وَأَمّا بِنِعمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّث

And as for the Lord’s blessing, proclaim it!

EXEGESIS

It is quite telling that the words ḥadath – an event, and ḥadīth – the telling of a narration or story, have the common root ḥadatha, which is the coming into effect of something after some time, or the coming into existence of something that was naught, or the renewal of something whether in essence or through actions or words.^{‎[1]Tahqiq, 2/177.} Ḥaddith (proclaim) in verse 11 is, first and foremost, to communicate and relate the realities of God’s blessing to the world at large. A message can be communicated at different or multiple levels. Actions, decisions, attitudes, accomplishments, victories, priorities, and the making of events (aḥdāth) are all important and sometimes necessary means for genuine and effective communication. Verse 11 calls the Prophet, and by extension those who follow him, to proclaim the Lord’s blessing in the manner that reaches the largest crowds and the deepest realms of human consciousness.

The expression fa (therefore) in verse 9 implies a number of things. First, it is as if God is saying to the Prophet: in return for the divine blessings of My shelter, My guidance, and My generosity upon you, I command you to pass these graces to every one of My creation. This makes clear the compassion and generosity of the Creator, who demands from His beloved ones that they show thanks for His graces by returning them upon His creation and paying it forward (28:77).

EXPOSITION

Regarding the Lord’s blessings (niʿmah) that God called the Prophet to proclaim, the exegetes have provided a number of complimentary views. Most described this gift as the Holy Quran, or Islam, or Muhammad’s (s) prophethood.^{‎[2]Shawkani, 5/560; Tabrisi, 10/768.} Others described this blessing in terms of the knowledge of devotional acts and duties due to God such as the prayers, the zakat, the fasting, the hajj, and allegiance to the divinely appointed leader of their time (wilāyah) (4:59, 5:55).^{‎[3]Qummi, 2/428.}  

However, although Islam and all that it holds is no doubt an immeasurable gift that God describes as the complete blessing (5:3), nevertheless, If you enumerate God’s blessings, you will not be able to count them (16:18). With this in mind, a number of exegetes did not restrict blessing to only mean the aforementioned blessings, but rather all blessings.^{‎[4]Shawkani, 5/559.}

Once the blessing is known, the divine command ḥaddith calls to proclaim the Lord’s blessing by remembering it, celebrating it, showing thanks for it, and manifesting it.^{‎[5]Samarqandi, 3/592.} It is a call to share the glad tidings of the Lord’s blessing, to bring its fruits and effects to all people, and to invite them to show thanks for it.^{‎[6]Qutb, 6/3929.} It is a call addressed to the Holy Prophet and his followers towards active gratitude that is paired with action as a true expression of thanks (34:13).

Verse 11 is the antidote for those afflicted with the disease of constant negativity and pessimism.^{‎[7]Amthal, 20/283.} In fact, in the light of verse 11, many scholars encourage the sharing of personal experiences of receiving any blessing from God. The only condition they place is that this sharing is done in a way that ensures everyone’s benefit and is not done out of arrogance or with the intent of causing ill feeling to others.^{‎[8]Mubin, p. 812.}

Samarqandī took verse 11 to be a reminder for all those who know the Quran or know from the Quran, to pass their knowledge to others.^{‎[9]Samarqandi, 3/593.}

All of the divine commandments in verses 9-11 are addressed to the Messenger of God in the first degree. At the same time, they are also directed to all true Muslims since their aim is to follow the Prophet’s example.^{‎[10]Qummi, 2/428.}

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said: ‘If God bestows a blessing upon His servant and he manifests it upon himself, he is called “the beloved of God” and “the one who proclaims God’s blessing”. And if God bestows a blessing upon His servant and he does not manifest it upon himself, he is called “the despised of God” and “the one who belies God’s blessing”.’^{‎[11]Kafi, 6/438, h. 2.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

According to a number of exegetes, the Lord’s blessing that must be proclaimed refers to the blessings described in the previous verses.^{‎[12]Tabrisi, 10/768.} Whilst this is true, it is important to understand that the realities in the previous verses go deeper than being solely biographical events in the Prophet’s personal life as explained in the previous sections.

Ālūsī opines that when verse 11 alludes to the rights of God in proclaiming His religion, this comes last in the sequence of commands because the yatīm and the sāʾil are in need, whereas God is the self-sufficient, and it is more befitting to prioritise the right of the needy over the right of the self-sufficient.^{‎[13]Alusi, 15/385.} In reality, all of the three commandments are the rights of God since they must be obeyed, and all of them fill the need of humankind and bring them felicity. The difference between the first two and the last command is that the first two are concrete and immediately measurable contributions that must come first to build trust and receptivity to the proclamation of God’s ultimate blessing.^{‎[14]Gharaib, 6/519.}

As for the question of the logical correspondence between verses 6-8 and verses 9-11, exegetes have held a number of views. All exegetes agreed that verse 6 logically corresponds to verse 9. Some exegetes take verses 6-8 to be logically paired with verses 9-11, respectively, on the basis that sāʾil is the one who is seeking knowledge, according to the narrations.^{‎[15]Alusi, 15/385, quotes al-Ṭībī without refuting it.} Taking sāʾil to refer to a beggar or a person in need, many exegetes see that verses 8 and 10 share the theme of poverty and therefore must be logically matched. In turn, they logically associate verses 7 and 11 together by virtue of them being commonly themed by guidance, taking blessing to be the Holy Quran or Islam. With this association of verses, they derive two lessons. On one hand, God has given precedence in value for the gift of guidance over the gift of prosperity; on the other, God wants acts of compassion to make their way into people’s hearts before the invitation to guidance reaches their ears.^{‎[16]Gharaib, 6/519.}

Although the above-mentioned reading into the logical correspondences between verses 6-11 are sensible and supported, there is a compelling push to regard verses 6-8 to have a linear, one-to-one correspondence with verses 9-11. This is, most importantly, because this is the order in which they were revealed by God.

[1] Tahqiq, 2/177.
[2] Shawkani, 5/560; Tabrisi, 10/768.
[3] Qummi, 2/428.
[4] Shawkani, 5/559.
[5] Samarqandi, 3/592.
[6] Qutb, 6/3929.
[7] Amthal, 20/283.
[8] Mubin, p. 812.
[9] Samarqandi, 3/593.
[10] Qummi, 2/428.
[11] Kafi, 6/438, h. 2.
[12] Tabrisi, 10/768.
[13] Alusi, 15/385.
[14] Gharaib, 6/519.
[15] Alusi, 15/385, quotes al-Ṭībī without refuting it.
[16] Gharaib, 6/519.