وَإِذَآ أَنْعَمْنَا عَلَى ٱلْإِنسَٰنِ أَعْرَضَ وَنَـَٔا بِجَانِبِهِ
Wa idhā anʿamnā ʿala'l-insāni aʿraḍa wa naʾā bi-jānibih, wa idhā massahu'l-sharru kāna yaʾūsā · Qul kullun yaʿmalu ʿalā shākilatihi fa-rabbukum aʿlamu biman huwa ahdā sabīlā
"When We bestow favour on man, he turns away and draws his side aside; and when evil touches him, he falls into despair. Say: 'Each acts after his own fashion. Your Lord knows best who is better guided on the way.'"
The concrete picture of the idiom must be recorded: "he removed his side" — that is, he turned his shoulder, he turned his back. In Arabic this describes a going away in pride.
The same idiom occurs at 41/51 in Fuṣṣilat (wa idhā anʿamnā ʿala'l-insāni aʿraḍa wa naʾā bi-jānibih) — the two verses are word for word the same. It was treated there, and I rely on that treatment.
| Place | When evil touches him |
|---|---|
| Fuṣṣilat 41/51 | Fa-dhū duʿāʾin ʿarīḍ — he prays at great length |
| al-Isrāʾ 17/83 | Kāna yaʾūsā — he falls into despair |
The same opening, two different continuations. I record this as an observation: the two verses record two different reactions of the same human being — one a pleading, the other a cutting off of hope. Both at a moment of hardship.
And the forbidding of despair was treated at 39/53 in al-Zumar (lā taqnaṭū min raḥmati'llāh). I rely on that treatment: the state described here is the state forbidden there.
The root ش-ك-ل: to resemble; and to tie (shikāl — the hobble put on an animal's leg). Shākila is explained by the lexicographers in two ways:
| Reading | What shākila is |
|---|---|
| 1 | A way, a direction — the road he keeps to |
| 2 | Constitution, disposition, temperament — his own fashion |
But what the two readings share can be recorded, and I give this as an observation: the word speaks of something that belongs to the person himself. And the continuation of the verse does not make this into a sentence of judgement — it leaves the knowing to God: fa-rabbukum aʿlamu biman huwa ahdā sabīlā.
This is a link on the line of responsibility tabulated in the backbone of the sūra. And it must be recorded, per the method: the verse does not leave to man the knowledge of who is on the right way. This is a sentence that closes off judging about another.