17:100 Al-Israa (The Night Journey)

قل -أيها الرسول- لهؤلاء المشركين: لو كنتم تملكون خزائن رحمة ربي التي لا تنفد ولا تبيد إذًا لبخلتم بها، فلم تعطوا منها غيركم خوفًا مِن نفادها فتصبحوا فقراء. ومن شأن الإنسان أنه بخيل بما في يده إلا مَن عصم الله بالإيمان.

{ قُلْ لَوْ أَنْتُمْ تَمْلِكُونَ خَزَائِنَ رَحْمَةِ رَبِّي } التي لا تنفذ ولا تبيد. { إِذًا لَأَمْسَكْتُمْ خَشْيَةَ الْإِنْفَاقِ } أي: خشية أن ينفد ما تنفقون منه، مع أنه من المحال أن تنفد خزائن الله ، ولكن الإنسان مطبوع على الشح والبخل.

يقول تعالى لرسوله صلوات الله وسلامه عليه قل لهم يا محمد لو أنكم أيها الناس تملكون التصرف في خزائن الله لأمسكتم خشية الإنفاق قال ابن عباس وقتادة: أي الفقر أي خشية أن تذهبوها مع أنها لا تفرغ ولا تنفد أبدا لأن هذا من طباعكم وسجاياكم ولهذا قال "وكان الإنسان قتورا" قال ابن عباس وقتادة أي بخيلا منوعا وقال الله تعالى "أم لهم نصيب من الملك فإذا لا يؤتون الناس نقيرا" أي لو أن لهم نصيبا في ملك الله لما أعطوا أحدا شيئا ولا مقدار نقير والله تعالى يصف الإنسان من حيث هو إلا من وفقه الله وهداه فإن البخل والجزع والهلع صفة له كما قال تعالى "إن الإنسان خلق هلوعا إذا مسه الشر جزوعا وإذا مسه الخير منوعا إلا المصلين" ولهذا نظائر كثيرة في القرآن العزيز ويدل هذا على كرمه وجوده وإحسانه وقد جاء في الصحيحين "يد الله ملأى لا يغيضها نفقة سحاء الليل والنهار أرأيتم ما أنفق منذ خلق السموات والأرض فإنه لم يغض ما في يمينه".

Say to them ‘If you possessed the treasuries of my Lord’s mercy those treasuries of provision and rain you would surely withhold them you would stint for fear of spending fearing that they would be depleted if one spent from them and that you would then become impoverished; and man is ever niggardly’.

Commentary

The truth of the matter about what has been said in the last verse (100) is that the treasures of the mercy of Allah are limit-less and end-less. They are never going to end, but man is by nature narrow-minded, short on courage. When it comes to giving, he is not motivated enough to share what he has with others.

Commentators generally take the expression 'the treasures of the Lord's blessing or mercy' to mean the treasures of wealth. This has its link with previous verses (90, 91) where the disbelievers of Makkah had demanded that the Holy Prophet ﷺ should - if he was really a prophet in truth - make rivers flow in the barren desert of Makkah and trans-form it into lush green farms, like the land of Syria. The answer to this was given right there (93), saying in effect: This is as if you have taken me to be nothing short of God whose authority you want me to exercise. As for me, I am only a messenger of Allah, not Allah. I cannot do what I will. If we see this verse in this context, it would mean: If you are asking me to turn this desert land of Makkah into a green land to test my veracity as prophet and messenger, then, the miracle of the eloquence of the Qur'an is sufficient to prove that. There is no need for any other demands. And if this is to meet the needs of your country and people, remember that, even if you are given everything you demand for the land of Makkah, and all sorts of treasures with it, it would not result in the prosperity of the masses of your country. In fact, human nature will take its course and whoever gets hold of these treasures will sit on them like legendary serpents. Tell them to spend it on the people and you will see them all consumed by the fear that it will go out of their hands. In a situ-ation like this, if a few rich men of Makkah get to be richer and opulent, what are the masses of people going to get out of it? Most commentators have declared this to be the sense of the verse.

My master and mentor, Hadrat Thanavi (رح) ، in his Bayan al-Qur'an, has interpreted 'my Lord's mercy' as the station of prophethood and messenger-ship, and 'the treasures of mercy' as the varied perfection of prophethood. Given this Tafsir, this verse will be linked with previous verses by saying: The outcome of all those absurd demands you are making against my status as a prophet and Messenger of Allah ﷺ is that you just do not want to believe in it. Do you, then, want that the function of prophethood should be entrusted in your hands, so that you can make anyone a prophet at your sweet will? If such a wish were to be granted, the consequence would be that you would never give prophethood or messenger-ship to anyone, sitting over it like misers. After having given this explanation, he has added that this Tafsir is something that comes as one of the many divine gifts. It fits the occasion. Interpreting proph-ethood in this setting with mercy would be similar to its interpretation in the verse of Surah az-Zukhruf. It was said: أَهُمْ يَقْسِمُونَ رَ‌حْمَتَ رَ‌بِّكَ (Do they distribute the mercy of your Lord? - 43:32). Here, 'rahmah' (mercy) means nothing but 'nubuwwah' (prophethood) - and there is a consensus on it. Allah knows best.