Tafsir of An-Naba' 78:26

(جَزَاءً وِفَاقًا)

"Jazāʾan" (a recompense) is a cognate accusative (mafʿūl muṭlaq) governed by an implicit verb. To consider it another predicate for "kānat" is baseless.

Regarding His saying, the Exalted, "Wifāqan," it is an infinitive (maṣdar) meaning "concordant," and it acts as an adjective for it, with the implied addition of a possessor (i.e., "dhū wifāq" — possessing concordance), or by interpreting it as an active participle, or for the purpose of hyperbole as is well-known in such examples.

Whatever the case, the intent is a recompense that corresponds to their deeds, in the sense that it is commensurate with them in intensity or lightness according to what they deserve, as necessitated by His justice and wisdom, the Exalted. The sentence consisting of the implicit verb and its object is a circumstantial clause (ḥāliyyah) or an inaugural one (mustʾnafah). It is also permitted that "wifāqan" be an infinitive governed by an implicit verb—meaning "it corresponded to them in concordance" (wāfaqahā wifāqan)—and this sentence would be in the position of an adjective for "jazāʾan."

Al-Farrāʾ stated that it is the plural of "wafq," and it is not hidden that treating it as an adjective for "jazāʾan" in that case is problematic.

Abū Ḥaywah, Abū Baḥriyyah, and Ibn Abī ʿAblah read it as "wifāqan" with a kasra on the wāw and a shadda on the fāʾ, from the verb "wafiqahu yafiguhu," similar to "warithahu yarithuhu," meaning it was concordant with his state. In al-Kashf, it is stated that "wafiqa" carries the meaning of "wāfaqahu" (it corresponded to him), and describing the recompense with this is a description of the state of its recipient, as is not hidden. Ibn al-Qūṭiyyah narrated "wafiqa amruhu," meaning "his affair was good," but the meaning here does not rest upon that.