Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:21

After Allah, the Exalted, enumerated the groups of those bound by religious obligations—the believers, the disbelievers, and the hypocrites—and mentioned their attributes, conditions, and ultimate outcomes, as well as what distinguishes each group in terms of what brings them happiness or misery, and what elevates or degrades them before Allah, He turned to address them directly.

This is an instance of the "shift" (iltifat) mentioned previously regarding the verse: "You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help" (1:5). It is a rhetorical technique that carries a sense of vigor and stimulation for the listener. Just as when you speak to a companion about a third party, recounting their affairs, and then suddenly turn your address to that third party, saying: "O so-and-so, it is your duty to follow the virtuous path in your affairs and remain on the straight road in your departures and arrivals."

By shifting your address toward him, you alert him with a superior level of attention, summon his focus to your guidance with greater intensity, and—by moving from the third person to direct confrontation—you stir his nature in a way that would not occur if you had continued in the third person. Such stylistic variation in speech, moving from one mode to another, opens ears to listening and stirs souls toward acceptance.

We have received, through a sound chain of narration from Ibrahim via Alqama, that every verse beginning with "O mankind" was revealed in Mecca, and every verse beginning with "O you who believe" was revealed in Medina. Thus, His saying, "O mankind, worship your Lord," is an address to the polytheists of Mecca.

"Ya" (O) is a particle originally intended for calling someone at a distance—a sound shouted by a person to the one they are calling. As for calling someone near, it is done with "Ay" or the hamza. However, it is also used for those who are heedless or distracted, even if they are near, treating them as if they were distant. When it is used for a near, attentive person, it is for emphasis, signaling that the address following it is of great importance.

If you ask: Why does the supplicant say in his crying out, "O Lord" or "O Allah," when He is closer to him than his jugular vein and is All-Hearing and All-Seeing? I say: It is the supplicant’s sense of his own inadequacy and his feeling of distance from the stations of proximity and the levels of those brought near to Allah. It is an act of self-abasement and an admission of his own negligence before Allah, combined with an intense yearning for his prayer to be answered and his call to be permitted.

"Ay" is a bridge to call that which contains the definite article "Al" (the), just as "Dhu" and "Alladhi" are bridges to describing generic nouns and defining nouns with clauses. It is an indefinite noun that requires something to clarify it and remove its ambiguity. Therefore, it must be followed by a generic noun or its equivalent to be described by it, so that the intent of the call is valid. The particle of calling acts upon "Ay," and the noun following it is its descriptor, like saying "O you, the refined Zayd." However, "Ay" does not stand alone as independently as "Zayd," so it cannot be separated from its descriptor.

In this progression from ambiguity to clarification, there is a form of emphasis and intensification. The word of attention ("Ayyuha") inserted between the descriptor and the described serves two purposes: supporting the call particle and reinforcing its meaning, and acting as a substitute for the genitive construction that "Ay" requires.

If you ask: Why is calling in this manner so frequent in the Book of Allah, more so than elsewhere? I say: Because it possesses multiple facets of emphasis and causes for hyperbole. Everything Allah calls His servants to—His commands, prohibitions, exhortations, warnings, promises, threats, and the stories of past nations—are matters of great weight and grave importance. They are meanings to which they must awaken and turn their hearts and insights, yet they are heedless of them. Thus, the situation demanded that they be called in the most emphatic and eloquent manner.

If you ask: Is the command to worship directed at all believers and disbelievers, or specifically at the Meccan polytheists, as narrated from Alqama and Al-Hasan? If it is the former, the believers are already worshiping their Lord, so how can they be commanded to do what they are already doing? And if it is the latter, the disbelievers do not know or acknowledge Allah, so how can they worship Him? I say: For the believers, the intent of the command is for them to increase in worship, to turn toward it, and to remain steadfast upon it. As for the disbelievers, the condition for their worship is what is indispensable to it: acknowledgment (of Allah). Just as one commanded to pray is implicitly commanded to perform the necessary conditions like ablution and intention, that which is essential for an act is included in the command to perform it, even if not explicitly mentioned. Moreover, the Meccan polytheists did know and acknowledge Allah, as He says: "And if you ask them who created them, they will surely say, 'Allah'" (43:87).

If you ask: You have made the command "Worship" encompass two things: the command to worship and the command to increase in it. I say: Increasing in worship is itself worship; it is not something else.

If you ask: What is meant by "Your Lord"? I say: The polytheists believed in two types of lordship: the lordship of Allah and the lordship of their idols. If the address is specific to them, the term refers to a name shared by the Lord of the heavens and the earth and the idols they called "lords." His saying, "Who created you," is a clarifying and distinguishing attribute. If the address is to all groups, it means your Lord in truth, and "Who created you" is an attribute used for praise and glorification. This interpretation is not impossible for the disbelievers, though the first is clearer and more correct.

"Creation" (khalq) is the bringing of a thing into existence based on measurement and proportion. It is said, "He fashioned (khalaqa) the sandal," meaning he measured it and leveled it with a gauge.

Regarding "L'alla" (perhaps/so that): It is used for hope or apprehension. You say, "Perhaps Zayd will honor me," or "Perhaps he will insult me." Allah says, "Perhaps he may remember or fear" (20:44). It has come in the Quran as a way of creating hope, but because it is the hope of a Generous, Merciful One, when He creates hope, He inevitably fulfills it, as His hope functions like His absolute promise.

Some say "L'alla" means "so that" (kay), but "L'alla" does not mean "so that." The truth is what I have presented to you. Furthermore, it is the custom of kings to express their intentions—which they are determined to fulfill—using words like "perhaps" or "maybe," or by subtle hints. When a seeker catches such a sign, they have no doubt of success. The speech of the King of Kings, the Possessor of Might and Majesty, has come in a similar manner. Or, it comes as a way of creating hope without absolute certainty, so that the servants do not become complacent, as in: "O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance; perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds" (66:8).

If you ask: What is the meaning and position of "L'alla" in this verse? I say: It is not of the type we mentioned. Since He says, "Who created you... so that you might become righteous," it cannot be interpreted as Allah hoping for their righteousness, for hope is not applicable to the Knower of the Unseen and the Witnessed. Nor is it sound to interpret it as Him creating them while He hopes for their righteousness.

Rather, "L'alla" here is used metaphorically, not literally. Allah created His servants to subject them to religious obligations, implanted in them intellects and desires, removed the obstacles to their ability and empowerment, guided them to the two paths, placed the reins of choice in their hands, and desired goodness and righteousness from them. They are in the position of those from whom righteousness is hoped for; their affair remains balanced, and they are free to choose between obedience and disobedience, just as the state of one who is hoped for is balanced between doing and not doing. The proof is His saying: "That He might test you, which of you is best in deed" (11:7). He only tests and examines one for whom the outcomes are hidden, but He likened it to a test because their affairs are built upon choice.

If you ask: Since He created those addressed "so that they might become righteous," and likewise created those before them for that reason, why restrict it to them and not those before them? I say: He did not restrict it to them, but the addressed were given precedence over the absent in both wording and meaning, intending all of them.

If you ask: Why was "You worship" not used instead of "Worship" to match "You might become righteous," so that the two ends of the structure would correspond? I say: Righteousness is not something other than worship, so there is no dissonance in the structure. Rather, righteousness is the ultimate goal of the worshiper and the limit of his effort. When He says, "Worship your Lord who created you," to attain the ultimate goal of worship, it is more motivating, more binding, and more firmly established in the souls. It is like saying to your servant, "Carry the bag of books, for I have only possessed you to carry burdens." If you had said, "To carry the bags of books," it would not have had the same effect on his soul.

"[He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him]."