Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (6/262)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

“Allah’s promise: Allah does not fail in His promise, but most people do not know. They know only the outward aspect of the life of this world, while they are heedless of the Hereafter. Have they not reflected within themselves that Allah did not create the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them except in truth and for an appointed term? Yet many people deny the meeting with their Lord. Have they not traveled through the land and seen what was the end of those before them? They were stronger than them in might; they tilled the land and developed it more than they have developed it. Their messengers came to them with clear proofs. Allah would never wrong them, but they wronged themselves.” (6) (7) (8) (9)

“Allah’s promise” is in the accusative as a verbal noun; that is, Allah promised that the Romans would prevail over the Persians. “Allah does not fail in His promise, but most people do not know.” “They know only the outward aspect of the life of this world,” meaning the affairs of their livelihood: how they earn and trade, when they plant, sow, and reap, and how they build and live. Al-Hasan said: “One of them can tell a dirham’s weight merely by tapping it with the tip of his fingernail, and he does not err, yet he does not know how to pray properly.” (1)

“While they are heedless of the Hereafter”: they are inattentive to it and ignorant of it; they neither reflect upon it nor work for it. “Have they not reflected within themselves that Allah did not create the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them except in truth,” that is, for the truth; and it was also said: to establish the truth. “And for an appointed term,” that is, a known time, upon whose arrival they will perish; this is the Day of Resurrection. “Yet many people deny the meeting with their Lord.”

“Have they not traveled through the land and seen what was the end of those before them?” That is, have they not journeyed through the land and looked at the places where the nations before them perished, so that they might take warning? “They were stronger than them in might, and they tilled the land”: they cultivated and turned it over for agriculture. “And developed it more than they have developed it,” that is, more than the people of Mecca developed it. (2) It was said: He said—

(1) Reported from him by Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, and Ibn Mardawayh. Al-Durr al-Manthur, 6:484. (2) Omitted from manuscript “A.”

﴿وَعْدَ اللَّهِ لَا يُخْلِفُ اللَّهُ وَعْدَهُ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ (٦) يَعْلَمُونَ ظَاهِرًا مِنَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ عَنِ الْآخِرَةِ هُمْ غَافِلُونَ (٧) أَوَلَمْ يَتَفَكَّرُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ مَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَأَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنَ النَّاسِ بِلِقَاءِ رَبِّهِمْ لَكَافِرُونَ (٨) أَوَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَيَنْظُرُوا كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ كَانُوا أَشَدَّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً وَأَثَارُوا الْأَرْضَ وَعَمَرُوهَا أَكْثَرَ مِمَّا عَمَرُوهَا وَجَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُمْ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ فَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيَظْلِمَهُمْ وَلَكِنْ كَانُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ (٩) ﴾ ﴿وَعْدَ اللَّهِ﴾ نُصِبَ عَلَى الْمَصْدَرِ، أَيْ: وَعَدَ اللَّهُ وَعْدًا بِظُهُورِ الرُّومِ عَلَى فَارِسَ، ﴿لَا يُخْلِفُ اللَّهُ وَعْدَهُ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ﴾ ﴿يَعْلَمُونَ ظَاهِرًا مِنَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا﴾ يَعْنِي: أَمَرَ مَعَاشِهِمْ، كَيْفَ يَكْتَسِبُونَ وَيَتَّجِرُونَ، وَمَتَى يَغْرِسُونَ وَيَزْرَعُونَ وَيَحْصُدُونَ، وَكَيْفَ يَبْنُونَ وَيَعِيشُونَ، قَالَ الْحَسَنُ: إِنَّ أَحَدَهُمْ لِيَنْقُرُ الدِّرْهَمَ بِطَرَفِ ظُفْرِهِ فَيَذْكُرُ وَزْنَهُ وَلَا يُخْطِئُ وَهُوَ لَا يُحْسِنُ يُصَلِّي (١) ﴿وَهُمْ عَنِ الْآخِرَةِ هُمْ غَافِلُونَ﴾ سَاهُونَ عَنْهَا جَاهِلُونَ بِهَا، لَا يَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِيهَا وَلَا يَعْمَلُونَ لَهَا. ﴿أَوَلَمْ يَتَفَكَّرُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ مَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ﴾ أَيْ: لِلْحَقِّ، وَقِيلَ: لِإِقَامَةِ الْحَقِّ، ﴿وَأَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى﴾ أَيْ: لوقت معلوم إذ انْتَهَتْ إِلَيْهِ فَنِيَتْ، وَهُوَ الْقِيَامَةُ، ﴿وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنَ النَّاسِ بِلِقَاءِ رَبِّهِمْ لَكَافِرُونَ﴾ ﴿أَوَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَيَنْظُرُوا كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ﴾ أَوَلَمَ يُسَافِرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَيَنْظُرُوا إِلَى مَصَارِعِ الْأُمَمِ قَبْلَهُمْ فَيَعْتَبِرُوا ﴿كَانُوا أَشَدَّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً وَأَثَارُوا الْأَرْضَ﴾ حَرَثُوهَا وَقَلَّبُوهَا لِلزِّرَاعَةِ، ﴿وَعَمَرُوهَا أَكْثَرَ مِمَّا عَمَرُوهَا﴾ [أَيْ: أَكْثَرَ مِمَّا عَمَرَهَا] (٢) أَهْلُ مَكَّةَ، قِيلَ: قَالَ

(١) أخرجه عنه ابن المنذر، وابن أبي حاتم، وابن مردويه. الدر المنثور: ٦ / ٤٨٤. (٢) ساقط من "أ".