ﲍ ﲎ ﲏ ﲐ ﲑ ﲒ ﲓ ﲔ ﲕ ﲖ ﲗ ﲘ ﲙ ﲚ ﲛ ﲜ ﲝ ﲞ ﲟ ﲠ ﲡ ﲢ ﲣ
Do you not see that Allah sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby fruits of varying colors? And in the mountains are tracts, white and red of varying shades and [some] extremely black.
Tafsir
Verse range: 35:27
Regarding ghurābīb, ‘Ikrimah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "They are the tall, black mountains."
If you ask: Ghurābīb is an intensifier for "black" (aswad). It is said: aswad ghurābīb and aswad ḥulkūk, meaning that which is furthest and most extreme in blackness. From this comes the word ghurāb (crow). The rule of intensification is that it follows the intensified word, like saying aṣfar fāqi‘ (intensely yellow) or abyaḍ yayaq (intensely white).
I say: The way to interpret this is that the intensified word is implied before it, and what follows is an explanation of what was implied, as the poet al-Nābighah said: And the believer, the one seeking refuge, the birds... This is done for the sake of emphasis, as it indicates the single meaning through both explicit mention and implication.
It is necessary to assume the omission of the genitive (muḍāf) in His saying: {And among the mountains are lines}, meaning: "And among the mountains are those possessing white, red, and black lines," until it leads to your saying: "And among the mountains are those of varying colors," just as He said: {fruits of varying colors}, and {And among the people, the beasts, and the cattle are those of varying colors}, meaning: "Among them are some of varying colors."
It was recited as (alwānuhā). Al-Zuhrī recited (judad) with a ḍammah as the plural of jadīdah, which is the jiddah. It is said: jadīdah, judad, and jadā’id, like safīnah, sufun, and safā’in. This was used to explain the words of Abū Dhu’ayb describing a wild donkey: Dark-backed, having four stripes (jadā’id). It was also narrated from him as judad (with two fatḥahs), which is the clear, illuminated path, placed in the position of paths and clear lines separated from one another.
It was recited as (wa-l-dawāb) with a shortened vowel. The analogy for this shortening is the recitation of those who read (wa-l-ḍāllīn)—each is an avoidance of two quiescent letters meeting; one moved the first of them, and the other deleted the last of them.
In the Hadith: "The most knowledgeable of you regarding Allah is the most fearful of Him."
From Masrūq: "It is sufficient knowledge for a person that he fears [Allah], and it is sufficient ignorance for a person that he is impressed by his own knowledge."
A man said to al-Sha‘bī: "Give me a ruling, O scholar." He replied: "The scholar is he who fears Allah." It is said this was revealed regarding Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him), as fear was so apparent in him that it was recognized.
If you ask: Does the meaning change if the object is placed before or after in this statement? I say: It must, for if you place the name of Allah first and the scholars last, the meaning is that those who fear Allah among His servants are the scholars, to the exclusion of others. If you do the opposite, the meaning shifts to them fearing no one but Allah, as in His saying: {And they fear no one but Allah} (al-Aḥzāb: 39). These are two different meanings.
If you ask: What is the connection of this statement to what precedes it? I say: When He said: {Do you not see}—meaning, do you not know that Allah sent down water from the sky—and enumerated the signs of Allah, the markers of His power, the traces of His craftsmanship, and what He created of various species and what serves as evidence for Him and His attributes, He followed that with: {Only those among His servants who have knowledge fear Allah}. It is as if He said: "Only one like you, and those of your quality—those who have known Him with true knowledge and known Him to the extent of His knowledge—fear Him."
From the Prophet (peace be upon him): "I hope to be the most God-fearing of you and the most knowledgeable of you regarding Him."
If you ask: What is the interpretation of the recitation of those who read {Only Allah fears the scholars among His servants}—namely ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz, and it is narrated from Abū Ḥanīfah? I say: Fear in this recitation is a metaphor. The meaning is: "Only the scholars revere and magnify Him," just as the awe-inspiring, feared man is revered among people.
{Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving} is a justification for the necessity of fear, as it indicates the punishment of the disobedient and their subjugation, and the rewarding of the obedient and the pardoning of them. The One who punishes and rewards is worthy of being feared.
