قَالَتْ رُسُلُهُمْ أَفِى ٱللَّهِ شَكٌّ فَاطِرِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ يَدْعُوكُمْ لِيَغْفِرَ لَكُم مِّن ذُنُوبِكُمْ وَيُؤَخِّرَكُمْ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى … قَالَتْ لَهُمْ رُسُلُهُمْ إِن نَّحْنُ إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَمُنُّ عَلَىٰ مَن يَشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِۦ
Qālat rusuluhum a-fi'llāhi shakkun fāṭiri's-samāwāti wa'l-arḍ; yadʿūkum li-yaghfira lakum min dhunūbikum wa yuʾakhkhirakum ilā ajalin musammā · Qālū in antum illā basharun mithlunā turīdūna an taṣuddūnā ʿammā kāna yaʿbudu ābāʾunā fa'tūnā bi-sulṭānin mubīn · Qālat lahum rusuluhum in naḥnu illā basharun mithlukum wa lākinna'llāha yamunnu ʿalā man yashāʾu min ʿibādih
"Their messengers said: 'Is there any doubt about God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth? He calls you in order to forgive you some of your sins and to defer you to a term whose name has been set.' They said: 'You are only human beings like ourselves. You wish to turn us away from what our fathers used to serve. Bring us, then, a clear authority.' Their messengers said to them: 'We are indeed only human beings like yourselves; but God bestows His favour upon whom He wills of His servants.'"
The root ف-ط-ر was analysed at Fāṭir 35/1 and in al-Infiṭār — the core sense is to split, to crack open; and from there "to bring out for the first time" (the bud splitting and the leaf coming out). I do not repeat it here.
What belongs here is this: in Fāṭir the attribute stood inside an act of praise, at al-Zumar 39/46 inside a prayer. Here it comes inside a question: a-fi'llāhi shakkun fāṭiri's-samāwāti wa'l-arḍ.
That is, the attribute carries the answer to the question. The messengers do not leave the question empty; together with the question they give the ground of the answer as well.
There is a particle in the verse and the lexicographers dwell on it: li-yaghfira lakum min dhunūbikum — "of your sins".
| Reading | The function of min | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Partitive | Some of the sins are forgiven |
| 2 | Redundant (an emphasis adding no meaning) | The sins are forgiven |
| 3 | What is meant are the sins against God; the claims of other people fall outside this | The scope is being specified |
All three readings are transmitted; I do not impose a preference and I draw no legal conclusion from this.
The construct ajalin musammā was treated at al-Aḥqāf 46/3, al-Zumar 39/42 and Fāṭir 35/45. I rely on those treatments: the term is fixed and its name has been set; but the one who set the name is not man.
The difference here must be recorded: the construct occurs as the content of a call. The messengers' call promises two things: forgiveness and a term. That is, what is offered in return for answering the call is, before any reward belonging to the hereafter, a respite given in this world.
The other side frames an objection: in antum illā basharun mithlunā — "you are only human beings like ourselves."
And the messengers' answer is worth recording: they do not reject the objection. In naḥnu illā basharun mithlukum — they repeat the same sentence, changing the pronoun.
I record this as an observation about the word order: the only difference between the two sentences is the shift mithlunā → mithlukum. The objection is accepted just as it stands; then a note is added with lākin.
The same objection was treated at al-Furqān 25/7 (mā li-hādha'r-rasūli yaʾkulu'ṭ-ṭaʿāma wa yamshī fi'l-aswāq), and it was recorded there that the sūra answers this objection with a definition of servanthood. I rely on that treatment. The answer here, however, is shorter: the humanity is granted, and the being chosen is set down as a separate heading.
The word sulṭān (proof, argument) was treated in al-Ṣāffāt and al-Ṭūr; it was recorded there that the root carries the idea of "superiority, dominion" and that the proof is named as "the thing that decides". I rely on that treatment.