Mukhtasar al-Ma'ani by al-Taftazani, Vol. 1 (مختصر المعاني) — Page 293

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

أَحْوَالُ الْمُسْنَدِ وَالْمَنْفِيَّةُ تُفِيدُ تَأْكِيدَ النَّفْيِ وَدَوَامَهُ لَا نَفْيَ التَّأْكِيدِ وَالدَّوَامِ كَقَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَمَا هُمْ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ﴾ رَدًّا لِقَوْلِهِمْ: ﴿إِنَّا آمَنَّا﴾ عَلَى أَبْلَغِ وَجْهٍ وَأَكَدِّهِ كَمَا فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: ﴿اللَّهُ يَسْتَهْزِئُ بِهِمْ﴾ حَيْثُ لَمْ يَقُلْ: اللَّهُ مُسْتَهْزِئٌ بِهِمْ؛ قَصْدًا إِلَى اسْتِمْرَارِ الِاسْتِهْزَاءِ وَتَجَدُّدِهِ وَقْتًا فَوَقْتًا.

The states of the predicate and the negated [sentence] signify the confirmation of the negation and its continuity, not the negation of the confirmation and the continuity, as in His saying, the Almighty: 'And they are not believers,' in refutation of their saying: 'Indeed, we have believed,' in the most eloquent and emphatic manner, as in His saying, the Almighty: 'Allah mocks them,' where He did not say: 'Allah is mocking them,' intending the continuity of the mockery and its renewal from time to time.

وَالْمَنْفِيَّةُ إِلَخْ مِنْ هَذَا يَخْرُجُ الْجَوَابُ عَنِ النَّفْيِ فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِظَلَّامٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ﴾ بِأَنْ تَرْجِعَ الْمُبَالَغَةُ إِلَى نَفْيِ الظُّلْمِ، فَالْمَعْنَى انْتَفَى الظُّلْمُ مِنَ الْمَوْلَى سُبْحَانَهُ انْتِفَاءً مُبَالَغًا فِيهِ فَالْجُمْلَةُ مُفِيدَةٌ لِتَأْكِيدِ النَّفْيِ وَالْمُبَالَغَةِ فِيهِ، لَا لِنَفْيِ التَّأْكِيدِ وَالْمُبَالَغَةِ وَإِلَّا لَاقْتَضَتْ أَنَّ الْمَنْفِيَّ إِنَّمَا هُوَ الْمُبَالَغَةُ فِي الظُّلْمِ، فَيُفِيدُ ثُبُوتَ أَصْلِ الظُّلْمِ، وَهُوَ بَاطِلٌ.

From this [principle] 'The negated [sentence], etc.' emerges the answer regarding the negation in His saying, the Almighty: 'And your Lord is not ever unjust to [His] servants,' by having the hyperbole refer to the negation of injustice; thus, the meaning is that injustice is negated from the Lord, glory be to Him, in a highly emphasized manner, so the sentence is useful for confirming the negation and the hyperbole within it, not for negating the confirmation and the hyperbole, otherwise it would imply that what is negated is merely the hyperbole in injustice, which would imply the existence of the essence of injustice, and that is false.

رَدًّا لِقَوْلِهِمْ: بَيَانُ ذَلِكَ أَنَّ قَوْلَهُمْ: "آمَنَّا" يُفِيدُ حُدُوثَ الْإِيمَانِ مِنْهُمْ وَصُدُورَهُ فِي الْمَاضِي وَلَوْ مَرَّةً، فَرَدَّ الْمَوْلَى سُبْحَانَهُ عَلَيْهِمْ بِقَوْلِهِ: ﴿وَمَا هُمْ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ﴾ مُؤَكِّدًا لِلنَّفْيِ بِالْبَاءِ الزَّائِدَةِ فِي الْخَبَرِ، فَالنَّفْيُ مَلْحُوظٌ أَوَّلًا قَبْلَ التَّأْكِيدِ، فَهِيَ مُفِيدَةٌ لِتَأْكِيدِ النَّفْيِ، وَالْمَعْنَى حِينَئِذٍ إِيمَانُهُمْ مَنْفِيٌّ نَفْيًا مُؤَكَّدًا فَقَوْلُهُ: ﴿وَمَا هُمْ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ﴾ سَالِبَةٌ كُلِّيَّةٌ مُنَاقِضَةٌ لِلْمُوجَبَةِ الْجُزْئِيَّةِ الَّتِي هِيَ قَوْلُهُمْ: "آمَنَّا" وَلَيْسَ التَّأْكِيدُ مَلْحُوظًا أَوَّلًا قَبْلَ النَّفْيِ بِحَيْثُ يَكُونُ الْكَلَامُ مِنْ نَفْيِ التَّأْكِيدِ، وَإِلَّا لَمْ يَكُنْ رَدًّا لِقَوْلِهِمْ؛ لِأَنَّ نَفْيَ التَّأْكِيدِ يَقْتَضِي ثُبُوتَ أَصْلِ إِيمَانِهِمْ، وَهَذَا عَيْنُ دَعْوَاهُمْ.

In refutation of their saying: The explanation of this is that their saying, 'We have believed,' signifies the occurrence of faith from them and its issuance in the past, even if only once; so the Lord, glory be to Him, refuted them with His saying: 'And they are not believers,' emphasizing the negation with the redundant 'ba' in the predicate; thus, the negation is considered first before the emphasis, so it is useful for confirming the negation, and the meaning then is that their faith is negated with a confirmed negation; therefore, His saying: 'And they are not believers' is a universal negative proposition that contradicts the particular affirmative proposition which is their saying: 'We have believed,' and the emphasis is not considered first before the negation such that the speech would be a negation of the emphasis, otherwise it would not be a refutation of their saying, because the negation of the emphasis would imply the existence of the essence of their faith, and this is the very thing they claim.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (22 verbs · 53 nouns)

• أَفَادَ — to convey/yield
• آمَنَ — to believe
• أَكَّدَ — to confirm
• أَحْوَال — states
• مُسْنَد — predicate
• مَنْفِيَّة — negated