besides Him any protector nor any intercessor) is in the position of the accusative as a circumstantial qualifier (hal) from the pronoun in "they will be gathered," and the operative factor is its verb. The Imam narrated from al-Zajjaj that it is a circumstantial qualifier from the pronoun in "they fear." The first is more appropriate. "Besides Him" is connected to an elided element that acts as a circumstantial qualifier from the name of "there is not," because it is originally an adjective for it; when it preceded it, it became accusative as a circumstantial qualifier. The first circumstantial qualifier is to exclude the gathering that has not been qualified by this condition from the realm of fear, and to clarify that what the fear is attached to is that state, not the gathering however it may be. It is necessary that those who acknowledge it but are certain of the support of others besides Him—Exalted is He—are equivalent to those who deny it regarding the lack of fear upon which the matter of warning revolves. The second circumstantial qualifier is to clarify the pivot of their fear, which is the loss of that upon which they pinned their hopes; and that is none other than besides Him—Subhanahu—as in His saying—Glorified is He: "And whoever does not respond to the caller of Allah, he cannot cause failure upon the earth, and he will have no protectors besides Him." It is not to exclude the protector who has not been qualified by this, from the realm of negation, because that would necessitate the establishment of His protection for them, as in His saying: "And you have not, besides Allah, any protector or any helper," and that is corrupt. The meaning is: Warn by it those who fear their gathering while not being supported by those they presume to be their supporters; this is what the Shaykh al-Islam said. He then said: From this, it is clarified that there is no way for the meaning of "those who fear" to be the negligent among the believers, for they have no protector nor intercessor besides Him—Azza wa Jall—so that they would fear the gathering without His support. Rather, what they fear is the gathering without the support of Him—Subhanahu. This is a verification I have not seen from anyone else, and what is in the Tafsir al-Kabir seems minor in comparison. Perhaps what is narrated from Ibn Abbas and al-Hasan (may Allah be pleased with them) is not established from them; so contemplate this.

(That they might become righteous) means: So that they may fear in the world and refrain from disbelief and sins, as is narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both). According to this interpretation, it is a causal explanation for the command to warn. It is also permissible that it be a circumstantial qualifier from the pronoun of the command—meaning: Warn them, hoping for their piety—or from the relative pronoun—meaning: Warn them, with piety hoped from them.