إن الله لا يغفر أن يشرك به ويغفر ما دون ذلك لمن يشاء … · لعنه الله وقال لأتخذن من عبادك نصيبا مفروضا · ولأضلنهم ولأمنينهم … · يعدهم ويمنيهم وما يعدهم الشيطان إلا غرورا
Inna'llāha lā yaghfiru an yushraka bihī wa yaghfiru mā dūna dhālika li-man yashāʾ … · Laʿanahu'llāh, wa qāla la-attakhidhanna min ʿibādika naṣīban mafrūḍā · Wa la-uḍillannahum wa la-umanniyannahum … · Yaʿiduhum wa yumannīhim, wa mā yaʿiduhumu'l-shayṭānu illā ghurūrā
"God does not forgive that partners be associated with Him; what is other than that He forgives for whom He wills… God cursed him. And he said: 'I shall take an appointed share of Your servants. I shall lead them astray, I shall fill them with vain hopes…' Satan promises them and fills them with vain hopes; and Satan promises them nothing but delusion."
The sūra's seventh verse ran: naṣīban mafrūḍā — "an appointed share". And there the construction stated a right of inheritance.
In the hundred and eighteenth verse the same construction occurs inside a claim: la-attakhidhanna min ʿibādika naṣīban mafrūḍā.
| Verse | Construction | Who takes | From whom |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Naṣīban mafrūḍā | Men and women | From what is left |
| 118 | Naṣīban mafrūḍā | The one who makes the claim | Min ʿibādik — from the servants |
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the exact repetition of the construction: the sūra repeats, in the mouth of a claim to seize, the very construction with which it stated the fixing of a right. The same words, once a right and once a demand.
The root was treated at the thirty-second verse of this sūra: lā tatamannaw — do not covet. I rely on that treatment.
And the word returns here as a verb: la-umanniyannahum (I shall fill them with vain hopes) and yumannīhim.
| Verse | Word | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | Lā tatamannaw — a prohibition | Those addressed |
| 119, 120 | Umanniyannahum, yumannīhim | The other party makes them do it |
| 123 | Laysa bi-amāniyyikum | The rejection of resting on vain hope |
The same root in three positions within the sūra: a prohibition, a prompting, and a rejection. This is a weave that can be verified within the sūra.
There is disagreement in the classical commentaries over what this expression in the hundred and nineteenth verse covers, and the explanations differ from one another.
Nothing definite is said in this commentary about the scope of the expression, and no list is given. The reason is the method's rule of accuracy: to fill in the content of an expression whose scope is not written in the verse would be to add to the verse.
What can be said from the text is this: the expression occurs inside a sentence of promise, and the speaker is not the verse itself but the one whose words are being related. The sentence, that is, stands not as a ruling but as the relating of a claim.
The root غ-ر-ر was treated in detail at Fāṭir 35/5, and it was recorded there: an outward appearance that dazzles the eye while the inside is empty. I rely on that treatment.
And the word order of the verse must be recorded: wa mā yaʿiduhumu'l-shayṭānu illā ghurūrā. The sentence says not that the promise is a lie but that the promise itself is a delusion — that is, what is empty is not the content of the promise but the act of promising.