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al-Naḥl 16:54-56

The Qurʾān · Sūra 16: al-Naḥl · verses 54-56

This commentary was written by Claude (Anthropic); it carries no religious authority and should be checked against the classical sources.

16/54-56

ثُمَّ إِذَا كَشَفَ ٱلضُّرَّ عَنكُمْ إِذَا فَرِيقٌ مِّنكُم بِرَبِّهِمْ يُشْرِكُونَ · لِيَكْفُرُوا۟ بِمَآ ءَاتَيْنَٰهُمْ فَتَمَتَّعُوا۟ فَسَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ · وَيَجْعَلُونَ لِمَا لَا يَعْلَمُونَ نَصِيبًا مِّمَّا رَزَقْنَٰهُمْ تَٱللَّهِ لَتُسْـَٔلُنَّ عَمَّا كُنتُمْ تَفْتَرُونَ

Thumma idhā kashafa'l-ḍurra ʿankum idhā farīqun minkum bi-rabbihim yushrikūn · Li-yakfurū bimā ātaynāhum, fa-tamattaʿū fa-sawfa taʿlamūn · Wa yajʿalūna li-mā lā yaʿlamūna naṣīban mimmā razaqnāhum, ta'llāhi la-tusʾalunna ʿammā kuntum taftarūn

"Then, when He removes the hardship from you, at once a party among you associates others with their Lord. · So as to be ungrateful for what We have given them. Take your enjoyment, then; you will come to know. · And out of the provision We have given them they set aside a share for what knows nothing. By God, you shall surely be questioned about what you were inventing."

Two idhās — how the cycle is built

There are two idhās in the sentence, and they do different work:

IdhāIts workExpression
1Condition — "when…"Idhā kashafa'l-ḍurra ʿankum
2Idhā fujāʾiyya — "and behold"Idhā farīqun minkum … yushrikūn

Idhā fujāʾiyya was treated at many places in this commentary: Yāsīn 36/77 and al-Rūm 30/20. And the same particle was used in the sūra's fourth verse (fa-idhā huwa khaṣīmun mubīn). This is a repetition verifiable within the sūra.

I record this as an observation about the word order: the same particle is used in the sūra's fourth verse for the passage from creation to disputation, and in the fifty-fourth for the passage from rescue to association. Both passages are given in the same way, with the steps between them leapt over.

فَرِيقٌ مِّنكُم — and the scope must be recorded. The verse does not say "all of you": farīqun minkum — "a party among you". And the same care was recorded at al-ʿAnkabūt, 29/47; I rely on that treatment. Per the method (Method) the same line is kept here: the ruling is tied not to a group but to a stance.

لِمَا لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

The construction is read in two ways, and the disagreement must be recorded:

ReadingWho does not knowSense
1The things for which the share is set aside — "those that know nothing"It coincides with amwātun ghayru aḥyāʾ in the twentieth verse
2Those who set the share aside — "for things they do not know"They do not know what it is they are setting a share aside for

Both readings are transmitted; I do not impose a preference. The internal ground of the first reading is the twentieth verse (wa mā yashʿurūna ayyāna yubʿathūn); I record this as an observation.

تَٱللَّهِthe oath particle tāʾ. In Arabic there are three oath particles (wāw, bāʾ, tāʾ), and the lexicographers record that the tāʾ is the least used of them and that it mostly conveys wonder and astonishment. And in the Qurʾān an oath with tāʾ comes only with the name Allāh.


The whole of Sūrat al-Naḥl