Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (6/420)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

“And what We have revealed to you of the Book is the truth, confirming what came before it. Indeed, Allah is surely All-Aware and All-Seeing of His servants. Then We granted the Book as an inheritance to those of Our servants whom We chose. Among them are those who wrong themselves; among them are those who take a middle course; and among them are those who, by Allah’s permission, excel in good deeds. That is the great bounty.” (31–32)

His saying, Exalted is He: “Indeed, those who recite the Book of Allah” means: they read the Quran; “establish the prayer, and spend, secretly and openly, from what We have provided for them, hope for a trade that will never perish”—that is, it will neither fail nor be lost. What is meant by this trade is the reward Allah has promised.

Al-Farra’ said: His saying, “hope,” is the predicate of His saying, “Indeed, those who recite the Book of Allah.” “So that He may give them their full reward”: the recompense for their deeds through reward; “and increase them from His bounty.” Ibn Abbas said: That is, beyond the reward, of that which no eye has seen and no ear has heard. “Indeed, He is All-Forgiving, Most Appreciative.” Ibn Abbas said: He forgives their grave sins and appreciates their slight deeds.

“And what We have revealed to you of the Book”—that is, the Quran—“is the truth, confirming what came before it,” of the Scriptures. “Indeed, Allah is surely All-Aware and All-Seeing of His servants. Then We granted the Book as an inheritance”: that is, the Book We sent down to you, mentioned in the first verse—namely, the Quran. We caused it to pass on to “those of Our servants whom We chose.”

It is also possible for “then” to carry the meaning of “and”; that is, “And We granted as an inheritance,” as in His saying, “Then he was among those who believed” (al-Balad 17), meaning: and he was among those who believed. The meaning of “We granted as an inheritance” is “We gave,” since inheritance is a gift. This was stated by Mujahid.

It was also said that “We granted as an inheritance” means: We deferred. The word inheritance derives from this, because it is deferred until after the deceased. Its meaning, then, is: We deferred the Quran until after the earlier communities, gave it to you, and made you worthy of it.

“Those of Our servants whom We chose”: Ibn Abbas said: He means the community of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. He then divided them into categories and ranked them, saying:

(1) Addition from manuscript “B”.

﴿وَالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ هُوَ الْحَقُّ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِعِبَادِهِ لَخَبِيرٌ بَصِيرٌ (٣١) ثُمَّ أَوْرَثْنَا الْكِتَابَ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا فَمِنْهُمْ ظَالِمٌ لِنَفْسِهِ وَمِنْهُمْ مُقْتَصِدٌ وَمِنْهُمْ سَابِقٌ بِالْخَيْرَاتِ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَضْلُ الْكَبِيرُ (٣٢) ﴾ قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَتْلُونَ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ﴾ يَعْنِي: قَرَأُوا (١) الْقُرْآنَ، ﴿وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنْفَقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ سِرًّا وَعَلَانِيَةً يَرْجُونَ تِجَارَةً لَنْ تَبُورَ﴾ لَنْ تَفْسَدَ وَلَنْ تَهْلَكَ، وَالْمُرَادُ مِنَ التِّجَارَةِ مَا وَعَدَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الثَّوَابِ. قَالَ الْفَرَّاءُ: قَوْلُهُ: "يَرْجُونَ" جَوَابٌ لِقَوْلِهِ: "إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَتْلُونَ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ". ﴿لِيُوَفِّيَهُمْ أُجُورَهُمْ﴾ جَزَاءَ أَعْمَالِهِمْ بِالثَّوَابِ، ﴿وَيَزِيدَهُمْ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ﴾ قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: يَعْنِي سِوَى الثَّوَابِ مِمَّا لَمْ تَرَ عَيْنٌ وَلَمْ تَسْمَعْ أُذُنٌ، ﴿إِنَّهُ غَفُورٌ شَكُورٌ﴾ قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: يَغْفِرُ الْعَظِيمَ مِنْ ذُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَشْكُرُ الْيَسِيرَ مِنْ أَعْمَالِهِمْ. ﴿وَالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ﴾ يعني: القرآن، و ﴿هُوَ الْحَقُّ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ﴾ مِنَ الْكُتُبِ، ﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِعِبَادِهِ لَخَبِيرٌ بَصِيرٌ﴾ ﴿ثُمَّ أَوْرَثْنَا الْكِتَابَ﴾ يَعْنِي: الْكِتَابَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ الَّذِي ذُكِرَ فِي الْآيَةِ الْأُولَى، وَهُوَ الْقُرْآنُ، جَعَلْنَاهُ يَنْتَهِي إِلَى، ﴿الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا﴾ وَيَجُوزُ أَنْ يَكُونَ "ثُمَّ" بِمَعْنَى الْوَاوِ، أَيْ: وَأَوْرَثَنَا، كَقَوْلِهِ: "ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا" (الْبَلَدِ-١٧) ، أَيْ: وَكَانَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا، وَمَعْنَى "أَوْرَثْنَا" أَعْطَيْنَا، لِأَنَّ الْمِيرَاثَ عَطَاءٌ، قَالَهُ مُجَاهِدٌ. وَقِيلَ: "أَوْرَثْنَا" أَيْ: أَخَّرْنَا، وَمِنْهُ الْمِيرَاثُ لِأَنَّهُ أُخَّرَ عَنِ الْمَيِّتِ، وَمَعْنَاهُ: أَخَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ عَنِ الْأُمَمِ السَّالِفَةِ وَأَعْطَيْنَاكُمُوهُ، وَأَهَّلْنَاكُمْ لَهُ. ﴿الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا﴾ قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: يُرِيدُ أُمَّةَ مُحَمَّدٍ ﷺ، ثُمَّ قَسَّمَهُمْ وَرَتَّبَهُمْ فَقَالَ:

(١) زيادة من "ب".