ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ ﲵ ﲶ ﲷ ﲸ ﲹ ﲺ ﲻ ﲼ ﲽ ﲾ ﲿ ﳀ ﳁ ﳂ ﳃ ﳄ ﳅ ﳆ
Whoever desires honor [through power] - then to Allah belongs all honor. To Him ascends good speech, and righteous work raises it. But they who plot evil deeds will have a severe punishment, and the plotting of those - it will perish.
Tafsir
Verse range: 35:10
When the proof of faith was established, it was an indication of what prevented the disbelievers [from accepting it]: namely, the apparent might/glory (ʿizzah) they imagined, stemming from the fact that they were not in obedience to anyone, nor did they have anyone commanding or forbidding them. Thus, they carved idols and claimed, "These are our gods." Furthermore, they carried these idols with them—and what glory is greater than being accompanied by the object of worship?
They sought glory, which they defined as not humbling themselves before the Messenger and not following him. Therefore, God said: If you truly seek glory through this disbelief, then all glory belongs to God. Whoever humbles himself before Him is the mighty one, and whoever seeks might against Him is the lowly one.
In this verse, there are several issues:
God says here: {For all glory belongs to Allah} (فلله العزة جميعا), but in another verse, He says: {And glory belongs to Allah, and to His Messenger, and to the believers} (ولله العزة ولرسوله وللمؤمنين).
The phrase {all} ( جميعا) indicates that no glory belongs to anyone else [in essence]. We respond by saying: His statement {For all glory belongs to Allah} means glory in reality and inherently. His statement {and to His Messenger} means glory by means of proximity to the Mighty One (Allah). And {to the believers} means glory by means of their proximity to the Mighty One through the Messenger. This is because the glory of the believers is mediated through the Prophet (PBUH), as seen in His saying: {If you should love Allah, then follow me, [and] Allah will love you} (3:31).
His statement: {To Him ascends the good word} (إليه يصعد الكلم الطيب) is a confirmation establishing the reality of glory. This is because the disbelievers used to say, "We do not worship one whom we cannot see or approach, because distance from the King implies humiliation."
God Almighty responded: Even if you cannot physically reach Him, He hears your speech and accepts the good. Whoever accepts His speech and it ascends to Him is the mighty one. Whoever rejects His speech back in His face is the lowly one.
As for these idols, the lowly person and the mighty person are indistinguishable before them, as they possess no knowledge. Everyone touches them, and they perceive your knowledge. So, whoever does a righteous deed, He raises it to Himself. Whoever does an evil deed, He returns it upon him. The mighty one is he whose deed is done for His sake, and the lowly one is he who pushes what he knows back in his face. As for these idols, they know nothing; thus, no mighty one is elevated near them, nor is any lowly one [recognized]. There is no glory in them; rather, humiliation rests upon them, because the humiliation of the master is the humiliation of the servant. What state is the one whose worshipped Lord and God is stone or wood in?
Regarding His statement: {To Him ascends the good word}, there are several interpretations:
The preferred view is that every speech that is a remembrance of God, or is for God (like sincere advice or knowledge), ascends to Him.
His statement: {And the righteous deed raises it} (وَٱلْعَمَلُ ٱلصَّٰلِحُ يَرْفَعُهُ). There are two interpretations concerning the pronoun it (ـهُ):
What is the rationale for prioritizing speech over action in the second interpretation, where the word ascends by itself, but the deed is raised by something else?
We say: Speech is noble, as human distinction from all other animals lies in articulation (speech), which is why God said: {And We have certainly honored the children of Adam} (17:70), meaning, with the rational soul. Action (movement and stillness) is shared by humans and others.
The noble thing, when it reaches the King's gate, is not prevented [from entry]. The one who is less noble does not find the way except when seeking it. This is evidenced by the fact that if a disbeliever utters the testimony of faith sincerely, he is saved from punishment in this world and the Hereafter. If it is merely outward utterance, he is safe in his person, blood, family, and honor in this world. This is not the case with physical actions. We have already discussed this in the exegesis of {And those who believed and did righteous deeds...}.
Another rationale: The heart is the origin, as we have previously shown. The Prophet (PBUH) said: "Verily, in the body there is a piece of flesh; if it is sound, the entire body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the entire body is corrupt—behold, it is the heart." What is in the heart manifests only through the tongue, and what is on the tongue is only proven true through action. Do you not see that a person does not utter a word except from the heart? As for action, it might occur without the heart, like fidgeting with the beard. Furthermore, a sleeping person is never without some action (movement or turning), yet he rarely speaks in his sleep, unlike the case where speech requires the heart. Therefore, speech is more noble.
Al-Zamakhshari asked: Since the verb makara (to plot/deceive) is usually intransitive, how can it take the object sayyi’āt (evil deeds) in {And those who plot evil deeds}? He suggested that the meaning is "those who commit evil plots," where sayyi’āt is an adjective describing an omitted verbal noun (i.e., al-makrāt al-sayyi’ah).
Alternatively, it can be argued that the verb makara was used transitively, like the verb ʿamila (to do/work), as in {those who do evil deeds} (ٱلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِ). In the phrase {those who do evil deeds}, the sayyi’āt could also be an adjective describing an omitted verbal noun, meaning "those who do the evil works."
Under this interpretation, this [fate of evil deeds] is contrasted with His statement: {And the righteous deed raises it}, indicating its permanence and ascent. And {and the plot of those [disbelievers]... will vanish} (وَمَكْرُ أُولَٰئِكَ هُوَ يَبُورُ), indicating its annihilation.
Then the Almighty said: {And Allah created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then He made you pairs. And no female bears except with His knowledge, and no one is granted a long life, nor is any of their lifespan diminished except that it is [recorded] in a Book. Indeed, that is easy for Allah.}
