ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ
No! But you do not honor the orphan
ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ
No! But you do not honor the orphan
Tafsir
Verse range: 89:17
Kalla (Nay/No) is a deterrence to man regarding his two reported sayings, and a refutation of him in both of them—not merely the latter, as stated in the final interpretation. Al-Hasan explicitly held the view that we have stated. Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them both—said: "The meaning is: I do not test him with wealth because he is honorable to Me, nor do I test him with poverty because he is insignificant to Me; rather, that is purely by [Divine] Decree and Destiny."
His statement—Glorified be He—“Nay, but you honor not the orphan” is a transition and an advancement from rebuking him for his ugly speech to rebuking him for his uglier deeds. The shift to the second-person address is for the purpose of intensifying the reproach and emphasizing the denunciation. It carries the implicit assumption of "Say: Nay," so the shift is intentional. Indeed, it contains an indication of their deficiency. The use of the plural form is in consideration of the meaning of "man," as the intent is the collective genus. That is: "Nay, you have deeds and conditions that are worse and more indicative of your greed for wealth, in that Allah—Exalted be He—honors you with an abundance of wealth, yet you do not fulfill what is required of you regarding it, such as honoring the orphan through kindness and benevolence toward him." In the Hadith: "The most beloved of houses to Allah—Exalted be He—is a house in which there is an honored orphan." Al-Hasan, Mujahid, Abu Raja, Qatadah, al-Jahdari, and Abu ‘Amr recited it as la yukrimuna (they do not honor) in the third-person.