Tafsir of Al-Mutaffifeen 83:24

Surah Al-Mutaffifeen 83:24

ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ

You will recognize in their faces the radiance of pleasure.

Tafsir

Ruh al-Ma'ani

Verse range: 83:24

Open in Qurani

(You recognize in their faces the radiance of bliss), meaning the splendor and luster of bliss. This is to negate what might be imagined of the loss of sleep due to weakness or the alteration of facial radiance, as is the case in this worldly life; it is a radiance that the observer does not perceive in the sense of a realized, verifiable state.

The address in "you recognize" (ta‘rifu) is directed to everyone capable of perception, to signal that the traces of bounty and the manifestations of joy upon them are such that they are not restricted to one observer over another.

Abu Ja’far, Ibn Abi Ishaq, Talha, Shaybah, and Ya’qub read it as tu‘rafu (passive voice), with nadratu (radiance) in the nominative case as a deputy of the subject (na'ib al-fa'il). Some have permitted that the deputy of the subject for tu‘rafu be the pronoun referring to the "Righteous" (al-abrar), while "in their faces is the radiance of bliss" is a nominal sentence (mubtada' and khabar), as if it were said: "The Righteous are recognized by the fact that in their faces is the radiance of bliss." This, however, is of no substance, as is hidden to none.

Zayd ibn Ali read it likewise, except that he read it as yu‘rafu with a ya’ (masculine), as the feminization of nadrah (radiance) is metaphorical.