خُذِ ٱلْعَفْوَ وَأْمُرْ بِٱلْعُرْفِ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ ٱلْجَٰهِلِينَ · وَإِمَّا يَنزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ نَزْغٌ فَٱسْتَعِذْ بِٱللَّهِ إِنَّهُۥ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
Khudhi'l-ʿafwa wa'mur bi'l-ʿurfi wa aʿriḍ ʿani'l-jāhilīn · Wa immā yanzaghannaka mina'sh-shayṭāni nazghun fa'staʿidh bi'llāh, innahū samīʿun ʿalīm
"Take what is easily borne, command what is recognised as good, and turn away from the ignorant. · And if a prompting from Satan should prompt you, take refuge with God. He is hearing, knowing."
At the centre of the ninth block of the sūra stands a series of three commands, and all three look to a different field:
| # | Command | Field | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khudhi'l-ʿafw | His own bearing | Inward |
| 2 | Wa'mur bi'l-ʿurf | What is said to the other side | Outward |
| 3 | Wa aʿriḍ ʿani'l-jāhilīn | What is not answered | Withdrawal |
The three commands set up a balance: take, say, withdraw. I record this as an observation about word order, and its ground is the directions of the three verbs.
ٱلْعَفْو — two branches of meaning, and the difference from 2/219 in al-Baqara
| Branch | Meaning | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | To wipe away, to pardon, to remit a penalty | Widespread in the Qurʾān |
| 2 | What is over and above; the surplus beyond need | al-Baqara 2/219 |
It was recorded at 2/219 in al-Baqara, and I rely on that treatment: wa yasʾalūnaka mādhā yunfiqūna quli'l-ʿafw — "they ask you what they should spend; say: al-ʿafw." The sense the lexicographers gave there was the second branch: what remains over from one's own need. And it was recorded there: "the same question was asked in verse 215, and the answer was given as a list of recipients. Here the same question comes again, and this time a measure is given."
And at al-Aʿrāf 7/199 the exegetes disagree about the meaning of the same word. I give the disagreement in a table and impose no preference:
| Reading | What al-ʿafw is here | Ground |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | To pardon, to forgive — to pass over people's faults | The first branch of the root; and that aʿriḍ ʿani'l-jāhilīn follows the command |
| 2 | To take what is easy — to ask of people what they can do, not to press them | The "surplus/ease" branch of the root; and that the verb khudh (take) states a taking of a measure |
| 3 | To accept what comes easily from people's dispositions | Another expression of the second reading |
Both of the two great readings are transmitted, and they do not exclude each other. I do not impose a preference.
And the difference of sense between the two verses must be recorded, and it can be verified from the two texts:
| al-Baqara 2/219 | al-Aʿrāf 7/199 | |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | Spending — how much is to be given | Dealing — how one is to behave with people |
| Verb | Quli'l-ʿafw — an answer | Khudhi'l-ʿafw — a command |
| Object | What is over from one's goods | What is easy/pardoned in conduct |
The same word, in two different fields. And in al-Baqara the word is given as a material measure, in al-Aʿrāf as a moral one.
And the same root had occurred once more within the sūra: at the ninety-fifth verse, ḥattā ʿafaw — there in the sense "they grew many". That is, the root occurs twice in al-Aʿrāf, with two different branches. This is a datum that can be verified within the sūra.
The root ع-ر-ف is the root of the sūra's name, and its two branches were tabulated at 46-47. I rely on that treatment.
| Verse | Word | Branch |
|---|---|---|
| 46 | ʿAla'l-aʿrāf | Height |
| 46 | Yaʿrifūna kullan bi-sīmāhum | To recognise |
| 48 | Yaʿrifūnahum bi-sīmāhum | To recognise |
| 157 | Yaʾmuruhum bi'l-maʿrūf | The good that is known and accepted |
| 199 | Wa'mur bi'l-ʿurf | The good that is known and accepted |
Five occurrences, two branches. And the name of the sūra and the command in its last block come from the same root.
