Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (8/283)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

Mujāhid said: It refers to his first deeds and his last. ʿAṭāʾ said: It refers to what he did in the beginning of his life and what he did at its end.

Zayd ibn Aslam said: It refers to the wealth he sent ahead for himself and that which he left behind for his heirs. (1)

“But each person is a witness against their own soul, (14) even if they offer their excuses. (15) Do not move your tongue with it to hasten it. (16)”

“But each person is a witness against their own soul.” ʿIkrimah, Muqātil, and al-Kalbī said: Its meaning is that a person has watchers from among his own self, watching him and testifying against him concerning his deeds: namely, his hearing, sight, and limbs. The feminine ending in baṣīrah (witness) occurs because what is intended by “man” here is his limbs. It is also possible that its meaning is: “Each person is a witness against his own soul”—that is, through his limbs; the preposition has been omitted, as in His saying, “And if you wish to have your children nursed” (al-Baqarah 2:233), meaning: for your children. It may also be an adjective describing an omitted feminine noun; that is, each person has a seeing eye against his own soul.

Abū al-ʿĀliyah and ʿAṭāʾ said: Rather, each person is a witness against his own soul. This is also the narration of al-ʿAwfī from Ibn ʿAbbās. The feminine ending in baṣīrah is for emphasis. Evidence for this interpretation is His saying: “You alone are sufficient this Day to take account of yourself” (al-Isrāʾ 17:14).

“Even if they offer their excuses”: that is, the witness will testify against him; even if he makes excuses and argues in his own defense, it will not benefit him, as Allah, exalted is He, says: “The excuses of the wrongdoers will not benefit them on that Day” (Ghāfir 40:52). This was the view of Mujāhid, Qatādah, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, Ibn Zayd, and ʿAṭāʾ. Al-Farrāʾ said: Even if he offers excuses, there is within himself one who will reject his excuse. Here, ilqāʾ (casting forth) means speaking, as in His saying: “And they will declare to them, ‘Indeed, you are liars’” (al-Naḥl 16:86).

Al-Ḍaḥḥāk and al-Suddī said: “Even if they offer their excuses” means: even if he lets down the curtains and closes the doors. The people of Yemen call a curtain a miʿdhār, its plural being maʿādhīr. According to this view, the meaning is: even if he draws the curtain to conceal what he does, his own self is a witness against him.

His saying, exalted is He: “Do not move your tongue with it to hasten it.”

ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Mulayḥī informed us; Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Naʿīmī informed us; Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf related to us; Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl related to us; Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd related to us; Jarīr related to us, from Mūsā ibn Abī ʿĀʾishah, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying, exalted is He, “Do not move your tongue with it to hasten it.” He said: The Messenger of Allah

(1) Ibn Jarir said, 29:184: “In our view, the correct interpretation is that this is a report from Allah that a person will be informed of everything he sent ahead: the good and evil deeds he performed during his life, and the good or evil practices he left behind. It also includes the good and evil deeds he did, and the deeds that were incumbent upon him but which he neglected and did not perform. Allah did not single out one category to the exclusion of another; rather, a person will be informed of all of this on the Day of Resurrection.” (2) See Ma'ani al-Quran by al-Farra, 3:211.

