وَلَا نُكَلِّفُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا وَلَدَيْنَا كِتَٰبٌ يَنطِقُ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ
"We do not burden any soul beyond its capacity. With Us is a book that speaks the truth, and they will not be wronged."
This sentence was treated at al-Baqara 2/286 (lā yukallifu'llāhu nafsan illā wusʿahā). I do not repeat it here. What was recorded there:
وُسْع — root و-س-ع: breadth. The measure, that is, is the person's own breadth. This sentence is a direct answer to the anxiety produced by verse 284, and it is the final expression of the principle of ease (2/185) seen again and again in the legal sections of that sūra.
I rely on that treatment. What belongs here is the difference of setting between the two verses, and it must be recorded:
| al-Baqara 2/286 | al-Muʾminūn 23/62 | |
|---|---|---|
| The subject of the verb | yukallifu'llāhu — the name is explicit | nukallifu — first person plural |
| What it comes after | The anxiety produced by 2/284 — will what is within us be reckoned too | The race in verse 61 — hurrying to good things |
| What work it does | It meets the anxiety | It sets the limit of the race |
| Its continuation | lahā mā kasabat wa ʿalayhā mā'ktasabat | wa ladaynā kitābun yanṭiqu bi'l-ḥaqq |
I record this as my own reading, its ground being the place of the verse within the sūra: the sixty-first verse had spoken of a race — yusāriʿūn, sābiqūn. Immediately after the race a limit is set: no one is charged with what is beyond his capacity.
The sentence, that is, prevents those in front from being made the measure of those left behind. This reading is my own and is not binding.
The root ك-ل-ف: to take on a task with difficulty, hardship. Takalluf — doing a thing under strain; kulfa — trouble. The pattern is Form II: kallafa — to lay a task upon someone.
This construction was treated at al-Jāthiya 45/29 (hādhā kitābunā yanṭiqu ʿalaykum bi'l-ḥaqq). What was recorded there:
The root ن-ط-ق: to speak, to give voice. The choice of verb is striking: the book does not "write" or "show" — it speaks. … A document is normally read; the reading party interprets it. The verse removes this intermediary: the document speaks for itself.
I rely on that treatment. And the comparison of the two verses is the real work of this section, because the difference between them lies in a single word:
| al-Jāthiya 45/29 | al-Muʾminūn 23/62 | |
|---|---|---|
| The sentence | hādhā kitābunā yanṭiqu ʿalaykum bi'l-ḥaqq | ladaynā kitābun yanṭiqu bi'l-ḥaqq |
| The difference | ʿalaykum — "against you" | Absent — no such particle comes |
| The position of the book | hādhā — here, opened | ladaynā — with Us, not yet opened |
| To whom it is said | To the second person — at the moment of reckoning | About the third person — in this world |
| The scene | The resurrection — tarā kulla ummatin jāthiya | This world — the discussion of the race and the burden |
| Its continuation | innā kunnā nastansikhu mā kuntum taʿmalūn | wa hum lā yuẓlamūn |
The difference is a single word, and it changes the direction of the meaning. In Arabic ʿalā here reports being against; this was recorded in al-Jāthiya.
I record this as my own reading, its ground being the difference of scene between the two verses: in al-Jāthiya the book is opened and speaking against the one addressed — there the matter is finished. In al-Muʾminūn the book is still with Us, and only that "it speaks the truth" is reported — against whom is not said.
And this fits the work of the two verses: the sentence in al-Jāthiya is a verdict; the sentence in al-Muʾminūn is an assurance. Indeed its continuation is wa hum lā yuẓlamūn — "they will not be wronged."
And the construction bi'l-ḥaqq must itself be recorded: the book speaks the truth. It is reported, that is, that there is no difference between the record and what happened. The finding recorded for the word nastansikh (making a copy) in al-Jāthiya answers to this: the original is the life lived; the book is its copy.