(12) Al-Shafi‘i: i.e., Imam Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi‘i, so called after his fourth forefather Shafi‘. A member of Quraysh, from the clan of al-Muttalib, he died in 204 AH and is one of the four major imams. He made this statement because Allah, in this surah, sets forth the causes of misery and the causes of felicity. The causes of felicity are that a person possess four traits: knowledge, action, invitation (to the truth), and patience when harmed in the path of Allah Most High. By this surah Allah has established the proof against His creation, saying in effect: “In this brief, concise surah I have clarified for you the paths to happiness.” The entire Quran and the sunnah merely detail these four matters, whereas this surah presents them in summary form, thereby establishing the argument against people. The rest of the Quranic and prophetic texts only explain and elaborate these four issues. Imam al-Shafi‘i did not mean that this surah alone would suffice humanity if Allah had revealed nothing else; rather, it establishes the proof against them because Allah has set out in it the causes of happiness and the causes—