حَسْبُنَا ٱللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ ٱلْوَكِيلُ · إِنَّمَا ذَٰلِكُمُ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ يُخَوِّفُ أَوْلِيَآءَهُۥ
Alladhīna'stajābū li'llāhi wa'r-rasūli min baʿdi mā aṣābahumu'l-qarḥ, li'lladhīna aḥsanū minhum wa'ttaqaw ajrun ʿaẓīm · Alladhīna qāla lahumu'n-nāsu inna'n-nāsa qad jamaʿū lakum fa'khshawhum fa-zādahum īmānan wa qālū ḥasbuna'llāhu wa niʿma'l-wakīl · Fa'nqalabū bi-niʿmatin mina'llāhi wa faḍlin lam yamsas'hum sūʾun wa'ttabaʿū riḍwāna'llāh, wa'llāhu dhū faḍlin ʿaẓīm · Innamā dhālikumu'sh-shayṭānu yukhawwifu awliyāʾah, fa-lā takhāfūhum wa khāfūni in kuntum muʾminīn
"Those who answered God and the messenger after the wound had reached them — for those of them who did good and guarded themselves there is a great reward. · People said to them: 'People have gathered against you, so fear them.' But this increased them in faith, and they said: 'God is enough for us; how excellent a trustee!' · So they returned with a favour and a bounty from God, untouched by any harm, and they followed the good pleasure of God. … · That is only Satan, making his friends fear. Do not fear them; fear Me, if you are believers."
And the word order of the verse must be recorded: the word al-nās occurs twice, one after the other, and conveys two different sets.
| Occurrence | Who |
|---|---|
| The first al-nās | Those who bring the news |
| The second al-nās | The side said to have gathered |
The same word, in one sentence, for two different sets. I record this as an observation about the word order: the sentence shows how fear is carried — one group brings news about another group. And the truth of the news is not discussed; the stance taken is recorded.
فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَٰنًا — "this increased them in faith". And the subject of the verb must be recorded: what increased it was the attempt at intimidation itself.
And its link with the other occurrences of the root in the sūra must be recorded: the same root had occurred six times in the sūra in the sense of "to suppose" (78, 142, 169, 178, 180, 188). Here it is in the sense of "to suffice".
I record this as an observation about the word and draw no ruling from it: the same root conveys both reckoning and sufficing. And the lexicographers explain it thus: a thing's sufficing is the reckoning's being complete.
وَكِيل — root و-ك-ل: to commit an affair to another. Wakīl — the one who takes an affair upon himself. And from the same root tawakkul occurred at verses 159 and 160.
And the construction occurs once more in the Qurʾān and, within this sūra itself, only here. And the pattern niʿma conveys praise.
I record this as an observation about the word order: the sentence is in two parts — one of sufficiency (ḥasbuna'llāh), the other of taking charge (niʿma'l-wakīl). That is, what is said is not only "He is enough for us" but also "He takes the affair upon Himself".
Wa yukhawwifūnaka bi'lladhīna min dūnih — "they make you afraid with those besides Him". The verb is Form II: the work of giving fear. And this was recorded there: "the verse names the instrument the other side uses — not proof but fear."
| Place | Wording | Who frightens | Who is frightened | The instrument of fear |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| al-Zumar 39/36 | Wa yukhawwifūnaka bi'lladhīna min dūnih | People | The Prophet | Alladhīna min dūnih |
| Āl ʿImrān 3/173 | Inna'n-nāsa qad jamaʿū lakum fa'khshawhum | People | The believers | The news of a gathering |
| Āl ʿImrān 3/175 | Innamā dhālikumu'sh-shayṭānu yukhawwifu awliyāʾah | Satan | — | — |
Three verses, the same root and the same operation: the use of fear as an instrument. This is a weave verifiable within the series.
And the finding recorded in al-Zumar holds here too and can be widened: the sūra names the instrument the other side uses. And Āl ʿImrān takes one step further: it names the source of the instrument as well.
And the lexicographers differ over the syntax of the sentence, and the disagreement is not to be concealed. The difficulty is this: is awliyāʾah the object, or does it come with an understood bi-?
| Reading | Sentence | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yukhawwifu awliyāʾah — object | "He makes his own friends afraid" — those frightened are Satan's friends |
| 2 | Yukhawwifukum bi-awliyāʾih — an understood particle | "He makes you afraid with his friends" — the instrument is his friends |
| 3 | Yukhawwifukum awliyāʾah — two objects | "He makes his friends seem frightening to you" |
And the second reading coincides exactly with 39/36 in al-Zumar (yukhawwifūnaka bi'lladhīna min dūnih — there the bāʾ is explicit). I record this as an indication, not as a preference.
I record this as an observation about the word order, and its ground is that the two verbs are from the same root: the sentence does not say "do not fear". The same verb occurs twice: one negated, the other an imperative. That is, fear is not rejected as a feeling; its object is changed.
And the continuation of 39/36 in al-Zumar has the same structure (a-laysa'llāhu bi-kāfin ʿabdah — "Is God not enough for His servant?"). Two sūras answer the same matter with the same two steps: sufficiency, and a change of direction.