al-Wāqiʿa 56:32-33 commentary

56/32-33

وَفَٰكِهَةٍ كَثِيرَةٍ · لَّا مَقْطُوعَةٍ وَلَا مَمْنُوعَةٍ

Wa fākihatin kathīra · lā maqṭūʿatin wa lā mamnūʿa

"And abundant fruit — neither cut off nor withheld."

The second occurrence of the root ف-ك-ه

The root was analysed at the twentieth verse, and the distinction recorded there was: ṭaʿām conveys necessity, fākiha superfluity.

This is the root's second occurrence in the sūra. The third will come in the sixty-fifth verse, from the mouths of farmers whose crop has become chaff (tafakkahūn).

The difference between the two tables is worth recording:

Table	Verse	How the fruit is named
The sābiqūn	20	fākihatin mimmā yatakhayyarūn — of what they choose
The aṣḥābu'l-yamīn	32	fākihatin kathīra — abundant

In the first table the measure is choice, in the second quantity. I record this as an observation; all the differences between the two tables will be taken up together once the second table is complete.

Two negative attributes — and the hearer's world

لَّا مَقْطُوعَةٍ — the root ق-ط-ع. To cut, to sever, to bring to an end.

وَلَا مَمْنُوعَةٍ — the root م-ن-ع. To prevent, to withhold, to deny.

The two attributes are not chosen at random. In the hearer's world two things stand between him and a fruit, and the verse removes both one by one:

Obstacle	What	The attribute that removes it
Time	Fruit is seasonal; its season passes	lā maqṭūʿa
Ownership	The fruit belongs to someone; the garden is fenced, access depends on permission	lā mamnūʿa

The first obstacle comes from nature, the second from man. And the verse sets them side by side.

I give this distinction as my own reading. It is widely transmitted that in the classical exegeses maqṭūʿa is explained in terms of season and mamnūʿa in terms of being kept back; the classification of the two obstacles as one from nature and one from man is mine.