Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (8/271)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

with my left shoulder into the Fire, and then we shall proceed and enter Paradise.” Thereupon Allah revealed: “We have appointed none but angels as keepers of the Fire.”

“We have appointed none but angels as keepers of the Fire, and We have made their number only as a trial for those who disbelieve, so that those who were given the Scripture may be certain, and those who believe may increase in faith, and so that those who were given the Scripture and the believers may not doubt, and so that those in whose hearts is a disease and the disbelievers may say, ‘What does Allah intend by this as an example?’ Thus Allah leaves astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. None knows the forces of your Lord except Him. And it is nothing but a reminder for mankind. (31) No indeed! By the moon, (32) and by the night as it departs, (33) and by the dawn as it brightens, (34)”

“We have appointed none but angels as keepers of the Fire”: not human men. So who could overcome the angels?

“And We have made their number”—that is, their small number—“only as a trial for those who disbelieve”: that is, a means of misguidance for them, until they made the statements they made.

“So that those who were given the Scripture may be certain,” because it is written in the Torah and the Gospel that they are nineteen. “And those who believe may increase in faith”: that is, those among the People of the Scripture who believe increase in affirmation of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, when they find that what he said agrees with what is in their books. “And so that those who were given the Scripture and the believers may not doubt”—that is, may not doubt their number.

“And so that those in whose hearts is a disease”—namely, doubt and hypocrisy—“and the disbelievers”—the idolaters of Mecca (1)—may say, ‘What does Allah intend by this as an example?’ That is: What does He intend by this statement? By “example,” He means the statement itself.

“Thus”: just as Allah led astray whoever denied the number of the keepers and guided whoever affirmed it, so too “Allah leaves astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. None knows the forces of your Lord except Him.” Muqatil said: This was an answer to Abu Jahl when he said, “Does Muhammad have no helpers but nineteen?” Ata’ said: “None knows the forces of your Lord except Him”—meaning the angels whom He created to punish the inhabitants of the Fire; none knows their number except Allah. The meaning is that the nineteen are the keepers of the Fire, while they have among the angels such assistants and forces as none knows except Allah.

He then returned to the mention of Saqar, saying: “And it”—meaning Saqar (2)—“is nothing but a reminder for mankind”: that is, a reminder and admonition for people.

“No indeed! By the moon”: this is an oath, meaning: Indeed. “By the moon, and by the night as it departs”: Nafi‘, Hamzah, Hafs, and Ya‘qub recited idh without an alif and adbara with an alif. The others recited idha with an alif and dabara without an alif, because it accords more closely with what follows, namely His saying:

(1) Omitted from manuscript “B.” (2) Manuscript “B” reads al-nar (the Fire).

