فَقُولَا لَهُۥ قَوْلًا لَّيِّنًا لَّعَلَّهُۥ يَتَذَكَّرُ أَوْ يَخْشَىٰ
The datum of the text must be set down first: the addressee of this command is the one described in the forty-third verse as innahu ṭaghā (he has transgressed).
| Verse | Expression | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 43 | Innahu ṭaghā | Diagnosis — the state of the addressee |
| 44 | Fa-qūlā lahu qawlan layyinan | Method — how he is to be spoken to |
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the order of the two verses: the diagnosis does not change the method. The gentle word is commanded after it has been said that the other side is a transgressor. That is, gentleness is not a reward contingent on the addressee's deserving it — it is a measure belonging to the side of the speaker.
The root ل-ي-ن: softness, pliancy; the opposite of hardness. The root was treated at Sabaʾ on 34/10 (wa alannā lahu'l-ḥadīd — We softened iron for him), at al-Zumar on 39/23 (thumma talīnu julūduhum — then their skins soften) and at al-Ḥashr. I rely on those treatments.
And the use here is worth recording: the same root is applied to iron in Sabaʾ, to skin in al-Zumar, and here to speech. The common picture: what is hard becoming pliant.
A point of word order: qawlan layyinan — an object of cognate origin. That is, not "speak gently" but "speak a gentle word". The measure is set not on the manner but on the speech itself.
This command is the hardest instance of a line treated in the series. The same line was treated at Fuṣṣilat on 41/34 and at al-ʿAnkabūt on 29/46, and a third link was recorded at al-Qaṣaṣ on 28/54. I rely on those treatments and complete the table with a fourth link:
| Place | Expression | Domain | Addressee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuṣṣilat 41/34 | Idfaʿ billatī hiya aḥsan — د-ف-ع | Enmity | Those who show enmity |
| al-ʿAnkabūt 29/46 | Lā tujādilū illā billatī hiya aḥsan | Argument | The People of the Book |
| al-Qaṣaṣ 28/54 | Yadraʾūna bi'l-ḥasanati's-sayyiʾa — د-ر-أ | Evil | General |
| Ṭāhā 20/44 | Qawlan layyinan | Conveying the message | The one described as ṭaghā |
Four sūras, four different words, one method. And the one in Ṭāhā is set apart from the others in one respect, and this difference can be verified from the text: in the others the addressee is a general or unnamed party; here the addressee is a man whose end, in this same sūra, is drowning.
I record this as my own reading: the verse does not give the gentle word as a guarantee of the outcome. Indeed the gentle word was spoken and Pharaoh did not believe. That is, the command is bound not to the result the other side will reach but to the road the speaker will keep.
The clause of purpose is built with laʿalla — that is, the pattern of hope. It was recorded at al-Sajda on 32/3: in a clause of purpose ending with laʿalla the outcome is not guaranteed. I rely on that treatment.
I record this as an observation, and its ground is the third verse of the sūra: there the work of the Book was described as tadhkiratan li-man yakhshā — the same two roots, in the same order.
| Verse | Expression | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Illā tadhkiratan li-man yakhshā | The definition of the Book |
| 44 | Laʿallahu yatadhakkaru aw yakhshā | What is hoped for from Pharaoh |
That is, the third verse of the sūra said to whom the Book would be of use; in the forty-fourth that door is held open for the most transgressing character in the sūra as well. This is an overlap that can be verified within the sūra, and I record it as one of the most striking links in it.
The order the text builds is this: first the diagnosis (he has transgressed), then the method (speak gently), then the hope (perhaps). The diagnosis does not determine the method. The judgement passed on what a person is does not change how he is to be spoken to.
And there is a second thing: the addressee of the command is two people, and both are bound to the same measure. That is, the measure has not been left to the difference in temperament — it is set down as a method that Moses and Aaron alike are to keep.