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Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:201-202

Surah Al-A'raf 7:201

ﱹ ﱺ ﱻ ﱼ ﱽ ﱾ ﱿ ﲀ ﲁ ﲂ ﲃ ﲄ

Indeed, those who fear Allah - when an impulse touches them from Satan, they remember [Him] and at once they have insight.

Tafsir

Mafatih al-Ghayb

Verse range: 7:201-202

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Al-A'raf: (201 - 202) Indeed, those who fear Allah...

Issues in the Verse:

The First Issue: Allah the Exalted clarified in the first verse that the Messenger (PBUH) can be touched by the suggestion of Satan. He then explained the remedy for this state is seeking refuge in Allah. In this verse, Allah clarifies that the state of the pious exceeds that of the Messenger in this regard.

The Messenger only experiences nagh (a slight prompting/touch) from Satan, which is like the beginning of whispering. However, for the pious, what afflicts them is more severe: they may be touched by a ṭā’if (a wandering influence) from Satan. This touch (mass) is necessarily more potent than mere nagh.

The Second Issue: Ibn Kathir, Abu 'Amr, and Al-Kisā’ī recited the word as **{طَيْف}** (*ṭayf*) without an *alif*. The rest recited it as **{طَائِف}** (*ṭā’if*) with an *alif*.

Al-Wāḥidī, may Allah have mercy on him, stated that there is a difference of opinion regarding ṭayf:

  1. It is said to be a verbal noun (maṣdar).
  2. Abū Zayd said that ṭāfa yaṭūfu ṭawfan wa ṭawāfan means to approach and depart. Aṭāfa yuṭīfu iṭāfatan means to circle around people and approach them from their sides. Ṭāfa al-khayāl yaṭīfu ṭayfan means when the phantom appears in a dream.

Ibn al-Anbārī said it is permissible for ṭayf to originally be ṭayf (with a yā’ doubled), but they found the gemination heavy, so they dropped one yā’ and kept a quiescent yā’. Thus, according to the first opinion, it is a maṣdar, and according to Ibn al-Anbārī, it is from the pattern of hayyin and hayyin, and mayyit and mayyit.

The recitation of Sa'īd ibn Jubayr, {إِذَا مَسَّهُمْ} (with the shaddah on the sīn), supports Ibn al-Anbārī's view that this is the original form of ṭayf.

Subsequently, madness (junūn), anger (ghaḍab), and whispering (waswasa) are called ṭayf because they are a touch (lamma) from Satan resembling the touch of a phantom. Al-Azhari said that al-ṭayf in Arabic means madness. Then anger is called ṭayf because an angry person resembles a madman.

As for al-ṭā’if, it may mean al-ṭayf, similar to how the maṣdar sometimes comes in the form of fā'il and fā'ilah (like ʿāfiyah and ʿāqibah). Al-Farrā’ said regarding this verse that al-ṭā’if and al-ṭayf are the same: what resembles the phantom that appears to a person. Some say al-ṭayf is like a fleeting thought (khaṭrah), and al-ṭā’if is like the notion (khāṭir).

The Third Issue: Know that anger is stirred up in a person only when they deem the action of the one they are angry at to be reprehensible, and they believe themselves capable of retaliation, and they believe the object of their anger is incapable of defending himself. When these three beliefs are present, and the person is immersed in the darkness of the physical world, they are deceived by outward appearances.

However, if a light from the unseen world is unveiled to him, these three beliefs vanish for many reasons:

  1. Regarding the first belief (deeming the action reprehensible): If it is revealed to him that the person acted that way only because Allah created within him a firm, established inclination (dāʿiyah), and when Allah creates that inclination, it is impossible for him not to commit that act, then anger subsides. Furthermore, it may occur to the person that Allah knew this state in him, and since he could not avoid it, his anger dissipates. This is alluded to in the Prophet's saying: "Whoever knows the secret of Allah concerning destiny, calamities become light for him."
  1. Regarding the second and third beliefs (believing oneself capable and the other incapable): These two beliefs are also flawed in several ways:
    • He believes he has done a wrong action, while Allah was capable of preventing him, and he was a captive in the grip of Allah's power, yet Allah pardoned him.
    • Just as the object of anger is helpless in the hand of the angry person, the angry person is helpless concerning Allah's power.
    • The angry person remembers that Allah commanded him to refrain from executing his anger and to return to abandoning harm and distress.
    • He remembers that if he executes his anger and takes revenge, he becomes a partner to harmful beasts and deadly reptiles. But if he refrains from revenge and chooses forgiveness, he becomes a partner to the greatest of Prophets and Saints.
    • He remembers that the weak person might become strong and capable of overpowering him, in which case he would retaliate in the worst manner. But if he forgives, it is an act of kindness towards him.

