Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (4/163)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

Damrah said: Allah, exalted is He, had His Throne upon the water; then He created the heavens and the earth, and created the Pen, with which He wrote all that He would create and all that would come to pass among His creatures. Then that Book glorified and praised Allah for a thousand years before He created anything of His creation. (1)

“So that He may test you”: that is, test you, though He already knows best, “which of you is best in deeds”—that is, the most diligent in obeying Allah and the most scrupulous in avoiding what Allah, exalted is He, has forbidden. “And if you say,” O Muhammad, “You will surely be resurrected”—that is—“after death, those who disbelieve will certainly say, ‘This is nothing but clear sorcery,’” meaning the Quran.

Hamzah and al-Kisa’i recited it as “a clear magician,” meaning Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

“And if We delay the punishment for them until a limited term, they will surely say, ‘What is holding it back?’ Indeed, on the Day it comes upon them, it will not be turned away from them, and what they used to ridicule will engulf them. And if We let man taste mercy from Us, then withdraw it from him, he is certainly despairing and ungrateful.”

“And if We delay the punishment for them until a limited term”: that is, until a fixed appointed time. The original meaning of ummah is a group; thus, it is as though He said: until one community passes away and another comes. “They will surely say, ‘What is holding it back?’”—that is, what is preventing it? They say this in mockery and in hastening the punishment, meaning that it is nothing.

Allah, exalted is He, says: “Indeed, on the Day it comes upon them”—meaning, the punishment—“it will not be turned away from them”: it will not be averted from them. “And what they used to ridicule will engulf them”: that is, the consequence of their mockery.

His saying, exalted is He, “And if We let man taste mercy from Us,” means a blessing and abundance; “then withdraw it from him,” that is, take it away from him, “he is certainly despairing,” utterly despondent in hardship, “and ungrateful,” in times of blessing.

(1) Al-Tabari, 15:249. Ibn Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, cited several hadiths in his commentary on this verse, including the report narrated by Imam Ahmad and the two Sahihs, from عمران ibn Husayn: “Allah was, and there was nothing before Him”—in another version, “other than Him,” and in another, “with Him”—“and His Throne was upon the water. He wrote everything in the Book of Remembrance, then He created the heavens and the earth.” In Sahih Muslim, Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As reported that the Messenger of Allah said: “Allah decreed the measures of all created beings fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, and His Throne was upon the water.” Imam Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah narrated from Laqit ibn Amir that he said: “I said, ‘Messenger of Allah, where was our Lord before He created His creation?’ He said: ‘He was in ama (a state of cloud or mist), with no air beneath it and no air above it; then He created the Throne after that.’” See Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, 2:438.

قَالَ ضَمْرَةُ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى كَانَ عَرْشُهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ ثُمَّ خَلَقَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ، وَخَلَقَ الْقَلَمَ فَكَتَبَ بِهِ مَا هُوَ خَالِقٌ وَمَا هُوَ كَائِنٌ مِنْ خَلْقِهِ، ثُمَّ إِنَّ ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابَ سَبَّحَ اللَّهَ وَمَجَّدَهُ أَلْفَ عَامٍ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَخْلُقَ شَيْئًا مِنْ خَلْقِهِ (١) ﴿لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ﴾ لِيَخْتَبِرَكُمْ، وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ، ﴿أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا﴾ أَعْمَلُ بِطَاعَةِ اللَّهِ، وَأَوْرَعُ عَنْ مَحَارِمِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى. ﴿وَلَئِنْ قُلْتَ﴾ يَا مُحَمَّدُ، ﴿إِنَّكُمْ مَبْعُوثُونَ﴾ أَيْ: ﴿مِنْ بَعْدِ الْمَوْتِ لَيَقُولَنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ هَذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ﴾ يَعْنُونَ الْقُرْآنَ. وَقَرَأَ حَمْزَةُ وَالْكِسَائِيُّ: "سَاحِرٌ" يَعْنُونَ مُحَمَّدًا ﷺ. ﴿وَلَئِنْ أَخَّرْنَا عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابَ إِلَى أُمَّةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ لَيَقُولُنَّ مَا يَحْبِسُهُ أَلَا يَوْمَ يَأْتِيهِمْ لَيْسَ مَصْرُوفًا عَنْهُمْ وَحَاقَ بِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ (٨) وَلَئِنْ أَذَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ مِنَّا رَحْمَةً ثُمَّ نَزَعْنَاهَا مِنْهُ إِنَّهُ لَيَئُوسٌ كَفُورٌ (٩) ﴾ . ﴿وَلَئِنْ أَخَّرْنَا عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابَ إِلَى أُمَّةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ﴾ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مَحْدُودٍ، وَأَصْلُ الْأُمَّةِ: الْجَمَاعَةُ، فَكَأَنَّهُ قَالَ: إِلَى انْقِرَاضِ أُمَّةٍ وَمَجِيءِ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرَى ﴿لَيَقُولُنَّ مَا يَحْبِسُهُ﴾ أَيُّ شَيْءٍ يَحْبِسُهُ؟ يَقُولُونَهُ اسْتِعْجَالًا لِلْعَذَابِ وَاسْتِهْزَاءً، يَعْنُونَ: أَنَّهُ لَيْسَ بِشَيْءٍ. قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿أَلَا يَوْمَ يَأْتِيهِمْ﴾ يَعْنِي: الْعَذَابَ، ﴿لَيْسَ مَصْرُوفًا عَنْهُمْ﴾ لَا يَكُونُ مَصْرُوفًا عَنْهُمْ، ﴿وَحَاقَ بِهِمْ﴾ نَزَلَ بِهِمْ، ﴿مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ﴾ أَيْ: وَبَالُ اسْتِهْزَائِهِمْ. قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَلَئِنْ أَذَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ مِنَّا رَحْمَةً﴾ نِعْمَةً وَسَعَةً، ﴿ثُمَّ نَزَعْنَاهَا مِنْهُ﴾ أَيْ: سَلَبْنَاهَا مِنْهُ، ﴿إِنَّهُ لَيَئُوسٌ﴾ قُنُوطٌ فِي الشِّدَّةِ، ﴿كَفُورٌ﴾ فِي النِّعْمَةِ.

(١) أخرجه الطبري: ١٥ / ٢٤٩. وقد ساق الحافظ ابن كثير ﵀ بعض الأحاديث في تفسير الآية منها حديث الإمام أحمد والشيخين عن عمران بن حصين.. وفيه "كان الله ولم يكن شيء قبله - وفي رواية: غيره، وفي رواية: معه - وكان عرشه على الماء، وكتب في الذكر كل شيء، ثم خلق السموات والأرض". وفي صحيح مسلم عن عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص قال: قال رسول الله ﷺ: "إن الله قدر مقادير الخلائق قبل أن يخلق السموات والأرض، بخمسين ألف سنة وكان عرشه على الماء". وأخرج الإمام أحمد والترمذي وابن ماجه عن لقيط بن عامر قال: قلت يا رسول الله أين كان ربنا قبل أن يخلق خلقه؟ قال: "كان في عماء ما تحته هواء، وما فوقه هواء، ثم خلق العرش بعد ذلك". انظر: تفسير ابن كثير: ٢ / ٤٣٨.