فَذَكِّرْ إِن نَّفَعَتِ ٱلذِّكْرَىٰ
The fāʾ at the head states the consequence of the three preceding verses (6-8): you will be made to recite, you will not forget, you will be prepared for the easy — so remind.
The command, that is, is built upon the things that have been given. The point established about the backbone of Sūrat al-Ḍuḥā holds here too: the favour received turns into a command given.
Root: ذ-ك-ر. Its meaning: to remember, to mention, to put into words. Within the root there is both remembering in the mind and mentioning with the tongue, and Arabic does not separate the two.
- ذِكْر (dhikr) — mention, being mentioned; and it is used in the sense of "honour, renown" as well.
- ذِكْرَى (dhikrā) — a reminding, a reminder. A verbal noun on the fiʿlā measure; the pattern carries continuity and intensity.
- تَذْكِرَة (tadhkira) — the thing that reminds.
- ذَكَّرَ (Form II) — to remind, to remind someone else.
- تَذَكَّرَ (Form V) — to remember of oneself.
The difference between these forms is necessary for understanding the next verse; we shall return to it when we come there.
Note: from the same root letters comes the word ذَكَر (male) as well. The lexicographers debate this relation; I establish no firm link.
The sentence can be read thus: "If the reminder will not benefit, do not give it." This reading looks as though it conflicts with the Qurʾān's understanding of the call — because the prophets conveyed the message in places where they knew it would not benefit as well.
| Explanation | What it says | Its basis | Its weak side |
|---|---|---|---|
| The condition is real; it states priority | Give priority to the place where the reminder will be of use. Not a command to abandon but a command about ordering | The next two verses distinguish two different addressees (10-11); and it is reasonable that limited effort be spent in the right place | There is no expression of "priority" in the text; it stands at the level of inference |
| إِنْ here carries the sense of قَدْ | "Since the reminder does benefit, give the reminder". That is, not a condition but a statement of fact | Some lexicographers record that in can be used for certain cases as well | This use is rare and is disputed |
| The condition is for reproach and warning | The sentence targets the addressees: "if it will do any good, of course" — a caveat loaded with reproach | Similar reproachful conditional patterns are found in the Qurʾān | At the level of interpretation; it is a matter of tone |
| The reminder always benefits; the condition is therefore fulfilled | For the believer an increase, for the one who denies the completion of the proof against him. In both cases there is a benefit | "And remind, for the reminder benefits the believers" (al-Dhāriyāt 51/55) — the same root, the same frame, without a condition | It does away in fact with the verse's conditional caveat |
The first and the fourth explanations are the ones most defended, and they do not exclude one another.
First, note the subject of the sentence. The verse does not say "if they will benefit"; it says "if the reminder will benefit". The subject of the verb is al-dhikrā. The condition, that is, has been attached not to the worth of the one addressed but to whether the reminder will work. This small difference takes the sentence out of being a classification of human beings.
"So remind; you are only one who reminds. You are not a tyrant over them" (al-Ghāshiya 88/21-22).
The same command (fa-dhakkir), and after it the limit: your business is to remind, the outcome is not your business. The condition at al-Aʿlā 9 can be read as another expression of this limit — a caveat showing where the responsibility ends.
"So remind by the Qurʾān those who fear My threat" (Qāf 50/45).