In summary, the meaning of Allah's saying {إِذَا مَسَّهُمْ طَائِفٌ مِّنَ الشَّيْطَانِ} (When a wandering influence from Satan touches them) is what we mentioned regarding the three beliefs. The meaning of {تَذَكَّرُوا} (they remember) is the aspects we mentioned that demonstrate the weakness of those beliefs.

The phrase {فَإِذَا هُم مُّبْصِرُونَ} (and suddenly they see clearly) means that when these reminders occur to their minds, the touch of Satan's ṭā’if immediately vanishes, and clarity, unveiling, illumination, and deliverance from Satan's whispering occur.

The Fourth Issue: The phrase **{فَإِذَا هُم مُّبْصِرُونَ}** uses *idhā* here to mean suddenness, like saying, "I went out, and suddenly there was Zayd." The *idhā* in **{إِذَا مَسَّهُمْ}** requires a consequence (*jawāb*), like saying, "I will come to you when the unripe dates turn red."

Regarding Allah's saying: {وَإِخْوَانُهُمْ يَمُدُّونَهُمْ فِي الْغَيِّ} (And their brethren extend them in error)

The First Issue: There is a difference of opinion regarding what the pronoun in **{وَإِخْوَانُهُمْ}** (And their brethren) refers to, based on two opinions:

  1. The first opinion (the more apparent one): The meaning is: The brethren of the devils (i.e., the devils among mankind) extend the devils (among the Jinn) in error. This is because the devils among mankind are brethren to the devils among the Jinn. The devils among mankind mislead people, which serves as an extension (support) for the devils among the Jinn in their misleading and misguidance.
  2. The second opinion: Their brethren are the people who are not pious. The devils provide support for them in error. Both opinions are based on the premise that every disbeliever has a brother among the devils.

The Second Issue: The interpretation of **الإمداد** (*al-imdad*, extending/supporting) is strengthening that whispering, persisting in it, and occupying the self so that it does not pause to consider its ugliness and faults.

The Third Issue: Nāfi‘ recited **{يَمُدُّونَهُمْ}** (*yamuddūnahum*) with a *ḍammah* on the *yā’* and a *kasrah* on the *mīm* (from *Imdād*). The rest recited it as **{يُمِدُّونَهُمْ}** (*yumiddūnahum*) with a *fatḥah* on the *yā’* and a *ḍammah* on the *mīm*. Both are linguistic variations: *madda yamuddu* and *amadda yamuddu*. Some say *madda* means to pull/draw, while *amadda* means to supply/reinforce (*imdad*).

Al-Wāḥidī said that most instances in the Revelation where something praiseworthy or desirable is intended use the form amaddtu (on the pattern of afʿaltu), such as: {أَنَّمَا نُمِدُّهُم بِهِ مِن مَّالٍ وَبَنِينَ} (We extend to them thereby wealth and children) [Al-Mu'minūn: 55], and {وَأَمْدَدْنَاهُم بِفَاكِهَةٍ} (And We extended to them with fruits) [At-Ṭūr: 22], and {أَتُمِدُّونَنِ بِمَالٍ} (Do you supply me with wealth?) [An-Naml: 36]. What contradicts this uses the form maddadtu (like {وَيَمُدُّهُمْ فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ} [And We leave them wandering in their transgression] [Al-Baqarah: 15]), which is the recitation of the majority (with fatḥah on the yā’).

As for the one who uses ḍammah on the yā’ (i.e., yumiddūnahum), they used the form associated with good for its opposite (a form of irony or reversal), similar to {فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ} (So give them tidings of a painful punishment) [Al-Inshiqāq: 24].

And {ثُمَّ لَا يُقَصِّرُونَ} (Then they do not fall short). Al-Layth said iqṣār means to refrain from something. Abū Zayd said aqṣara fulān ʿan ash-shay’ yaqṣuru iqṣāran means he refrained from evil and stopped. Ibn 'Abbās said: {ثُمَّ لَا يُقَصِّرُونَ} means they do not fall short in misguidance (ḍalāl) or causing misguidance (ighwā’). The one who is misguided (ghāwī) is in misguidance, while the one causing misguidance (mughwī) is in causing misguidance.

{وَإِذَا لَمْ تَأْتِهِم بِآيَةٍ قَالُوا لَوْلَا اجْتَبَيْتَهَا ۖ قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَتَّبِعُ مَا يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ مِن رَّبِّي ۚ هَٰذَا بَصَائِرُ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ}

(And when you do not bring them a sign, they say, "Why have you not selected one?" Say, "I only follow what is revealed to me from my Lord. This is insight from your Lord and guidance and mercy for a people who believe.")