الْأَيْسَرِ فِي النَّارِ وَنَمْضِي فَنَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ. فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ ﷿ ﴿وَمَا جَعَلْنَا أَصْحَابَ النَّارِ إِلَّا مَلَائِكَةً﴾ ﴿وَمَا جَعَلْنَا أَصْحَابَ النَّارِ إِلَّا مَلَائِكَةً وَمَا جَعَلْنَا عِدَّتَهُمْ إِلَّا فِتْنَةً لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِيَسْتَيْقِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ وَيَزْدَادَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِيمَانًا وَلَا يَرْتَابَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَلِيَقُولَ الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ وَالْكَافِرُونَ مَاذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِهَذَا مَثَلًا كَذَلِكَ يُضِلُّ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ جُنُودَ رَبِّكَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَمَا هِيَ إِلَّا ذِكْرَى لِلْبَشَرِ (٣١) كَلَّا وَالْقَمَرِ (٣٢) وَاللَّيْلِ إِذْ أَدْبَرَ (٣٣) وَالصُّبْحِ إِذَا أَسْفَرَ (٣٤) ﴾ ﴿وَمَا جَعَلْنَا أَصْحَابَ النَّارِ إِلَّا مَلَائِكَةً﴾ لَا رِجَالًا آدَمِيِّينَ، فَمَنْ ذَا يَغْلِبُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ؟ ﴿وَمَا جَعَلْنَا عِدَّتَهُمْ﴾ أَيْ عَدَدَهُمْ فِي الْقِلَّةِ ﴿إِلَّا فِتْنَةً لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا﴾ أَيْ ضَلَالَةً لَهُمْ حَتَّى قَالُوا مَا قَالُوا ﴿لِيَسْتَيْقِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ﴾ لِأَنَّهُ مَكْتُوبٌ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالْإِنْجِيلِ أَنَّهُمْ تِسْعَةَ عَشَرَ، ﴿وَيَزْدَادَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِيمَانًا﴾ يَعْنِي مَنْ آمَنَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ يَزْدَادُونَ تَصْدِيقًا بِمُحَمَّدٍ ﷺ إِذَا وَجَدُوا مَا قَالَهُ مُوَافِقًا لِمَا فِي كُتُبِهِمْ ﴿وَلَا يَرْتَابَ﴾ وَلَا يَشُكَّ ﴿الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ﴾ فِي عَدَدِهِمْ ﴿وَلِيَقُولَ الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ﴾ شَكٌّ وَنِفَاقٌ ﴿وَالْكَافِرُونَ﴾ [مُشْرِكُو مَكَّةَ] (١) ﴿مَاذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِهَذَا مَثَلًا﴾ أَيَّ شَيْءٍ أَرَادَ بِهَذَا الْحَدِيثِ؟ وَأَرَادَ بِالْمَثَلِ الْحَدِيثَ نَفْسَهُ. ﴿كَذَلِكَ﴾ أَيْ كَمَا أَضَلَّ اللَّهُ مَنْ أَنْكَرَ عَدَدَ الْخَزَنَةِ وَهَدَى مَنْ صَدَّقَ كَذَلِكَ ﴿يُضِلُّ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ جُنُودَ رَبِّكَ إِلَّا هُوَ﴾ قَالَ مُقَاتِلٌ: هَذَا جَوَابُ أَبِي جَهْلٍ حِينَ قَالَ: أَمَا لِمُحَمَّدٍ أَعْوَانٌ إِلَّا تِسْعَةَ عَشَرَ؟ قَالَ عَطَاءٌ: ﴿وَمَا يَعْلَمُ جُنُودَ رَبِّكَ إِلَّا هُوَ﴾ يَعْنِي مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ الَّذِينَ خَلَقَهُمْ لِتَعْذِيبِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ، لَا يَعْلَمُ عِدَّتَهُمْ إِلَّا اللَّهُ، وَالْمَعْنَى إِنَّ تِسْعَةَ عَشَرَ هُمْ خَزَنَةُ النَّارِ، وَلَهُمْ مِنَ الْأَعْوَانِ وَالْجُنُودِ مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ مَا لَا يَعْلَمُ إِلَّا اللَّهُ ﷿، ثُمَّ رَجَعَ إِلَى ذِكْرِ سَقَرَ فَقَالَ: ﴿وَمَا هِيَ﴾ يَعْنِي [سَقَرَ] (٢) ﴿إِلَّا ذِكْرَى لِلْبَشَرِ﴾ إِلَّا تَذْكِرَةً وَمَوْعِظَةً لِلنَّاسِ. ﴿كَلَّا وَالْقَمَرِ﴾ هَذَا قَسَمٌ، يَقُولُ: حَقًّا. ﴿وَالْقَمَرِ وَاللَّيْلِ إِذْ أَدْبَرَ﴾ قَرَأَ نَافِعٌ وَحَمْزَةُ وَحَفْصٌ وَيَعْقُوبُ "إِذْ" بِغَيْرِ أَلِفٍ، "أَدْبَرَ" بِالْأَلِفِ، وَقَرَأَ الْآخَرُونَ "إِذَا" بِالْأَلِفِ "دَبَرَ" بِلَا أَلِفٍ، لِأَنَّهُ أَشَدُّ مُوَافَقَةً لِمَا يَلِيهِ، وَهُوَ قَوْلُهُ:

(١) ساقط من "ب". (٢) في "ب" النار.