I record this as my own reading and it is not binding; its ground is the five occurrences: the sūra turns the root from which it takes its name into a command at the end. And the "recognising" branch of the root becomes, in the word ʿurf, "the good that everyone recognises and accepts".
And the difference between ʿurf and maʿrūf must be recorded: both are from the same root and the same field; maʿrūf is a passive participle (what is recognised), while ʿurf is on the pattern of a verbal noun. The hundred and fifty-seventh verse uses maʿrūf, the hundred and ninety-ninth ʿurf. This is a difference that can be verified from the text.
| Place | Sentence | What was recorded there |
|---|---|---|
| al-Qaṣaṣ 28/55 | Wa idhā samiʿu'l-laghwa aʿraḍū ʿanhu … salāmun ʿalaykum lā nabtaghi'l-jāhilīn | The answer is in four parts; and the bearing is given in the context of a response |
| al-Furqān 25/63 | Wa idhā khāṭabahumu'l-jāhilūna qālū salāmā | The answer has come down to a single word; in al-Qaṣaṣ there were three sentences, in al-Furqān only salāmā |
| Place | The kind of sentence | What is given |
|---|---|---|
| al-Qaṣaṣ 28/55 | A statement — the behaviour of a company | Aʿraḍū — the past tense |
| al-Furqān 25/63 | A statement — an attribute | Qālū salāmā — a word |
| al-Aʿrāf 7/199 | A command | Aʿriḍ — a direct command |
That is, the same bearing occurs in the index first as a behaviour, then as an attribute, and here as a command. I record this as an observation, and its ground is the moods of the three verses.
And the word jāhil must be recorded: the root ج-ه-ل, according to the lexicographers' note, carries not only "ignorance" but also the sense of angry and unmeasured conduct. In this second sense the word's opposite is ḥilm (composure), not ʿilm. This distinction is transmitted and accords with the context of the verse: what is commanded is not a dispute about knowledge but a withdrawal.
And the root had occurred earlier in the sūra: innakum qawmun tajhalūn (138) — Moses's diagnosis in the face of the demand for a calf. The same root, in two different places.
The root ن-ز-غ was undone at 41/36 in Fuṣṣilat, and I rely on that treatment. What was recorded there: to prod, to prick, to come in between and stir up; nazagha baynahum — he set them at odds.
And one thing recorded at 41/36 in Fuṣṣilat belongs directly here, and it was named at 16/98 in al-Naḥl too: the command came immediately after the hardest counsel — there after the command idfaʿ bi'llatī hiya aḥsan (repel evil with what is better). That is, it was saying where the counsel is most likely to crack.
| Sūra | The command before it | What follows |
|---|---|---|
| Fuṣṣilat 41/34-36 | Idfaʿ bi'llatī hiya aḥsan — repel evil with what is better | Wa immā yanzaghannaka … fa'staʿidh bi'llāh |
| al-Aʿrāf 7/199-200 | Khudhi'l-ʿafwa … wa aʿriḍ ʿani'l-jāhilīn — withdraw | Wa immā yanzaghannaka … fa'staʿidh bi'llāh |
In both sūras the same sentence in the same place: immediately after the hardest command. I record this as an observation, and its ground is the order of the two verses.
And the difference recorded at 16/98 in al-Naḥl is at work here too: in al-Naḥl the time of taking refuge was idhā qaraʾta'l-qurʾān (when you recite); in Fuṣṣilat and al-Aʿrāf it is immā yanzaghannaka — when the prompting comes. I rely on that treatment.
And the pattern of the verb must be recorded: yanzaghannaka — it carries the emphatic nūn. That is, what is stated is not a possibility but a case assumed to occur.
And the answer to the command must be recorded: fa'staʿidh bi'llāh — a single step. The verse describes no method of struggle; it gives a command to turn.