by ʿĀṣim in the accusative, as the predicate of kāna, with its subject left implicit. Its intended construction is: “unless the transaction be a present trade,” (1) or “unless the sale be a trade.” The rest read them in the nominative, which admits two interpretations.

The first is to take “being” in the sense of occurring: that is, “unless a trade occurs.” The second is to take “trade” as the subject and the verb—“which you conduct among yourselves”—as its predicate. Its construction is then: “unless there be a present trade conducted among yourselves.” The meaning of the verse is: unless it is an immediate, hand-to-hand transaction conducted among yourselves, with no deferred term, “then there is no blame upon you for not writing it down”—that is, the transaction. “And call witnesses when you make a sale.” Al-Ḍaḥḥāk said: “This is a binding command from Allah Most High, and calling witnesses is a duty whether the claim is small or large, whether it is a cash transaction or a deferred one.” Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The matter is left to trustworthiness, owing to His saying, ‘If one of you entrusts another,’” to the end of the verse. Others held that it is a recommendation.

His saying, “Let no scribe or witness cause harm”: this is a prohibition expressed in the third person. Its original form is yuḍārir; one of the two rāʾ letters was assimilated into the other, and the resulting consonant was given a fatḥah because gemination brings two vowelless consonants together. They differed over its meaning. Some said that its original form was yuḍārir, with the first rāʾ pronounced with kasrah, and that the verb refers to the scribe and the witness. Its meaning is: the scribe must not cause harm by refusing to write, nor the witness by refusing to testify; nor may the scribe cause harm by adding to, subtracting from, or altering what is dictated to him, nor may the witness testify concerning something for which he was not called as a witness. This was the view of Ṭāwūs, al-Ḥasan, and Qatādah.

Others said that its original form was yuḍārar, with the rāʾ pronounced with fatḥah, in the passive voice; they regarded the scribe and the witness as its objects. Its meaning is that a man may summon a scribe or a witness while they are occupied with an important matter, and they say, “We are engaged in an important matter, so seek someone else.” The one summoning them then says, “Allah has commanded you both to respond,” and persists with them, distracting them from their need. This was prohibited, and he was commanded to seek others instead. “If you do what I have forbidden you concerning harm, then it is disobedience on your part. And fear Allah; Allah teaches you, and Allah is Knowing of all things.”

“And if you are on a journey and cannot find a scribe, then let there be pledges taken into possession.” Ibn Kathīr and Abū ʿAmr read ruhun, with both the hāʾ and the rāʾ pronounced with ḍammah. The rest read rihān, the plural of rahn, just as baghl becomes bighāl and jabal becomes jibāl. Al-Farrāʾ and al-Kisāʾī said that ruhun is the plural of rihān, itself a plural—a plural of a plural. Abū ʿUbayd (2) and others said that it too is a plural of rahn, like saqf and suquf. Abū ʿAmr said: “We recited ruhun only to distinguish it from the stakes in horse races.” ʿIkrimah read ruhn, with a ḍammah on the rāʾ and a vowelless hāʾ. The forms ruhn and ruhun are both Arabic usages, like kutb and kutub, and rusl and rusul.

The meaning of the verse is: if you are travelling and cannot find writing materials, take pledges from those with whom you enter into debt transactions, so that they may serve as security for your property. They agree that a pledge is not complete except through taking possession. Thus, His saying, “pledges taken into possession,” means: take collateral and take possession of it. If someone gives a pledge but does not deliver it, the pledgor cannot be compelled to deliver it. Once he does deliver it, however, it becomes binding upon the pledgor, and he may not recover it so long as any part of the debt remains. A pledge is permissible while resident and even when a scribe is available. Mujāhid said: “A pledge is permissible only during travel, when no scribe is available,” based on the apparent meaning of the verse; whereas, according to the others,