“We have restrained them from spending.” Abū Ishāq said: “An inescapable obligation is described as being ‘upon so-and-so’s neck,’ meaning that it clings to him as a necklace does—the ornament worn around the neck.” Abū ‘Alī said: “This resembles their expressions, ‘I have made such-and-such a collar around your neck,’ and ‘I have hung it around your neck.’ Hence they say, ‘The ruler invested him with such-and-such an office’: the office becomes binding upon him, like a necklace or collar around his neck.”

I say: The same applies to their expression, “I have entrusted so-and-so with judging such-and-such matters,” as though you had placed this responsibility around his neck like a collar. Allah has called onerous obligations “shackles” in His saying:

7: 157 “And he relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them.”

He likened them to shackles because of their severity and difficulty. Al-Hasan said: “These were the hardships imposed in worship, such as cutting away whatever bore traces of urine or impurity, putting oneself to death in repentance, cutting off limbs that had committed sins, and painstakingly removing veins from meat.” Ibn Qutaybah said: “They refer to Allah’s prohibiting them many things that He permitted to the community of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He called them shackles because prohibition restrains, just as a shackle restrains the hand.”

Regarding His words, “So they reach up to their chins,” some scholars said that the pronoun refers to the hands, although these have not been mentioned, because the context indicates them. They explained: “A shackle is placed around the neck, and the hand is bound to it. This is why it is called a jāmi‘ah, something that binds together.” According to this interpretation, the meaning is that their hands—or their right hands—are held against their chins. This is the view of al-Farrā’ and al-Zajjāj.

Others said that the pronoun refers to the shackles, and this is the apparent meaning. His words, “So they reach up to their chins,” mean that the shackles extend to their chins and press tightly against them: each is a broad shackle encircling the neck and reaching as far as the chin.

Regarding His words, “So their heads are forced up,” al-Farrā’ and al-Zajjāj said: “A muqmah is someone who lowers his gaze after raising his head.” Linguistically, iqmāh means raising the head and lowering the gaze. The expressions aqmaha al-ba‘īru ra’sahu and qamaha mean that the camel raised its head. Al-Asma‘ī said: “A camel is described as qāmih when it raises its head away from the watering trough without drinking.” Al-Azharī said: “When their hands were shackled to