Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (5/256)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

It was also said: None will intercede except one who testifies that there is no deity but Allah; that is, none will intercede except a believer. (1)

“They say, ‘The Most Merciful has taken a son.’ (88) You have indeed made an outrageous claim. (89) The heavens almost rupture because of it, the earth splits open, and the mountains collapse in ruin.” (90)

“They say, ‘The Most Merciful has taken a son’”: this refers to the Jews, the Christians, and those who claim that the angels are Allah’s daughters.

Hamzah and al-Kisa’i recited wuldan, with an u-vowel on the initial wāw and no vowel on the lām, here, in Surah al-Zukhruf, and in Surah Nuh. Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, and Yaqub agreed with them in Surah Nuh. The remaining reciters read it waladan, with an a-vowel on both the wāw and the lām. Both are dialectal variants, like al-ʿarab and al-ʿurb, and al-ʿajam and al-ʿujm.

“You have indeed made an outrageous claim”: Ibn Abbas said: an abominable claim. Qatadah and Mujahid said: a grave claim. Muqatil said: You have spoken a grave statement. In Arabic usage, idd denotes the greatest of calamities. (2)

“The heavens almost”: Nafiʿ recited yakādu, with the masculine prefix, here and in Surah Ha Mim Ayn Sin Qaf, because the verb precedes its subject. The remaining reciters read it with the feminine prefix, in consideration of the feminine gender of “the heavens.”

“Rupture because of it”: here and in Surah Ha Mim Ayn Sin Qaf, Abu Amr, Abu Bakr, and Yaqub recited yanfaṭirna, with the n-form derived from infiṭār (splitting apart). Ibn Amir and Hamzah agreed with them here, in view of Allah’s saying: “When the heaven is split open” (al-Infitar: 1), and, “The heaven will be split open thereby” (al-Muzzammil: 18). The remaining reciters read yatafaṭṭarna, with the t-form derived from tafaṭṭur (breaking apart). Both have the same meaning: infaṭara and tafaṭṭara mean “to split open.”

“And the earth splits open, and the mountains collapse in ruin”: that is, they will be shattered completely.

It was also said: “And the earth splits open” means that it will cave in with them. As for the splitting of the sky, it means that it will fall upon them; and “the mountains collapse in ruin” means that they will crash down upon them.

(1) All these interpretations are sound, and each is supported by noble Quranic verses and authentic hadiths. Thus, the sinners do not possess intercession; that is, they do not deserve for an intercessor to plead on their behalf and save them from the terror and punishment in which they find themselves. A fortiori, sinners cannot intercede for others, for if, because of their disbelief, they do not deserve that others intercede for them, then their intercession for others is all the more inadmissible. Likewise, none possess intercession except the believers who have taken a covenant with Allah Most High through the testimony of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), righteous deeds, and whatever is akin to this. They intercede for one another, as Allah says: “On that Day, intercession will benefit no one except one to whom the Most Merciful has granted permission and whose words He approves.” Elsewhere, He clarifies that the deities whom they worship besides Allah do not possess intercession, whereas whoever bears witness to the truth possesses it by Allah’s permission. Allah says: “Those whom they invoke besides Allah possess no power of intercession, except those who bear witness to the truth.” See Adwa al-Bayan, 4:494-495; see also Ibn Kathir, 3:139; al-Qurtubi, 11:154. (2) The Arabs use the terms idd and imr for anything immense. The word idd has three pronunciations: idd, with a kasrah on the initial alif; add, with a fathah on it; and aadd, with a fathah and lengthening of the alif. See Tafsir al-Tabari, 16:129.