وَقَالَ مُجَاهِدٌ: بِأَوَّلِ عَمَلِهِ وَآخِرِهِ. وَقَالَ عَطَاءٌ: بِمَا قَدَّمَ فِي أَوَّلِ عُمُرِهِ وَمَا أَخَّرَ فِي آخِرِ عُمُرِهِ. وَقَالَ زَيْدُ بْنُ أَسْلَمَ: بِمَا قَدَّمَ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِ لِنَفْسِهِ وَمَا أَخَّرَ خَلْفَهُ لِلْوَرَثَةِ (١) ﴿بَلِ الْإِنْسَانُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ بَصِيرَةٌ (١٤) وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ (١٥) لَا تُحَرِّكْ بِهِ لِسَانَكَ لِتَعْجَلَ بِهِ (١٦) ﴾ ﴿بَلِ الْإِنْسَانُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ بَصِيرَةٌ﴾ قَالَ عِكْرِمَةُ، وَمُقَاتِلٌ، وَالْكَلْبِيُّ: مَعْنَاهُ بَلِ الْإِنْسَانُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ رُقَبَاءُ يَرْقُبُونَهُ وَيَشْهَدُونَ عَلَيْهِ بِعَمَلِهِ، وَهِيَ سَمْعُهُ وَبَصَرُهُ وَجَوَارِحُهُ (٢) وَدَخَلَ الْهَاءُ فِي الْبَصِيرَةِ لِأَنَّ الْمُرَادَ بِالْإِنْسَانِ هَاهُنَا جَوَارِحُهُ، وَيُحْتَمَلُ أَنْ يَكُونَ مَعْنَاهُ "بَلِ الْإِنْسَانُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ بَصِيرَةٌ" يَعْنِي: لِجَوَارِحِهِ، فَحَذَفَ حَرْفَ الْجَرِّ كَقَوْلِهِ: "وَإِنْ أَرَدْتُمْ أَنْ تَسْتَرْضِعُوا أَوْلَادَكُمْ" (الْبَقَرَةِ-٢٣٣) أَيْ لِأَوْلَادِكُمْ. وَيَجُوزُ أَنْ يَكُونَ نَعْتًا لِاسْمٍ مُؤَنَّثٍ أَيْ بَلِ الْإِنْسَانُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ عَيْنٌ بَصِيرَةٌ. وَقَالَ أَبُو الْعَالِيَةِ، وَعَطَاءٌ: بَلِ الْإِنْسَانُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ شَاهَدٌ، وَهِيَ رِوَايَةُ الْعَوْفِيِّ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، وَالْهَاءُ فِي "بَصِيرَةٍ" لِلْمُبَالِغَةِ، دَلِيلُ هَذَا التَّأْوِيلِ. قَوْلُهُ ﷿: "كَفَى بِنَفْسِكَ الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكَ حَسِيبًا" (الْإِسْرَاءِ-١٤) . ﴿وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ﴾ يَعْنِي يَشْهَدُ عَلَيْهِ الشَّاهِدُ وَلَوِ اعْتَذَرَ وَجَادَلَ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ لَمْ يَنْفَعْهُ، كَمَا قَالَ تَعَالَى: "يَوْمَ لَا يَنْفَعُ الظَّالِمِينَ مَعْذِرَتُهُمْ" (غَافِرٍ-٥٢) وَهَذَا قَوْلُ مُجَاهِدٍ وَقَتَادَةَ وَسَعِيدِ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ وَابْنِ زَيْدٍ وَعَطَاءٍ: قَالَ الْفَرَّاءُ: وَلَوِ اعْتَذَرَ فَعَلَيْهِ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ مَنْ يُكَذِّبُ عُذْرَهُ وَمَعْنَى الْإِلْقَاءِ: الْقَوْلُ، كما قال: "وألقوا إِلَيْهِمُ الْقَوْلَ إِنَّكُمْ لَكَاذِبُونَ" (النَّحْلِ-٨٦) . وَقَالَ الضَّحَّاكُ وَالسُّدِّيُّ: "وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ" يَعْنِي: وَلَوْ أَرْخَى السُّتُورَ وَأَغْلَقَ الْأَبْوَابَ. وَأَهْلُ الْيَمَنِ يُسَمُّونَ السِّتْرَ: مِعْذَارًا، وَجَمْعُهُ: مَعَاذِيرُ، وَمَعْنَاهُ عَلَى هَذَا الْقَوْلِ: وَإِنْ أَسْبَلَ السِّتْرَ لِيُخْفِيَ مَا يَعْمَلُ، فَإِنَّ نَفْسَهُ شَاهِدَةٌ عَلَيْهِ. قَوْلُهُ ﷿ ﴿لَا تُحَرِّكْ بِهِ لِسَانَكَ لِتَعْجَلَ بِهِ﴾ أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَاحِدِ الْمَلِيحِيُّ، أَخْبَرَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ النَّعِيمِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ، عَنْ مُوسَى بْنِ أَبِي عَائِشَةَ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ ﵄ فِي قَوْلِهِ ﷿: "لَا تُحَرِّكْ بِهِ لِسَانَكَ لِتَعْجَلَ بِهِ" قَالَ: كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ

(١) قال ابن جرير: ٢٩ / ١٨٤ "والصواب من القول في ذلك عندنا، أن ذلك خبر من الله أن الإنسان ينبأ بكل ما قدم أمامه مما عمل من خير أو شر في حياته وأخر بعده من سنة أو سيئة مما قدم وأخر، كذلك ما قدم من عمل عمله من خير أو شر، وأخر بعده من عمل كان عليه فضيعه، فلم يعمله مما قدم وأخر ولم يخصص الله في ذلك بعضا دون بعض، فكل ذلك مما ينبأ به الإنسان يوم القيامة". (٢) انظر: معاني القرآن للفراء: ٣ / ٢١١.