and counsel one another to patience (3).” [Al-‘Asr: 3], He—glorified be He—swore that the human species (1) is in loss, except for the one who perfects himself through faith and righteous action and perfects others by exhorting them to the same. For this reason al-Shafi‘i, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “If all people were to reflect on Surah al-‘Asr (2), it would suffice them.” (3)
No one is truly counted among the Messenger’s followers unless he invites people to Allah upon clear insight (4). Allah, Exalted is He, says: “Say, ‘This is my way; I call to Allah upon clear insight—I and whoever follows me.’” [Yusuf: 108] His words, “I call to Allah,” explain the path [that] (5) he is upon; thus his path and the path of his followers is to summon to Allah. Whoever does not call to Allah is not upon his path (6).
As for His words, “upon clear insight,” Ibn al-Aʿrabi (7) said: “Al-basīrah is steadfastness in
(1) The word “type” is omitted in manuscript C.
(2) Manuscript C reads “therein” instead of “in Surah al-Asr.”
(3) Ibn Kathir mentions it in his Tafsir with the wording: “If people were to reflect upon this surah, it would suffice them” (4:585).
(4) The phrase “upon insight” is omitted in manuscripts B and C.
(5) The original reads “which,” while manuscript B reads “which [feminine plural]”; neither reading is correct.
(6) Manuscript C reads “he and his followers” in place of the passage from “his path and the path” to “upon his path.”
(7) He was Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ziyad al-A'rabi, a client of Banu Hashim. He was a grammarian, a scholar of language and poetry, and a genealogist. Al-Dhahabi said: “He was devoted to the Sunnah and adherence [to it]” (Siyar A'lam al-Nubala, 10:688). He authored several books on rare linguistic expressions, as well as Kitab al-Anwa, Sifat al-Khayl, Ma'ani al-Shi'r, and others. He died in 231 AH, having passed the age of eighty.
(See his biography in: Tabaqat al-Nahwiyyin wa-al-Lughawiyyin, by Abu Bakr al-Zubaydi, pp. 213-215; Inbah al-Ruwat, by al-Qifti, 3:128-131; Bughyat al-Wu'at, =