ﲝ ﲞ ﲟ ﲠ ﲡ ﲢ ﲣ ﲤ ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ ﲵ ﲶ ﲷ ﲸ ﲹ ﲺ ﲻ ﲼ
I said not to them except what You commanded me - to worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them as long as I was among them; but when You took me up, You were the Observer over them, and You are, over all things, Witness.
Tafsir
Verse range: 5:117
"I did not say to them..."
Regarding the particle an (أن) in His saying: "That worship Allah" (أن اعبدوا الله):
If you consider it an explanatory particle (mufassirah), it must have an antecedent to explain. The antecedent would have to be either a verb of saying or a verb of commanding, and neither is appropriate here.
As for the verb of saying, speech is narrated after it without an explanatory particle intervening. You do not say: "I did not say to them that worship Allah," but rather: "I did not say to them except 'Worship Allah'."
As for the verb of commanding, it is attributed to the pronoun of Allah (Exalted is He). If you were to explain it as "Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord," it would not be sound, for Allah (Exalted is He) does not say: "Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord."
If you consider it a particle connected to the verb (masdariyyah), it must be either a substitute (badal) for "what" (ma) in "what You commanded me" (ma amartani bihi), or a substitute for the pronoun "it" (ha) in "with it" (bihi). Both are unsound, because a substitute must be able to stand in the place of that for which it is substituted. One cannot say "I did not say to them that worship Allah" in the sense of "I did not say to them except His worship," because "worship" is not something that is "said." Likewise, if you make it a substitute for the pronoun "it," it would not be correct, because if you placed "that worship Allah" in the place of the pronoun, saying "except what You commanded me that worship Allah," it would be invalid, as the relative clause would remain without a referent returning to it.
If you ask: How then is it to be interpreted? I say: The verb of saying is interpreted according to its meaning. The meaning of "I did not say to them except what You commanded me" is "I did not command them except with what You commanded me," so that it may be correctly explained by "Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord."
It is also permissible for an to be a relative particle acting as an explanatory apposition ('atf bayan) to the pronoun, rather than a substitute.
"And I was a witness over them" A watcher, like a witness over the one testified against, preventing them from saying that or adopting it as a religion.
"But when You took me up, You were the Watcher over them" You prevented them from saying it by the proofs You set up for them, the clear signs You sent down to them, and the messengers You sent to them.
"If You punish them, indeed they are Your servants" Those whom You have known to be disobedient, deniers of Your signs, and rejecters of Your prophets.
"And if You forgive them, indeed You are the Exalted in Might" The Powerful, capable of rewarding and punishing.
"The Wise" The One who does not reward or punish except with wisdom and correctness.
If you ask: Forgiveness is not for the disbelievers, so how could he say "And if You forgive them"? I say: He did not say "You will forgive them," but rather he structured the speech upon the condition of forgiveness. He said: If You punish them, You are just, for they are deserving of punishment. And if You forgive them despite their disbelief, You are not devoid of a facet of wisdom in that forgiveness, for forgiveness is considered good for every criminal in reason; in fact, the greater the crime, the more virtuous the pardon.
