Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be within towers of lofty construction. But if good comes to them, they say, "This is from Allah "; and if evil befalls them, they say, "This is from you." Say, "All [things] are from Allah." So what is [the matter] with those people that they can hardly understand any statement?
An-Nisa: 78
**"Wherever you may be, death will overtake you..."**
It is read as yudrikkum (in the nominative case). It is said that this is due to the omission of the fa (conjunction), as if it were said: fa-yudrikkum (then it will overtake you). It is similar to the poet’s saying: "Whoever does good deeds, Allah rewards them."
It is also permissible to say it is predicated upon what occupies the place of "Wherever you may be," which is "Wherever you were," just as "nor a na'ib (crier)" is predicated upon what occupies the place of "they are not reformers" (i.e., laysu bi-muslihin). Thus, it is in the nominative, just as Zuhayr raised [the noun in his verse]: "He says: 'No absent [person] is my wealth, nor a forbidden one.'" This is the view of the grammarian Sibawayh.
It is also permissible to connect it to His saying: "And you will not be wronged [even by] a thread." That is: You will not be diminished in anything of your appointed terms, wherever you may be—in the heat of battle or otherwise. Then He begins His statement: "Death will overtake you, even if you should be within towers of lofty construction." The pause in this reading is at "Wherever you may be."
Buruj (towers) are fortresses. Mushayyadah (lofty/constructed) is read as derived from shada (to build), meaning he raised the palace, or he plastered it with shid (gypsum). Na'im ibn Maysarah read it as mushayyidah (with a kasra under the ya), describing it by the action of its doer metaphorically, just as they say "a poetic poem" (qasida sha'ira), though the poet is the one who composes it.
An-Nisa: 79
* *Sayyi'ah* (evil) refers to affliction and disobedience.
* *Hasanah* (good) refers to blessing and obedience. Allah the Almighty said: **"And We tested them with good [times] and bad [times] that perhaps they would return [to obedience]"** (Al-A'raf: 168), and: **"Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds"** (Hud: 114).
* The meaning is: If a blessing of abundance and ease befalls them, they attribute it to Allah. But if an affliction of drought and hardship befalls them, they attribute it to you, saying, "It is from your presence, and it only happened because of your ill-omen." This is as Allah recounted regarding the people of Moses: **"But when good came to them, they said, 'This is ours,' and if a bad [condition] struck them, they saw an evil omen in Moses and those with him"** (Al-A'raf: 131). And regarding the people of Salih: **"They said, 'We consider you a bad omen, you and those with you'"** (An-Naml: 47).
* It is narrated regarding the cursed Jews that they took the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as an evil omen, saying: "Since he entered Medina, our fruits have diminished and our prices have risen." So Allah refuted them: **"Say, 'All [things] are from Allah.'"** He expands provisions and restricts them according to interests.
* **"So what is [the matter] with those people that they can hardly understand any statement?"** So that they might know that Allah is the Expander and the Restrictor, and all of that proceeds from wisdom and correctness.
* Then He said: **"What comes to you"**—O human, a general address—**"of good"**—that is, of blessing and favor—**"is from Allah"**—as a grace, favor, bounty, and trial.
* **"And what comes to you of evil"**—of affliction and calamity—**"is from yourself"**—because you are the cause of it through what your hands have earned. **"And whatever strikes you of disaster - it is for what your hands have earned; but He pardons much"** (Ash-Shura: 30).
* From Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): "No Muslim is afflicted with illness or fatigue, even a thorn that pricks him or the snapping of his sandal strap, except for a sin, and what Allah pardons is more."
An-Nisa: 79-80
* **"And We have sent you, [O Muhammad], to the people as a messenger"**—that is, a messenger to all people. You are not a messenger to the Arabs alone; you are the messenger to the Arabs and the non-Arabs, as in His saying: **"And We have not sent you except comprehensively to mankind"** (Saba: 28), and: **"Say, 'O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all'"** (Al-A'raf: 158).
* **"And sufficient is Allah as Witness"**—to that. Therefore, no one should depart from your obedience and following.
An-Nisa: 80
* **"He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah"**—because he does not command except what Allah has commanded, and he does not forbid except what Allah has forbidden. Thus, obedience to him in complying with what he commanded and refraining from what he forbade is obedience to Allah. It is narrated that he (ﷺ) said: "Whoever loves me has loved Allah, and whoever obeys me has obeyed Allah."
* The hypocrites said: "Do you not hear what this man says? He has committed shirk while forbidding the worship of anyone other than Allah! This man wants nothing but for us to take him as a lord, just as the Christians took Jesus." So it was revealed:
* **"But whoever turns away"**—from obedience and turns away from you—**"then We have not sent you"**—except as a warner, not as a guardian or overseer over them to record their deeds, hold them accountable, and punish them. As in His saying: **"And you are not over them a manager"** (Al-An'am: 107).
