مُنِيبِينَ إِلَيْهِ وَٱتَّقُوهُ وَأَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَلَا تَكُونُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ · مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ فَرَّقُوا۟ دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُوا۟ شِيَعًا كُلُّ حِزْبٍۭ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ فَرِحُونَ
Munībīna ilayhi wa'ttaqūhu wa aqīmu'ṣ-ṣalāta wa lā takūnū mina'l-mushrikīn · Mina'lladhīna farraqū dīnahum wa kānū shiyaʿan, kullu ḥizbin bimā ladayhim fariḥūn
"Turning to Him; and be mindful of Him, and hold the prayer upright, and be not of the mushrikūn — of those who broke their religion apart and became sects. Each party rejoices in what it holds."
The concrete sense of the root: to return to a place again and again, to come round by turns. Nāba — he returned; nawba — a turn of watch, a task that comes round in rotation. Turkish has borrowed this root: nöbet (a turn of duty, a watch) and münâvebe (alternation) come from it.
The idea of repetition in the root is worth recording, and I give this as an observation about the language: ināba is not a single act of turning but a turning back over and over. And the word occurs twice in this sūra:
| Verse | Who | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | The one addressed — in the context of a command | Munībīna ilayh — as a continuous state |
| 33 | People in general | Daʿaw rabbahum munībīna ilayh — at a moment of distress |
The same word, two verses apart, in two different conditions. This is a repetition that can be verified from the text, and it will be treated at the thirty-third verse — because there the taking back of a turning is recounted after the word.
شِيَع — the plural of shīʿa; root ش-ي-ع: to follow someone, to go behind him; and to spread. Shāʿa'l-khabar — the news spread. Shīʿa is the group that goes behind a person or an opinion.
حِزْب — root ح-ز-ب: a group gathered together; and the lexicographers record the root's branch of "hardship, distress" as well (ḥazabahu'l-amr — the matter pressed hard on him). They explain the connection by the picture of "pressing together and gathering around a single question".
| Stage | Word | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farraqū dīnahum | The religion was broken apart — the verb is Form II (transitive, intensive) |
| 2 | Kānū shiyaʿan | Groups formed |
| 3 | Kullu ḥizbin … fariḥūn | Each group is content with its own share |
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is this three-stage sequence: the division is not recounted as an event and then left; what happens afterwards is stated too. And what is stated is not a pain but a contentment.
In al-Bayyina this sentence was compared with al-Bayyina 98/4, and this was recorded: "Why does division persist? Because each piece is content with its own piece. The pain of the division is not felt by those who are divided; on the contrary, each side counts what it holds sufficient and correct." I rely on that treatment.
| Verse | Expression | The source of the rejoicing | Its value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Yawmaʾidhin yafraḥu'l-muʾminūna bi-naṣri'llāh | God's help | Positive |
| 32 | Kullu ḥizbin bimā ladayhim fariḥūn | What is in its own hand | Negative |
| 36 | Idhā adhaqna'n-nāsa raḥmatan fariḥū bihā | The mercy that comes | Negative — verse 37 will give the ground |
The same root three times, once positive and twice negative. This is a repetition that can be verified from the text.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is this set of three: what distinguishes them is not the rejoicing but where the rejoicing is attached. In the fourth verse the rejoicing is attached to bi-naṣri'llāh — to something not in their own hands. In the thirty-second and thirty-sixth verses it is attached to what is in hand: bimā ladayhim, bihā.
And the word ladayhim is worth recording: ladā means "beside one, right at hand" — it conveys a nearer presence than ʿinda. That is, each group is satisfied with what lies right at its hand.
لَا تَكُونُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ · مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ فَرَّقُوا۟ — and two mins come one after the other. The grammarians count the second an appositive substitute for the first: that is, associating partners with God is being described by way of division. I transmit this parsing as it has been transmitted.
The work the sentence does is worth recording, and I give this as an observation: in the thirtieth verse the word ḥanīf was treated — not the name of a camp but the name of a direction. The thirty-second verse describes its exact opposite: a religion that has become a camp and lost its direction. The two verses, two verses apart, show two contrary states of a single word.