Hūd 11:74-76

fa-lammā dhahaba ʿan Ibrāhīma'l-rawʿu wa jāʾathu'l-bushrā yujādilunā fī qawmi Lūṭ · inna Ibrāhīma la-ḥalīmun awwāhun munīb · yā Ibrāhīmu aʿriḍ ʿan hādhā, innahū qad jāʾa amru rabbik, wa innahum ātīhim ʿadhābun ghayru mardūd

"When the alarm had gone from Abraham and the good news had come to him, he began to dispute with Us about the people of Lot. · Abraham was indeed forbearing, given to sighing, ever turning back. · 'Abraham! Turn away from this. The command of your Lord has already come. A punishment that will not be turned back is coming to them.'"

These three verses set up one of the most striking comparisons in the sūra — and probably in this series. They need treating in detail.

The root was the backbone of Ghāfir (al-Muʾmin), and five occurrences were tabulated there. The concrete sense of the root — to twist a rope tight, to throw an opponent in wrestling — was treated at al-Baqara 2/197. And at al-Kahf 18/54 it was named as the human being's most marked characteristic (wa kāna'l-insānu akthara shayʾin jadalā). The root had occurred at al-Raʿd 13/13 as well (wa hum yujādilūna fi'llāh).

The measure recorded in Ghāfir was this, and I bring it here as it stands:

I record this as my own reading: the sūra takes denial not as a thought but as a posture in argument. And in the fourth verse the measure of it is given: bi-ghayri sulṭānin atāhum — with no proof that has come into their hands. What is condemned, that is, is not disputation itself but its being carried on without a ground.

And Hūd 11/74 is the strongest confirmation of that measure. For here a prophet disputes with God and is not condemned.

I set the two texts side by side. All the rows are data of the text:

This is one of the strongest comparisons across this series, and it is read wholly from the text.

And I record the conclusion that follows as my own reading, its ground being the table above:

The Qurʾān does not condemn disputation as an act. What is condemned in Ghāfir is disputation carried on without a ground and in order to bring down the truth (wa jādalū bi'l-bāṭili li-yudḥiḍū bihi'l-ḥaqq — 40/5). In Hūd the same act is a man's intervening on behalf of a people about to be destroyed — and the verse places three attributes of praise directly after the act.

The measure, that is, lies not in the act but in what it is for and what it rests on. Ghāfir had given that measure itself; Hūd shows it in an example.

And when the disputation begins must be recorded: fa-lammā dhahaba ʿan Ibrāhīma'l-rawʿu wa jāʾathu'l-bushrā.

Abraham, that is, begins to speak for others only after his own anxiety has passed and his own good news has arrived.

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the position of the two conditions in the sentence. The verse makes the link and leaves it; it does not explain it.

The root ر-و-ع: fear, a start of alarm. Rawʿ — sudden fear. The word occurs in the Qurʾān only here.

The place of the verse must be recorded: the sentence comes immediately after the verb of disputation. The three attributes, that is, are placed there as the ground of the disputation.

The root has been treated in many places across this series (al-Isrāʾ, al-Ḥajj, al-Ṣāffāt, al-Ṭūr, al-Fajr).

The sense of the root: to hold back anger, not to hurry, to be patient when one has the power to punish. The lexicographers count the word the opposite of jahl (angry haste).

And the placing of the attribute ḥalīm here is worth recording: Abraham's disputation is a request that the punishment be delayed — and ḥilm is exactly that.

The word is used of Abraham once more in the Qurʾān: inna Ibrāhīma la-awwāhun ḥalīm (al-Tawba 9/114). And at al-Ṣāffāt 37/101 the good news of Isaac is given with bi-ghulāmin ḥalīm — treated in al-Ṣāffāt.

The root is worked out here for the first time in this series. The word occurs in two places in the Qurʾān: here and al-Tawba 9/114.

The source of the root is an interjection: أَوْه / آه — "ah". The word, that is, is derived from a sound. The same sound, and the same field of meaning, as the English "ah".

And awwāh is in the intensive form (faʿʿāl): "one who sighs much".

More than one rendering is given for the word in the classical sources, and I give them in a table:

All five are transmitted; I do not impose a preference.

But there is something to record, and this is an observation about the language: the root of the word is a sound, and that sound is the sound of pain. The first three renderings are consistent with that sound.

And the placing of the word here supports my own reading, and I give it as an explanation: Abraham is intervening for a people about to be destroyed. The verse calls him "one who sighs". The source of the disputation, that is, is not a proof but a pain.

The root ن-و-ب: to return to a place again and again. The root was treated in al-Rūm, Sabaʾ, Ṣād, al-Shūrā, Qāf and al-Mumtaḥana.

Munīb — "one who returns constantly". And the lexicographers record the root's link with nawba (a turn): a thing's coming round by repetition.

And the word will come back in Shuʿayb's mouth before the ninety-seventh verse of the sūra: wa ilayhi unīb (88). Two occurrences, two prophets. This is an overlap that can be verified from the text.

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the order of the three attributes:

The three attributes look in three different directions, and together they explain a man's intervening on another's behalf. This is an explanation, not a ruling.

And the disputation is ended with a command. The construction of the command must be recorded, and it is the finest point in the verse.

The sentence is not a rebuke. It has three parts:

And the giving of the ground must be recorded: the command is not left without a reason.

I record this as an observation about the word order and compare it with Noah's case:

The two scenes are alike, but the grounds differ, and the difference can be read from the text: Noah had asked for something he did not know; Abraham had intervened against something he did know. In the one what is lacking is knowledge, in the other the decision is already closed.

I record this as my own reading, and it is not binding.

The root ر-د-د: to send back, to turn back. Mardūd — a passive participle: turned back.

And it is the same pattern as ghayru makdhūb in the sixty-fifth verse: ghayru plus a passive participle.

The same pattern, in two narratives. This is an overlap that can be verified from the text.

The Qurʾān shows a prophet intervening on behalf of others and does not name it a fault. On the contrary, it places three attributes of praise directly after the attempt.

And when the attempt is stopped, there is no rebuke either; there is a piece of information: the decision has been made.

I record this as a reading: the verses separate the fact that a judgement is settled from the legitimacy of the pain felt at that judgement. The second is not condemned, even though it does not change the first.