Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:69

(And there is not upon those who fear) Abu Ja‘far, may mercy be upon him, said: When the verse "And do not sit after the reminder..." was revealed, the Muslims said, "If we must stand up every time the polytheists mock the Qur’an, we will not be able to sit in the Sacred Mosque nor circumambulate the House." So, this was revealed: Meaning, there is no burden upon those who fear [the consequences of] the ugly deeds and states of the boisterous [mockers] (of their account), meaning, of the sins and consequences that the transgressing boisterous ones are held to account for, (of anything)—meaning, there is no burden at all. "Min" (from/of) is an intensive prefix (za’idah), and "shay’in" (anything) is in the position of the nominative as the subject (mubtada’). "Ma" (there is not) is either in the dialect of Tamim or it is treated as "Laysa" (negating) in the Hijazi dialect. Regarding "min hisabihim," as Abu al-Baqa’ stated, it is a state (hal) of it [the subject], because when a modifier (na‘t) of an indefinite noun is placed before it, it is parsed as a state. "Min" is not in the sense of "ajl" (because of), contrary to those who labor over such an interpretation.

"Wa ‘ala alladhina yattaqun" (And upon those who fear) is attached to a suppressed predicate that is in the nominative case, serving as the predicate of the initial subject or the Hijazi "Ma," according to the opinion of those who do not permit its operation on a fronted predicate at all; or it is in the accusative case as the predicate of "Ma," according to the opinion of those who permit its operation on a fronted predicate when it is an adverbial phrase (zarf) or a prepositional phrase.

"But [it is for] a reminder" is a rectification (istidrak) of the previous negation, meaning: But it is upon them that they remind them and prevent them from the indecencies they are involved in, through whatever advice and reminder is possible, and that they manifest to them hatred and disapproval. The status of "dhikra" (reminder), according to many investigators, is either in the accusative as an infinitive (masdar) emphasizing a suppressed verb—meaning, "it is incumbent upon them that they remind them with a reminder"—or in the nominative as a subject whose predicate is suppressed—meaning, "but upon them is a reminder." Abu al-Baqa’ permitted both the accusative and the nominative, though he estimated in the first instance "we remind them a reminder" (with the 'nun' of majesty), and in the second, "this is a reminder." Al-Balkhi’s statement points to this. Al-Zamakhshari did not permit coordinating it with the position of "min shay’in," because "min hisabihim" renders that impossible, for the meaning would become: "But a reminder is of their account," which is as you see [i.e., flawed].

It was objected that it is not necessary for the coordination to a restricted item to require the consideration of that restriction in the coordinated term. The second scholar says: When a singular is coordinated with a singular—especially with a particle of rectification—the restrictions considered in the coordinated-to term are definitively considered in the coordinated term by the rule of usage. You say: "No man came to me on Friday, or in the house, or riding, or from these people, but a woman did." It necessitates that the woman’s arrival occurred on Friday, in the house, in the state of riding, and that she is from the people, definitively. Usage has not come otherwise, nor is anything else understood from the speech. This is unlike the saying: "A man from the Arabs came to me, but a woman [did]." Here, it is not far-fetched for the woman to be a non-Arab. They said: The secret behind this is that the precedence of the restrictions indicates that they are an accepted, settled matter, and that they are a restriction for the agent that extends to all its objects. This rule is specific to the singular for this reason. As for sentences (jumal), if the restriction is made a part of the coordinated-to term even if it precedes it, the coordinated term does not share in it, as in His saying, "When their term comes, they cannot delay it an hour, nor can they advance it," according to what is in the Sharh al-Miftah. This applies unless there is an indicator (qarinah) to the contrary, such as your saying: "A man from Tamim came to me and a woman from Quraysh."

Restricting this rule to the precedence of the restriction and claiming its consistency, as some investigators have mentioned, is what is necessitated by good taste. Some have generalized it, as Al-Halabi said: The scholars of linguistics and the scholars of principles (Usulis) say that coordination is for the purpose of partnership in the external appearance. If there is a restriction in the coordinated-to term, the apparent meaning is the restriction of the coordinated term by that same restriction, unless an indicator comes to divert it, in which case the matter is referred to that. So if you say, "I hit Zayd on Friday, and ‘Amr," the apparent meaning is the participation of Zayd and ‘Amr in the hitting, restricted to Friday. And if you add, "and ‘Amr on Saturday," he does not share in its restriction. The verse is of the first category, so the apparent meaning is his participation in its restriction, and this suffices to prevent [the objection]. Al-Safaqsi and others have investigated this, so ponder it.

Whoever forbade coordination to the position of "min shay’in" due to what has preceded also forbade coordination to "shay’in" for that same reason, and because "min" cannot be estimated as an operative (working) agent after an affirmative clause, as it is only an operative agent when it is in the strength of an explicitly mentioned, added particle, and it is not added in affirmative clauses—except in adverbial phrases or absolutely, according to the majority.

"(That they might fear)"—meaning, that they might avoid the boisterous speech out of shame or out of hatred for their sins. It is also permitted that the pronoun refers to "those who fear," meaning: But the fearful ones remind the boisterous ones so that the fearful ones might remain firm upon their fear (piety) and not be sinful by abandoning what was incumbent upon them of forbidding the evil, or so that they might increase in fear by that. This verse, as Al-Nahhas recorded from Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, and Abu al-Shaykh from al-Suddi and Ibn Jubayr, is abrogated by His saying, the Almighty, revealed in Medina: "And it has been sent down to you in the Book that when you hear the verses of Allah being disbelieved in..." and so on. Al-Balkhi and al-Jubba’i held this view. In al-Tawd al-Rasikh fi al-Mansukh wal-Nasikh, [it is stated] that there is no abrogation according to the investigators, because His saying, "And there is not upon those who fear," etc., is a report, and there is no abrogation in reports, so understand this.