وَيَٰقَوْمِ لَآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مَالًا إِنْ أَجْرِىَ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱللَّهِ وَمَآ أَنَا۠ بِطَارِدِ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ … وَيَٰقَوْمِ مَن يَنصُرُنِى مِنَ ٱللَّهِ إِن طَرَدتُّهُمْ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ · وَلَآ أَقُولُ لَكُمْ عِندِى خَزَآئِنُ ٱللَّهِ وَلَآ أَعْلَمُ ٱلْغَيْبَ وَلَآ أَقُولُ إِنِّى مَلَكٌ وَلَآ أَقُولُ لِلَّذِينَ تَزْدَرِىٓ أَعْيُنُكُمْ لَن يُؤْتِيَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ خَيْرًا
wa yā qawmi lā asʾalukum ʿalayhi mālā, in ajriya illā ʿalā'llāh, wa mā anā bi-ṭāridi'lladhīna āmanū, innahum mulāqū rabbihim wa lākinnī arākum qawman tajhalūn · wa yā qawmi man yanṣurunī mina'llāhi in ṭaradtuhum, a-fa-lā tadhakkarūn · wa lā aqūlu lakum ʿindī khazāʾinu'llāhi wa lā aʿlamu'l-ghayba wa lā aqūlu innī malakun wa lā aqūlu li'lladhīna tazdarī aʿyunukum lan yuʾtiyahumu'llāhu khayrā, Allāhu aʿlamu bimā fī anfusihim, innī idhan la-mina'l-ẓālimīn
"'My people! I ask you no wealth for this; my payment is due from God alone. And I am not going to drive away those who have believed; they will meet their Lord. But I see that you are a people who behave in ignorance. · My people! If I drove them away, who would help me against God? Will you not take heed? · I do not say to you that the treasuries of God are with me; nor do I know the unseen. I do not say "I am an angel". Nor do I say of those whom your eyes look down on that God will never give them any good. God knows best what is in their souls. If I did, I would indeed be one of the wrongdoers.'"
In Table 5 of al-Shuʿarāʾ it was tabulated that this sentence is word for word the same in five narratives: wa mā asʾalukum ʿalayhi min ajrin, in ajriya illā ʿalā rabbi'l-ʿālamīn (109, 127, 145, 164, 180).
| Place | Expression | What is not asked for | Whose the payment is |
|---|---|---|---|
| al-Shuʿarāʾ (5 times) | mā asʾalukum ʿalayhi min ajr | Payment | rabbi'l-ʿālamīn |
| Hūd 11/29 (Noah) | lā asʾalukum ʿalayhi mālā | Wealth | Allāh |
| Hūd 11/51 (Hūd) | lā asʾalukum ʿalayhi ajrā | Payment | alladhī faṭaranī |
Three different words, three different attributions. This is a difference that can be verified from the text.
And the mālā in Noah's mouth is worth recording: the word is concrete. Ajr is the return for a service; māl is wealth outright. And the side making the objection was the malaʾ — that is, those who had wealth and standing. The answer is given in the language of the objection.
This sentence was treated at al-Shuʿarāʾ 26/114 (wa mā anā bi-ṭāridi'l-muʾminīn), and I rely on that treatment. In summary, the entries there were these:
The root ط-ر-د: to drive off, to expel, to banish. The word order of the sentence: the mā … bi- pattern. In Arabic the bāʾ that comes onto the predicate of a negating mā strengthens the negation: "I am never going to drive them away." And the object must be recorded: the people had called them al-ardhalūn ("the lowest sort"); Noah names the very same people al-muʾminīn. The Qurʾān takes this matter up elsewhere as well: wa lā taṭrudi'lladhīna yadʿūna rabbahum bi'l-ghadāti wa'l-ʿashiyy (al-Anʿām 6/52) — the same root, the same prohibition. And another face of the matter was treated in ʿAbasa.
