لَو نَشاءُ لَجَعَلناهُ حُطامًا فَظَلتُم تَفَكَّهونَ

إِنّا لَمُغرَمونَ

بَل نَحنُ مَحرومونَ

If We wish, We surely turn it into chaff, whereat you are left stunned [saying to yourselves]:

‘Indeed we have suffered loss!

Rather, we are deprived!’

EXEGESIS

Ḥaṭama means to break and crush, like the breaking of dry chaff or straw. Ḥuṭām means anything dry that is crushed. It is used in the Quran for the life and pleasures of this world due to being ephemeral and worthless.^{‎[1]Raghib; Tahqiq; Lisan, under ḥ-ṭ-m.}

Ẓaltum is used when a state or condition continues or something is consistently done. See the discussion on the term ẓill under the Exegesis of verse 43.

Tafakkahūna here means to be stunned or surprised. Two other meanings for it are to eat fruit and to tell jokes.^{‎[2]Qaraati, 9/436.} It is from the same root as fākihah, meaning fruit. There is an element of pleasantness and joy involved in this root. In this verse, however, the astonishment and surprise is not due to a pleasant event.^{‎[3]Lisan; Tahqiq, under f-k-h.} There are three possible explanations for how tafakkaha relates to its root: 1. Tafakkaha is one instance where the general form of tafaʿʿala means the negation of the root – just like taḥarraja and taḥawwaba, which mean to avoid sin.^{‎[4]Muhit, 10/89; Alusi, 14/148.} 2. Fukāhah (used in the adjective form fukāhī in Persian) means humour and joke, as it involves pleasantness and joy (like fruits or fākihah).^{‎[5]Qurtubi, 18/219.} At the same time it involves astonishment and surprise, and apparently that is what links tafakkahūn to this root. 3. Tafakkahūn is not really related to this root, but is the same as tafakkanūna, meaning to regret and remorse.^{‎[6]Maqayis, under f-k-h.}

Mughramūn are people who have experienced a financial loss, debt, or burden.^{‎[7]Tahqiq, under gh-r-m; Raghib, under gh-r-m.} The punishment of hell is described as gharām (from the same root), meaning an enduring and incessant punishment that does not leave the person (25:65).^{‎[8]Lisan, under gh-r-m; Bahrayn, under gh-r-m.}

EXPOSITION

God’s ability to turn your crops into chaff proves two points: 1. The need to show gratitude to your Lord who has not cut you off from His sustenance. 2. The need to take heed and realise that God may as easily turn you into chaff – for indeed everyone will die very soon and his body will decompose into its elements.^{‎[9]Qurtubi, 18/218-219, reported from Māwardī.}

If We wish, We surely turn it into chaff reemphasises the fact that God’s hands are not enchained, but He can reverse or halt this process whenever He wants, as He has done to many nations and individuals before (7:130, 7:133, 12:48, 18:42, 69:17-27). Even if this does not happen as a punishment, it happens as a natural process once the farming season is over, which is itself a sign of God’s power and dominance (10:24, 18:45, 57:20, 87:4-5). The essentials of agriculture – such as sunshine, rain, air, temperature, and suitable soil – are not in the hands of mankind. He who created the heavens and the earth, and sends down for you water from the sky, whereby We grow delightful gardens, whose trees you could never cause to grow (27:60).

We surely turn it into chaff is only one example of how He can leave mankind helpless. Otherwise, the infinite has infinite means by which He can achieve His objectives and bring about His decree. In a sacred narration, God says: ‘I created grasshoppers as one of My armies; I give them authority over any of My creatures that I will.’^{‎[10]Barqi, 2/470-480.} Even if the crop is harvested and processed into food, one could easily choke on it and die. Even if it is swallowed properly, it could cause pain, disease, or other undesirable consequences.

Moreover, if God does indeed turn your crops into chaff, you will have no way out of that calamity. There will be no one to help you, you will have no resolution, and there will be no backup or rescue available to you. That would be a great loss and a heavy burden upon you, leaving you stunned and helpless. You will then find that all the resources that you invested in that crop are gone: Indeed we have suffered loss. In fact, it is more than missing some profit or losing some of your assets, for it is a total deprivation: Rather, we are deprived. You will be rendered like the person described in chapter 18: And ruin closed in on his produce, and he began to wring his hands for what he had spent on it, as it lay fallen on its trellises … He had no party to help him, besides Allah, nor could he help himself. There, all authority belongs to Allah, the real. He is best in rewarding, and best in requiting (18:42-44). It could also be that Indeed we have suffered loss concerns the loss of crops, and we are deprived concerns having no substitute for it.^{‎[11]Razi, 29/422.}

[1] Raghib; Tahqiq; Lisan, under ḥ-ṭ-m.
[2] Qaraati, 9/436.
[3] Lisan; Tahqiq, under f-k-h.
[4] Muhit, 10/89; Alusi, 14/148.
[5] Qurtubi, 18/219.
[6] Maqayis, under f-k-h.
[7] Tahqiq, under gh-r-m; Raghib, under gh-r-m.
[8] Lisan, under gh-r-m; Bahrayn, under gh-r-m.
[9] Qurtubi, 18/218-219, reported from Māwardī.
[10] Barqi, 2/470-480.
[11] Razi, 29/422.