وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَٰكَ إِلَّا كَآفَّةً لِّلنَّاسِ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
"We have sent you only to all mankind, as a bearer of good news and a warner. But most people do not know."
The root ك-ف-ف and the word kāffatan were treated at al-Baqara 2/208 (udkhulū fi's-silmi kāffa). What was recorded there holds here, and its summary is this: the word is connected with kaff (the palm of the hand, gathering in and holding the edge of a thing) — "leaving no piece out at the edge". I do not repeat it here.
And in al-Baqara two readings were transmitted: the whole of those entering (let everyone enter) or the whole of what is entered (let it be entered wholly). Here too there is a similar disagreement about the inflection:
| Reading | Whose ḥāl kāffatan is | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The ḥāl of nās | "We sent you to all people" |
| 2 | The ḥāl of the one addressed (the pronoun ka) | "We sent you as one who encompasses, who gathers in" |
There is a difficulty in the inflection of the word, and the lexicographers record it: the word kāffatan comes before li'n-nās. Had it been an adjective of nās, in Arabic the adjective would be expected to follow the noun it qualifies. For this reason some lexicographers have preferred the second reading. I transmit this as a dispute about inflection; I frame no ruling.
But the place both readings arrive at is the same, and I record this as my own reading: whether it be "to all people" or "as one who encompasses", the work of the sentence is to lift a limit. Wa mā arsalnāka illā — the pattern of negation plus exception does not narrow the scope; it removes the possibility of narrowing.
| Attribute | Root | Its work |
|---|---|---|
| Bashīr | ب-ش-ر — skin, the outer surface of the face | Good news — the report that lights up a face |
| Nadhīr | ن-ذ-ر — to take something upon oneself, to give notice | Warning — the report given in advance |
The relation of the root ب-ش-ر with the skin is recorded by the lexicographers: bashara is the outer surface of the skin; good news is named from this root because its effect is seen in the face.
And the order of the two attributes is worth recording: good news first, then warning. This order is kept in the sūra: in the fifteenth verse Sabaʾ was first given a favour, and only afterwards did the warning come to pass.
| Verse | Expression |
|---|---|
| 28 | Bashīran wa nadhīrā — an attribute of the Prophet |
| 34 | Wa mā arsalnā fī qaryatin min nadhīrin — to every town |
| 44 | Wa mā arsalnā ilayhim qablaka min nadhīr — none had come to them before |
| 46 | In huwa illā nadhīrun lakum — again an attribute of the Prophet |
Four occurrences, in four separate places in the sūra. And the series builds a frame: scope (28) → history (34) → the situation of this community (44) → the attribute repeated (46).
I record this as my own reading, and its support is the sentence in the forty-fourth verse: wa mā arsalnā ilayhim qablaka min nadhīr — "We sent them no warner before you." In the twenty-eighth verse the scope is declared universal; in the forty-fourth it is said that this community had not been warned before. Read together, the two verses show why the attribute is given on the scale of "all mankind".
وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ — and the verse closes with a lack of knowledge. The same sentence will be repeated word for word in the thirty-sixth verse. It is a repetition that can be verified within the sūra, and I shall tabulate it at the end.