Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:40

"Indeed, Allah does not..."

• "An atom" (dharr): The small ant. In the recitation of ‘Abdullah [ibn Mas‘ud], it is read as "the weight of an ant." It is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that he placed his hand in the dust, lifted it, blew upon it, and said, "Each one of these is an atom."
• It is also said: An atom is every single particle of dust seen in a shaft of light.
• This contains evidence that if He were to decrease the reward by the slightest, smallest amount, or increase the punishment [unjustly], it would be injustice. He does not do this because it is impossible according to [His] Wisdom, not because it is impossible according to [His] Power.

"And if there is a good deed..."

• "And if there is the weight of an atom of a good deed": The pronoun for mithqal (weight) is made feminine because it is annexed to a feminine noun [hasana]. It is also read in the nominative case (mithqalu) based on kana being complete (intransitive).
• "He multiplies it": He multiplies its reward because it deserves reward from Him at every future, infinite moment.
• It is narrated from Abu ‘Uthman al-Nahdi that he said to Abu Hurayrah: "It has reached me that you say you heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: 'Indeed, Allah the Exalted gives His believing servant for one good deed a million good deeds.'" Abu Hurayrah replied: "No, rather I heard him say: 'Allah the Exalted gives him two million good deeds,' then he recited this verse."
• The intent here is abundance, not a specific limitation.

"And gives from Himself a great reward."

• He gives the doer of the deed, from His presence, by way of grace, a great gift. He named it "a reward" (ajr) because it is consequential to the [original] reward; it does not stand firm except by the firmness of the other.
• It is read as yuda‘‘ifuha (with shaddah) and yud‘ifuha (without shaddah), from the verbs ad‘afa and da‘afa.
• Ibn Hurmuz read it as tuda‘afuha with a nun.

"So how [will it be]..."

• ...will these disbelievers, from the Jews and others, fare?

"When We bring from every nation a witness..."

• ...who will testify against them regarding what they did. This is their Prophet, as in His saying: "And I was a witness over them as long as I was among them" (Al-Ma'idah: 117).

"And We bring you, [O Muhammad], against these [people] as a witness."

• ...against these deniers.
• It is narrated from Ibn Mas‘ud that he recited Surah An-Nisa to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) until he reached the verse: "And We bring you, [O Muhammad], against these [people] as a witness." The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wept and said, "That is enough for us."

"If the earth were leveled with them..."

• If they were buried and the earth were leveled over them, just as it is leveled over the dead.
• It is said: They will wish they had not been resurrected and that they and the earth were the same.
• It is said: The beasts will turn into dust, so they [the disbelievers] will wish for their state.

"And they will not conceal from Allah a statement."

• They will not be able to conceal it because their limbs will testify against them.
• It is said: The waw is for the state (hal); meaning, they wish to be buried under the earth, and [at that time] they will not conceal from Allah a statement, nor will they lie in their saying: "By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists" (Al-An‘am: 23). For when they say that and deny their polytheism, Allah will seal their mouths, and their hands and feet will speak, belying them and testifying against them regarding their polytheism. Because of the severity of the situation for them, they will wish that the earth were leveled with them.
• It is read as tusawwa (with the ta omitted from tutasawwa). It is said: sawwaytuhu fatasawwa, like lawwaytuhu fatalawwa. It is also read as tusawwa with the ta assimilated into the sin, like His saying: "They hear" (yasma‘un). Its past tense is aswa, like azka.