One — the naming changes: in al-Shuʿarāʾ al-muʾminīn, in Hūd alladhīna āmanū. The second is a verbal clause: "those who have believed" — not an attribute but a thing done.
Two — Hūd adds a ground: innahum mulāqū rabbihim — "they will meet their Lord." Not driving them away, that is, is founded not on human delicacy but on a piece of knowledge about a meeting.
And the thirtieth verse turns this into a question: man yanṣurunī mina'llāhi in ṭaradtuhum — "if I drove them away, who would help me against God?"
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the order of the two verses: in al-Shuʿarāʾ not driving them away was given as an attitude; in Hūd it is given as a risk. The two verses do not conflict; Hūd opens up the ground of the same attitude.
The thirty-first verse is the longest list of negations a prophet frames about himself in the Qurʾān. lā aqūlu / lā aʿlamu occurs four times.
| # | Expression | The claim refused |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | lā aqūlu lakum ʿindī khazāʾinu'llāh | Wealth / ownership of the sources |
| 2 | wa lā aʿlamu'l-ghayb | Knowing the hidden |
| 3 | wa lā aqūlu innī malak | Standing above his own kind |
| 4 | wa lā aqūlu li'lladhīna tazdarī aʿyunukum lan yuʾtiyahumu'llāhu khayrā | Passing judgement on another's behalf |
And the first three of the list correspond exactly to the people's demands. This is an overlap that can be verified from the text:
| The people's demand / objection | Noah's refusal |
|---|---|
| law lā unzila ʿalayhi kanz (12 — in the sūra's own section) | ʿindī khazāʾinu'llāh — I have none |
| aw jāʾa maʿahū malak (12) | innī malak — I am not |
| mā narāka illā basharan mithlanā (27) | Confirmed — not contested but conceded |
And the same threefold list occurs once more in the Qurʾān, in the mouth of the Prophet: qul lā aqūlu lakum ʿindī khazāʾinu'llāhi wa lā aʿlamu'l-ghayba wa lā aqūlu lakum innī malak (al-Anʿām 6/50). The same three sentences word for word, in the mouths of two different prophets. This is a repetition that can be verified from the text.
The root ز-ر-ي: to belittle, to look down on, to find fault with. The root occurs here for the first time in this series. Izdarā (Form VIII) — to hold in low regard.
And the choice of subject must be recorded: tazdarī aʿyunukum — "your eyes look down on". Not the person who looks down, but the eye.
I record this as an observation about the word order, and I tie it to the twenty-seventh verse: the people had said mā narā ("we do not see") three times. Noah puts the very same organ in the place of the subject. The sentence, that is, names the source of the objection: the gaze.
And what the fourth sentence refuses is different from the first three: not an authority but a judgement.
And the ground is given at once: Allāhu aʿlamu bimā fī anfusihim — "God knows best what is in their souls".
This sentence is on the same line as the answer treated at al-Shuʿarāʾ 26/112 (wa mā ʿilmī bimā kānū yaʿmalūn), and I rely on that treatment. The entry there ran: "Noah does not defend those who believe. He does not say 'they are good people'. He says 'I do not know what they have been doing'. The answer refuses the ground the objection rests on."
In Hūd the same posture goes one step further, and I record this as my own reading: in al-Shuʿarāʾ Noah said that he did not know; in Hūd he refuses, because he does not know, to pass judgement. The two are two faces of the same principle.
And the sentence ends with a warning: innī idhan la-mina'l-ẓālimīn — "I would then indeed be one of the wrongdoers." To pass judgement on another's behalf about what God will give is thus named, in the language of the verse, wrongdoing.
The thirty-first verse lists four things a man who calls others will not allow to be attributed to him: ownership of wealth, knowledge of the hidden, standing above his own kind, and speaking about the final outcome of other people.
I record this as a reading, and its ground is the list itself: all four are attributes that the one addressed might wish to load onto the caller, or that the caller might load onto himself. And all four are refused.