Tafsir of An-Naba' 78:36

"A reward from your Lord": An emphatic verbal noun (masdar) in the accusative case, signifying that "For the righteous is a place of success" (mafazan). It is effectively as if one said: "He rewarded the righteous with a place of success, a reward [that is] from your Lord."

The reference to the attribute of Lordship (Rububiyyah) serves to indicate that this occurs through His arrangement and guidance. The attribution of the Lord to the pronoun pertaining to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), rather than to them [the righteous], is to honor the Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace). It has been said: He did not say "from their Lord" so that the polytheists would not ascribe it to their idols, but this is highly implausible. From what we have mentioned, one understands the reason for omitting "from your Lord" in the earlier verse: "A reward as an equivalent" (78:26), and the lack of attribution of the reward there to the Almighty via another title. It has been said this is in the spirit of: "O God, goodness is in Your hands, and evil is not attributed to You."

"A gift": That is, as a bestowal and benevolence from Him, the Almighty and Majestic, for nothing is incumbent upon Him, the Glorified. This is in substitution (badal) for "a reward." The meaning of it being a "reward" is that it is such according to the requirement of His promise. It has been permitted that it be in the accusative as the object of "reward." Abu Hayyan countered that "a reward" is a verbal noun emphasizing the content of the sentence, and an emphatic verbal noun does not govern [an object] according to the consensus of grammarians, because it cannot be decomposed into a verb and a particle. It was retorted that this applies when the governor of the absolute object is mentioned; however, when it is omitted entirely, there is a dispute as to whether it is the governor or the verb. Al-Shihab said: "The truth is what Abu Hayyan stated, because what is mentioned here is a verbal noun emphasizing itself or another, whereas what the grammarians differed over is the verbal noun that comes in place of the explicit verb (as in the poetry: 'Giving the wealth of a fox'—i.e., looting)."

"Sufficient" (hisaban): An attribute of "gift," meaning sufficient, on the premise that it is a verbal noun used in place of an adjective, or that it is an exaggeration. Or, it is on the assumption of an omitted possessive; it is derived from their saying "I counted the thing for him" (ahsabahu) when it sufficed him, until he said "it is sufficient for me" (hasbi). It is said [it means] "according to their deeds," meaning apportioned according to their measure; this has been narrated from Mujahid. Perhaps the intent is "apportioned" after the multiplication of [rewards], and thus the objection that it is not appropriate for the multiplication of good deeds is averted; this is why it did not say "an equivalent" (wifaqan) as in the previous [verse]. It has also been averted by saying that this is an explanation of what is the fundamental [reward], not the reward absolutely. It is said the meaning is: "A gift granted from His account, not like the worldly blessings." This was countered by saying it is far from the wording, along with the confusion it entails.

Ibn Qutaib read hisaban with a fat-hah on the ha and a shaddah on the sin. Ibn Jinni said it is constructed as fa'alan from af'ala, like darak from adraka; thus, its meaning is muhsiban, i.e., sufficient. Some prohibited the derivation of fa'alan from af'ala (or darak from daraka), so this should be investigated. Shurayh ibn Yazid al-Homsi and Abu al-Barhasm read it with a kasrah on the ha and a shaddah on the sin, as a verbal noun like kadh-dhab. Ibn Abbas read it as hasanan with a nun, from goodness (al-husn). Al-Mahdawi narrated hasban with a fat-hah on the ha, a sukun on the sin, and a ba, like your saying "It is sufficient for you" (hasbuka kadha), meaning "it suffices you."