قَالَ أَبَشَّرْتُمُونِى عَلَىٰٓ أَن مَّسَّنِىَ ٱلْكِبَرُ فَبِمَ تُبَشِّرُونَ · قَالُوا۟ بَشَّرْنَٰكَ بِٱلْحَقِّ فَلَا تَكُن مِّنَ ٱلْقَٰنِطِينَ · قَالَ وَمَن يَقْنَطُ مِن رَّحْمَةِ رَبِّهِۦٓ إِلَّا ٱلضَّآلُّونَ
Qāla a-bashshartumūnī ʿalā an massaniya'l-kibaru fa-bima tubashshirūn · Qālū bashsharnāka bi'l-ḥaqqi fa-lā takun mina'l-qāniṭīn · Qāla wa man yaqnaṭu min raḥmati Rabbihi illā'l-ḍāllūn
"He said: 'Do you bring me glad tidings when old age has come upon me? Of what, then, do you bring me tidings?' · They said: 'We have brought you glad tidings with the truth; do not be of those who despair.' · He said: 'And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord but those who have gone astray?'"
The question is in two stages: first astonishment (a-bashshartumūnī), then a question (fa-bima tubashshirūn).
| Reading | Sense |
|---|---|
| 1 | "On what ground do you bring tidings?" — the ground is asked |
| 2 | "Of what do you bring tidings?" — the content is asked, in astonishment |
| 3 | The question is not a denial but a request for confirmation |
What must be recorded is what the answer is: bashsharnāka bi'l-ḥaqq — "we have brought you tidings with the truth." That is, whether or not the question was directed at the ground, the answer gives the ground.
And a difference of variant reading is transmitted: differences are conveyed as to whether the nūn at the end of the word tubashshirūn is read doubled or undoubled. It does not change the sense; I give no imam's name.
ʿAlā here conveys "in spite of". The same particle occurred at Ibrāhīm 14/39 in Abraham's praise: wahaba lī ʿalā'l-kibari Ismāʿīla wa Isḥāq.
| Place | Expression | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| al-Ḥijr 15/54 | ʿAlā an massaniya'l-kibar | A question — the moment of the tidings |
| Ibrāhīm 14/39 | ʿAlā'l-kibar | Praise — afterwards |
The two sūras give the same situation in two different modes. This was recorded in the section on Ibrāhīm too, and it is an overlap that can be verified.
The verb is worth recording: massaniya — "it touched me." The م-س-س root: to touch. The word pictures old age not as a state but as something that comes from outside and makes contact.
The root was analysed at al-Zumar 39/53, and it was compared there with its occurrence at Fuṣṣilat 41/49. I rely on those treatments.
| Place | Qunūṭ |
|---|---|
| Fuṣṣilat 41/49 | Description — man is like this |
| al-Zumar 39/53 | Prohibition — do not be like this |
| Place | Expression | Mode | Who says it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuṣṣilat 41/49 | Yaʾūsun qanūṭ | Description | The text — about man |
| al-Zumar 39/53 | Lā taqnaṭū min raḥmatillāh | Prohibition | A command — to the servants |
| al-Ḥijr 15/55 | Fa-lā takun mina'l-qāniṭīn | A warning | The angels — to a prophet |
| al-Ḥijr 15/56 | Wa man yaqnaṭu min raḥmati Rabbihi illā'l-ḍāllūn | A question | Abraham — as his answer |
Four occurrences must be recorded, and they draw this sequence: man's tendency is described → it is forbidden → it is recalled to a prophet → and he repeats it in the form of a question.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the comparison of the four verses: Abraham's answer is not a defence. He does not reject the warning; he gives it back, widened. The angels said "do not be of those who despair"; he says, "and who despairs?"
The ض-ل-ل root: to lose the way. The root was treated at al-Fātiḥa and at al-Ḍuḥā 93/7. I rely on that treatment.
The pattern of the sentence must be recorded: a question + an exception. In Arabic this structure (man… illā…) is one of the strongest forms of negation: it says that despairing is equated with having lost one's way.
I record this as an observation about the word order: the sentence does not say "despairing is wrong". It says who the one who despairs is — and the definition attaches a behaviour to a position.