وَإِسْمَٰعِيلَ وَإِدْرِيسَ وَذَا ٱلْكِفْلِ كُلٌّ مِّنَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ · وَأَدْخَلْنَٰهُمْ فِى رَحْمَتِنَآ إِنَّهُم مِّنَ ٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ
Wa Ismāʿīla wa Idrīsa wa Dha'l-Kifl, kullun mina'ṣ-ṣābirīn · Wa adkhalnāhum fī raḥmatinā innahum mina'ṣ-ṣāliḥīn
"And Ishmael, Idrīs and Dhū'l-Kifl: each of them was among the steadfast. · We admitted them into Our mercy. They were among the righteous."
And this is the most striking place in the series: three names are named and no event is told about any of them.
I record this as my own reading, its ground being the section itself: the series comes down here to its barest form. No call, no scene, no account of deliverance — only a sentence of belonging.
And the pattern kullun mina'ṣ-ṣābirīn is a pattern seen elsewhere in the sūra as well: innahu mina'ṣ-ṣāliḥīn (75), innahum mina'ṣ-ṣāliḥīn (86). The series names its people by joining them to groups.
The Qurʾān speaks of this name in two places: here and at Ṣād on 38/48 (wa'dhkur Ismāʿīla wa'l-Yasaʿa wa Dha'l-Kifl). In both it occurs inside a list and no event is told.
| Sense of the root | What Dhū'l-Kifl would mean |
|---|---|
| Kifl — a share, a portion | "The one with a share" — one to whom a portion has been given |
| Kafāla — undertaking, standing surety | "The one who undertakes" — one who takes a matter upon himself |
I transmit the disagreement and do not impose a preference. And I enter into no detail the Qurʾān has not given — no name, no place, no event. The same boundary holds in this commentary for Idrīs as well: the Qurʾān tells no event about him in this sūra.
وَأَدْخَلْنَٰهُمْ فِى رَحْمَتِنَا — and the sentence of the seventy-fifth verse is repeated word for word. There singular (adkhalnāhu), here plural (adkhalnāhum). It is a repetition that can be verified within the sūra.