Āl ʿImrān 3:128-129 commentary

3/128-129

لَيْسَ لَكَ مِنَ ٱلْأَمْرِ شَىْءٌ

Laysa laka mina'l-amri shayʾun aw yatūba ʿalayhim aw yuʿadhdhibahum fa-innahum ẓālimūn · Wa li'llāhi mā fi's-samāwāti wa mā fi'l-arḍ, yaghfiru li-man yashāʾu wa yuʿadhdhibu man yashāʾ, wa'llāhu ghafūrun raḥīm

"Nothing of the matter falls to you: either He turns to them in mercy or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers. · Whatever is in the heavens and the earth belongs to God; He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills. God is much-forgiving, most merciful."

This verse is a link in the line of "the limit of responsibility" treated in many places in the series, and it is to be added to the table at 28/56 in al-Qaṣaṣ.

The sharpest expression of the limit

The table set up at 28/56 in al-Qaṣaṣ was this, and I rely on it:

Place	Expression	What it limits
al-Aḥqāf 46/35	Balāgh	The task — it is to convey
al-Zumar 39/41	Wa mā anta ʿalayhim bi-wakīl	Responsibility
Qāf 50/45	Wa mā anta ʿalayhim bi-jabbār	The authority to compel
Fāṭir 35/8	Fa-lā tadhhab nafsuka ʿalayhim ḥasarāt	Grief
Luqmān 31/23	Fa-lā yaḥzunka kufruh	Grief
al-Qaṣaṣ 28/56	Lā tahdī man aḥbabta	Love — the closest bond

And in this commentary I add this verse to the table:

Place	Expression	What it limits
Āl ʿImrān 3/128	Laysa laka mina'l-amri shayʾun	The matter itself — no share at all in the outcome

And the difference of the added link must be recorded, because it stands apart from the others:

In the other six verses what is limited is a particular authority, a feeling or a task: giving guidance, being a trustee, compelling, grieving. Here, on the other hand, what is limited is al-amr — the matter itself. And the negation is made with the most general word: shayʾun — "nothing at all".

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the breadth of the word: the others were closing off a field; this verse leaves no field. Mina'l-amri shayʾun — "nothing of the matter".

The context of the sentence and a difficulty of word order

And the lexicographers differ over the syntactic analysis (iʿrāb) of the sentence, and the disagreement is not to be concealed. The difficulty is this: what is the expression aw yatūba ʿalayhim attached to?

Reading	The attachment	Sense
1	Laysa laka mina'l-amri shayʾun is an interposed clause; aw yatūba attaches to li-yaqṭaʿa in the preceding verse	"Either He cuts off a part of them, or crushes them, or turns to them in mercy, or punishes them"
2	Aw yatūba attaches directly to laysa laka	"Nothing of this matter falls to you — neither the acceptance of their repentance nor their punishment"

Both are transmitted; I do not impose a preference.

But there is a conclusion common to both readings, and I record it: on either reading the deciding party is not the one addressed. And the continuation of the verse confirms it: yaghfiru li-man yashāʾu wa yuʿadhdhibu man yashāʾ (129).

The verse's place in the block

And where the verse is placed must be recorded, because it cannot be separated from its content.

Verse	Subject
123-127	Help — Badr, the angels, the good news
128	*Laysa laka mina'l-amri shayʾun*
130-136	Ribā, spending, anger, pardon

That is, the sentence of the limit of responsibility has been placed immediately after the verses in which the help is described.

I record this as my own reading, and it is not binding: in the place where the help is described, it is said once more that the one who asks for help and the one who gives it are distinct. And this is the note of verse 126 (wa ma'n-naṣru illā min ʿindi'llāh) seen from the human side. One states the source of the help, the other the owner of the decision.