Tafsir of Al-Qalam 68:29

"They said: 'Exalted is our Lord; indeed, we were wrongdoers.'"

This is because tasbih (glorification) is a remembrance of Allah Almighty, and their saying "indeed we were..." is remorse and an admission of sin; thus, it is repentance. The manifest meaning is that they only spoke what they were compelled to speak following the commission of the sin—though only after the ruin had occurred.

It has been said that what is meant by tasbih here is the istithna (making an exception, i.e., saying "if Allah wills"), due to their convergence in the meaning of glorifying Allah, the Exalted and Majestic; for the istithna is an act of entrusting matters to Him (Glorified is He), and tasbih is declaring His transcendence. Both entrusting and declaring transcendence are forms of glorification. It is as if it were said: "Did I not say to you, why do you not make exception?"—meaning, why do you not say: "If Allah Almighty wills"?

Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from al-Suddi, and Ibn al-Mundhir from Ibn Jurayj—and it was narrated in al-Bahr from Mujahid and Abu Salih—that they both said: "Their istithna (exception) in that time was tasbih, just as we say 'if Allah Almighty wills'."

Some Hanafis have rendered it an istithna for today. According to them, if a man says to his wife, "You are divorced, SubhanAllah (Exalted is Allah)," the divorce does not take effect. This has been attributed to Imam Ibn al-Humam, with the claim that he stated it in his Fatawa. The justification given is that the intent behind saying SubhanAllah in that context is: "I declare Allah the Exalted and Majestic far above creating that which is hateful to Him, which is divorce," for it has been reported that: "The most hateful of lawful things to Allah is divorce."

Some later scholars have denied that this is attributed to that aforementioned Imam, denying that he even had Fatawa. The aforementioned justification was objected to with various arguments, and, by my life, it is too trivial to even require objection. I say: better than that is what al-Nahhas said in justifying the usage of tasbih in the place of istithna, which is that the meaning is declaring Allah the Exalted above any occurrence taking place except by His will.

Perhaps it may be said that whoever asserted this based the matter upon the authenticity of what has been narrated, and that the religious law of those before us is a law for us if Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) relate it to us without disapproval. This, despite its flaws, is better than what has been said in its justification, as is not hidden.

It has also been said that the meaning is: "Why do you not seek forgiveness?" The basis for this metaphorical usage is known from what has preceded.