Tafsir of Al Imran 3:117

"The likeness of what they spend..."

Al-Sarr (الصر) is the cold wind. Regarding Sarsar (صرصر), it is said: "Do not equate the Atawiyyin (people of the valley) struck by them, With a Nakba' (a wind blowing from between two directions) that is Sarr (cold), upon the owners of the dwellings."

As Layla al-Akhyaliyya said: "And he did not overcome the most stubborn adversary, nor fill the bowls, With fat on the day of a Nakba' that is Sarsar (violently cold)."

If you ask: What is the meaning of His saying: "Like a wind in which is Sarr (intense cold)"?

I say: There are several aspects to this:

1. Al-Sarr is an adjective for the wind, meaning "cold." It describes the coldness, meaning "in it is a cold that is Sarr," just as you say "a cold that is freezing" (bard barid) for emphasis.
2. Al-Sarr is originally an infinitive meaning "cold," and it is used in its original form.
3. It is like the saying of the Almighty: "There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern (uswa)," and your saying: "So-and-so neglected me, but in Allah is a Kafi (sufficient one) and a Kafil (guarantor)." As the poet said: "And in the Most Merciful is a sufficiency (kafi) for the weak."

He likened what they spend of their wealth—for the sake of nobility, pride, gaining praise, and good reputation among people, while not seeking the Face of Allah—to a crop struck by cold, which then turned into debris.

It is said: It refers to what they used to seek closeness to Allah with, despite their disbelief. It is also said: It refers to what they spent in enmity toward the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), which was lost to them because they did not achieve through that spending what they had spent it for. It is likened to a harvest.

"A people who wronged themselves" He destroyed them as a punishment for their sins, for destruction resulting from wrath is more severe and profound.

If you ask: The purpose is to liken what they spend—in its lack of benefit and its loss—to a harvest struck by Sarr. Yet, the speech does not match the purpose, as what they spend is made to be the likeness of the wind.

I say: It is a compound simile, similar to what passed in the interpretation of His saying: "Like the likeness of one who kindled a fire." It is also permissible that the meaning is: "The likeness of the destruction of what they spend is like the destruction of a wind," or "The likeness of what they spend is like the object destroyed by a wind," which is the harvest. It is also recited as tunfiquna (you spend) with a ta'.

"And Allah did not wrong them" The pronoun refers to the spenders, meaning: Allah did not wrong them by not accepting their expenditures, but they wronged themselves by not bringing them in a state worthy of acceptance. Or, it refers to the owners of the harvest who wronged themselves, meaning: Allah did not wrong them by destroying their harvest, but they wronged themselves by committing that which made them deserve punishment. It is also recited as wa-lakinna (but) with a shadda, meaning: "But they wrong their own selves." It is not permissible to mean "but their selves they wrong" by dropping the pronoun of state (damir al-sha'n), for that is only permissible in poetry.