فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ · وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَمَدَّكُم بِمَا تَعْلَمُونَ · أَمَدَّكُم بِأَنْعَٰمٍ وَبَنِينَ · وَجَنَّٰتٍ وَعُيُونٍ · إِنِّىٓ أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ
Fa'ttaqū'llāha wa aṭīʿūn · Wa'ttaqu'lladhī amaddakum bimā taʿlamūn · Amaddakum bi-anʿāmin wa banīn · Wa jannātin wa ʿuyūn · Innī akhāfu ʿalaykum ʿadhāba yawmin ʿaẓīm
"So guard yourselves against God and obey me. · Guard yourselves against Him who has supplied you with what you know: · He has supplied you with cattle and sons, · and gardens and springs. · Truly I fear for you the punishment of a great day."
The sentence occurs for the second time in this account (126 and 131), and between them lies a three-verse list of offences. What this means was treated in Table 4 of the section "The backbone of the sūra"; I do not repeat it.
The root م-د-د: to extend, to draw out, to keep going without break. Madd — extension. Form IV (amadda) generally has the sense of nourishing with help and support: to supply continually.
| Verse | Expression | Object |
|---|---|---|
| 132 | Amaddakum bimā taʿlamūn | Indefinite — "with what you know" |
| 133 | Amaddakum bi-anʿāmin wa banīn | Definite — it is enumerated |
The verse says the general first, then enumerates. In Arabic this is called the general (ijmāl) followed by the detail (tafṣīl), and it serves to draw attention.
And bimā taʿlamūn must be recorded: "with what you know". No new knowledge is brought as proof; what those addressed already know is made the proof.
| Favour | Verse | Where else in the sūra |
|---|---|---|
| Anʿām — cattle | 133 | — |
| Banīn — sons | 133 | 88 — lā yanfaʿu mālun wa lā banūn |
| Jannāt — gardens | 134 | 57 — min jannātin wa ʿuyūn (taken from the people of Pharaoh) |
| ʿUyūn — springs | 134 | 57, 147 (given to Thamūd) |
The sūra thus uses the same two words (jannāt and ʿuyūn) of three different peoples: they are taken from the people of Pharaoh (57), given to ʿĀd (134), given to Thamūd (147).
This is a repetition that can be verified from the text. And as my own reading I record this: the sūra gives the same thing to three different peoples in the same words, and in all three the outcome is the same. The kind of the favour does not change; the attitude of those who receive it changes — and the seal follows all three with the same sentence.
The preposition is ʿalā. Not akhāfu minkum ("I fear you") but akhāfu ʿalaykum ("I fear on your behalf").
And this can be compared with the fourteenth verse of the sūra: Moses had said fa-akhāfu an yaqtulūn — fear for himself. Here Hūd fears for those he addresses.
| Verse | Who | Expression | Direction of the fear |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Moses | Akhāfu an yukadhdhibūn | For himself |
| 14 | Moses | Fa-akhāfu an yaqtulūn | For himself |
| 135 | Hūd | Akhāfu ʿalaykum | For those he addresses |
This is a difference that can be verified from the text. And it stands on the same line as the third verse of the sūra: the burden the messenger carries for those he addresses.
عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيم — the construction occurs three times in the sūra: 135 (Hūd), 156 (Ṣāliḥ), 189 (Shuʿayb — as ʿadhāba yawmin ʿaẓīm). The same expression in three different accounts. This is a repetition that can be verified from the text.