al-Tawba 9:111-112 — The transaction and nine attributes

Inna'llāha'shtarā mina'l-muʾminīna anfusahum wa amwālahum bi-anna lahumu'l-janna

"God has bought from the believers their lives and their wealth, that theirs may be the garden."

The root ش-ر-ي was treated in al-Baqara at 2/207 (wa mina'l-nāsi man yashrī nafsahu'btighāʾa marḍāti'llāh) — there it was recorded that the word is one of the aḍdād (meaning both to sell and to buy). I rely on that treatment.

The two verses can be compared:

And the elements of the contract are enumerated one by one in the verse — I record this as an observation: what is sold (lives and wealth), the price (the garden), the document (waʿdan ʿalayhi ḥaqqan fi'l-Tawrāti wa'l-Injīli wa'l-Qurʾān), the confirmation (wa man awfā bi-ʿahdihī mina'llāh). The sentence, that is, is built with all the elements of a contract of trade.

Nine attributes, all in the form of the active participle and all definite (al-).

I record this as an observation about the structure: the form states continuity — not deeds performed but attributes of the doer.

ٱلسَّٰٓئِحُون — root س-ي-ح: water flowing over the ground; and to travel. There is disagreement about what the word amounts to here:

Both readings are transmitted; I impose no preference.

And it is worth recording that the list may be compared with the lists of attributes in al-Muʾminūn 23/1-11 and al-Furqān 25/63-77 — in those two files those lists were tabulated. What is different in al-Tawba: all nine attributes are set out in a single verse and in a single form.