وَقِيلَ: لَا يَشْفَعُ إِلَّا مَنْ شَهِدَ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ أَيْ لَا يَشْفَعُ إِلَّا الْمُؤْمِنُ (١) . ﴿وَقَالُوا اتَّخَذَ الرَّحْمَنُ وَلَدًا (٨٨) لَقَدْ جِئْتُمْ شَيْئًا إِدًّا (٨٩) تَكَادُ السَّمَاوَاتُ يَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِنْهُ وَتَنْشَقُّ الْأَرْضُ وَتَخِرُّ الْجِبَالُ هَدًّا (٩٠) ﴾ ﴿وَقَالُوا اتَّخَذَ الرَّحْمَنُ وَلَدًا﴾ يَعْنِي الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى وَمَنْ زَعَمَ أَنَّ الْمَلَائِكَةَ بَنَاتُ اللَّهِ. وَقَرَأَ حَمْزَةُ وَالْكِسَائِيُّ " وُلْدًا " بِضَمِّ الْوَاوِ وسكون اللام ها هنا وَفِي الزُّخْرُفِ وَسُورَةِ نُوحٍ وَوَافَقَ ابْنُ كَثِيرٍ وَأَبُو عَمْرٍو وَيَعْقُوبُ فِي سُورَةِ نُوحٍ وَالْبَاقُونَ بِفَتْحِ الْوَاوِ وَاللَّامِ. وَهُمَا لُغَتَانِ مِثْلُ: الْعَرَبِ وَالْعُرْبِ وَالْعَجَمِ وَالْعُجْمِ. ﴿لَقَدْ جِئْتُمْ شَيْئًا إِدًّا﴾ قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ مُنْكَرًا. وَقَالَ قَتَادَةُ وَمُجَاهِدٌ: عَظِيمًا. وَقَالَ مُقَاتِلٌ: لَقَدْ قُلْتُمْ قَوْلًا عَظِيمًا. "وَالْإِدُّ" فِي كَلَامِ الْعَرَبِ: أَعْظَمُ الدَّوَاهِي (٢) . ﴿تَكَادُ السَّمَاوَاتُ﴾ قَرَأَ نَافِعٌ " يَكَادُ " بِالْيَاءِ هَاهُنَا وَفِي حم عسق لِتَقَدُّمِ الْفِعْلِ وَقَرَأَ الْبَاقُونَ بِالتَّاءِ لِتَأْنِيثِ السَّمَوَاتِ ﴿يَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِنْهُ﴾ هاهنا وفي "حمعسق" بِالنُّونِ مِنَ الِانْفِطَارِ أَبُو عَمْرٍو وَأَبُو بَكْرٍ وَيَعْقُوبُ وَافَقَ ابْنَ عَامِرٍ وَحَمْزَةَ هَاهُنَا لِقَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: "إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْفَطَرَتْ" (الانْفِطَارِ:١) وَ"السَّمَاءُ مُنْفَطِرٌ" (الْمُزَّمِّلِ:١٨) وَقَرَأَ الْبَاقُونَ بِالتَّاءِ مِنَ التَّفَطُّرِ وَمَعْنَاهُمَا وَاحِدٌ يُقَالُ: انْفَطَرَ الشَّيْءُ وَتَفَطَّرَ أَيْ تَشَقَّقَ. ﴿وَتَنْشَقُّ الْأَرْضُ وَتَخِرُّ الْجِبَالُ هَدًّا﴾ أَيْ: تَنْكَسِرُ كَسْرًا. وَقِيلَ: ﴿وَتَنْشَقُّ الْأَرْضُ﴾ أَيْ: تَنْخَسِفُ بِهِمْ "وَالِانْفِطَارُ" فِي السَّمَاءِ: أَنْ تُسْقَطَ عَلَيْهِمْ ﴿وَتَخِرُّ الْجِبَالُ هَدًّا﴾ أَيْ تَنْطَبِقُ عَلَيْهِمْ.

(١) وهذه الأوجه كلها حق وكل واحد منها يشهد له آيات كريمة وأحاديث شريفة فالمجرمون لا يملكون الشفاعة أي: لا يستحقون أن يشفع فيهم شافع يخلصهم مما هم فيه من الهول والعذاب وبالأحرى أن المجرمين لا يشفعون في غيرهم لأنهم إذا كانوا لا يستحقون أن يشفع فيهم غيرهم لكفرهم فشفاعتهم في غيرهم ممنوعة من باب أولى. وكذلك: لا يملك الشفاعة إلا المؤمنون الذين اتخذوا عند الله تعالى عهدا بشهادة التوحيد وبالعمل الصالح -وما في معنى هذا- فإنهم يشفع بعضهم في بعض كما قال تعالى: "يومئذ لا تنفع الشفاعة إلا من أذن له الرحمن ورضي له قولا" وقد بين في مواضع أخر أن المعبودات التي يعبدونها من دون الله لا تملك الشفاعة وأن من شهد بالحق يملكها بإذن الله له في ذلك وهو قوله تعالى: "ولا يملك الذين يدعون من دون الله الشفاعة إلا من شهد الحق". انظر: "أضواء البيان": ٤ / ٤٩٤-٤٩٥، وراجع: ابن كثير: ٣ / ١٣٩ القرطبي: ١١ / ١٥٤. (٢) والعرب تقول لكل عظيم: "إد" و"إمر". وفي "الإد" ثلاث لغات: "إد" بكسر الألف و"أد" بفتح الألف و"آد" بفتح الألف ومدها انظر: تفسير الطبري: ١٦ / ١٢٩.