Al-Fajr: (17) Nay! But you honor not the orphan...

And know that when the Almighty recounted that suspicion of theirs, He said: {Kallā} (Nay!), which is a reprimand to the human being concerning that statement. Ibn Abbas said: The meaning is: "Did I test him with wealth because of his honor to Me, or test him with poverty because of his lowliness to Me?" Rather, that is either according to the doctrine of the Sunnis, based on pure decree (Qadā') or predestination (Qadar) and Will (Mashī'ah), and a judgment purified from being attributed to causes; or, according to the doctrine of the Mu'tazila, it is due to hidden benefits that only He knows. Thus, He might grant abundance to the disbeliever not out of honor for him, and restrict [sustenance] from the believer not out of disdain for him.

Then, when the Almighty recounted that suspicion from their sayings, it is as if He said: Rather, they have an action that is worse than this saying, which is that God Almighty honors them with abundant wealth, yet they do not fulfill what is required of them therein, such as honoring the orphan. So He said: {Bal lā tukrimūna al-yatīm} (Nay! But you honor not the orphan). And therein are several issues:

Issue 1: Recitation Variants

Abu 'Amr recited {yukrimūna} (they honor) and what follows with the letter Yā' dotted from below. This is because when the human being (al-insān) was previously mentioned, it was intended to mean the species and the multitude (plural sense), and since the form is in the third-person masculine singular (impersonal form, ghaybah), they carried yukrimūna and yuḥibbūna (they love) onto it. As for the one who reads with the Tā' (i.e., tukrimūna), the estimation is: Say to them, O Muhammad, that [is the case].

Issue 2: Contextual Narration

Muqātil said: Qudāmah ibn Maẓ'ūn was an orphan under the guardianship of Umayyah ibn Khalaf, and [Umayyah] used to push him away from his right.

Know that abandoning the honoring of the orphan takes several forms:

1. Abandoning kindness towards him: Indicated by His saying: {al-yatīm} (the orphan) and {walā taḥāḍḍūna ‘alā ṭa‘āmi al-miskīn} (nor do you urge one another to feed the poor).
2. Preventing him from his established right in inheritance and consuming his wealth: Indicated by His saying: {wa ta’kulūna al-turātha aklan lammā} (and you devour inheritance greedily).
3. Seizing his wealth from him: Indicated by His saying: {wa tuḥibbūna al-māla ḥubban jamman} (and you love wealth with excessive love), meaning you take the wealth of orphans and combine it with your own wealth.

As for His saying: {walā taḥāḍḍūna ‘alā ṭa‘āmi al-miskīn} (nor do you urge one another to feed the poor): Muqātil said: You do not feed a poor person, meaning you do not command [others] to feed him, like His saying: {Innahu kāna lā yu’minu billāhi al-‘aẓīm * walā yaḥuḍḍu ‘alā ṭa‘āmi al-miskīn} (Indeed, he did not believe in Allah, the Most Great, nor did he urge the feeding of the poor) [Al-Hāqqah: 33-34].

As for the one who reads walā taḥāḍḍūna (with the Tā'), it means tataḥāḍḍūna (you urge one another), where the Tā' of tatafā'alūn is omitted. The meaning is: {yaḥuḍḍu ba‘ḍukum ba‘ḍan} (one of you urges the other). And in {lā tukrimūna al-yatīm} (you honor not the orphan) and {walā taḥāḍḍūna} (nor do you urge), the Tā' is prefixed for muḥāḍḍah (mutual urging).

As for His saying: {Wa ta’kulūna al-turātha aklan lammā} (And you devour inheritance greedily), therein are issues:

They said: The origin of al-turāth (inheritance) is al-wirāth, and the Tā' is substituted for the Dammah-voweled Wāw, similar to tijāh and wijāh from wājahtu.

Al-Layth said: Al-Lamm means intense gathering. From this is katībah malmūmah (a gathered/assembled troop) and ḥajarun malmūm (a gathered stone). The eater yalimmu the tharīd (bread soaked in broth), turning it into mouthfuls, then eats it. It is said: Lamtum mā ‘alā al-khwān (I gathered what was on the serving tray), meaning I ate it all.

Thus, the meaning of al-Lamm in the language is gathering. As for the Exegesis (Tafsir), there are several views:

1. Al-Wāḥidī and the commentators said: His saying {aklan lammā} means intensely (shaddīdan). This is a general meaning, not a specific interpretation. Its interpretation is that al-Lamm is a maṣdar (verbal noun) made an adjective for the eating (akl), and what is intended by it is the doer, meaning an eater who is lāmm (gathering/greedy), as if they consume it entirely through eating.
   • Al-Zajjāj said: They used to consume the wealth of orphans wastefully and hastily, so God said: {wa ta’kulūna al-turātha aklan lammā}, meaning the inheritance of the orphans, lammā meaning you gather all of it.
   • Al-Ḥasan said: Meaning they eat their own share and the share of their companion, thus gathering the share of another to their own share.

2. The wealth left by the deceased contains some that is lawful (ḥalāl), some that is doubtful (shubhah), and some that is unlawful (ḥarām). The heir yalimmu (gathers) all of it, meaning he combines some with the other and takes everything and consumes it.

3. The author of Al-Kashshāf said: It is possible that the censure is directed towards the heir who obtains the wealth easily without having exerted himself for it, so he spends wastefully and eats it aklan lammā (an expansive eating), gathering various types of desired foods, drinks, and fruits, as do idle heirs.

As for His saying: {Wa tuḥibbūna al-māla ḥubban jamman} (And you love wealth with excessive love):

Know that al-Jamm means abundance. It is said: Jamma al-shay’u yajummu jumūman. This is said of wealth and other things, so it is shay’un jammun or jāmmun. Abū ‘Amr said: Jamma yajummu means it increases. The meaning is: And they love wealth with a great, intense love, indicating that their eagerness is solely for the worldly life, and they have turned away from the matter of the Hereafter.

{Kallā idhā dukkati al-arḍu dakkā dakkā * Wa jā’a Rabbuka wa al-malā’ikatu ṣaffan ṣaffā * Wa jī’a yawma’idhin bi-jahannam yawma’idhin yataḏakkaru al-insānu wa anna lahu adh-ḏikrā}

{Nay! When the earth is ground to powder, ground after ground,} {And your Lord comes, and the angels rank on rank,} {And on that Day, Hell is brought forth—that Day, man will remember, but how will the remembrance benefit him then?}