أَلَم يَجِدكَ يَتيمًا فَآوىٰ

Did He not know you to be an orphan, and sheltered you?

EXEGESIS

Verses 6-8 share a common dynamic where the letter kāf, a pronoun which means you, is applied to the verb wajada, which means found or knew, but is absent from the end of the verbs āwā, hadā, and aghnā, which mean to shelter, guide, and enrich, respectively.

As for the places where the letter kāf, is absent, a number of exegetes said it was to keep rhyming endings, knowing that the Prophet is clearly the recipient of the said graces.^{‎[1]Gharaib, 6/516; Alusi, 15/382.} Another opinion reported although not adopted by Ālūsī is that the absence of an explicit object pronoun is meant to render the scope and breadth of the expression open-ended. In other words, it is as if God said: I sheltered you and for you and through you, and I guided you and for you and through you, and I enriched you and for you and through you.^{‎[2]Alusi, 15/382.} In Insights from Hadith under verse 8 we cite narrations attributed to the Imams that support the idea that the Prophet is, at once, the primary recipient of the said graces and a portal through which these graces reach many others.^{‎[3]Qummi, 2/427; Uyun, 1/15-159.}

The word yatīm comes from the root yatama, which is to be orphaned, or deprived from some protection or advantage, or cut off from some link.^{‎[4]Lisan, 12/645.} Yatīm can also mean being apart from others, unique, or incomparable.^{‎[5]Lisan, 12/646.} If we take the first sense of the term, the verse alludes to the fact that the Prophet was an orphan due to the loss of his parents. The second sense implies that the Prophet holds all the noble traits that make him above and apart from others.^{‎[6]Tabrisi, 10/765.} A deeper dimension is that the Prophet was unparalleled in his attachment to God and his detachment from all else. Thus God made him the unparalleled recipient of His shelter and care, and the chosen one to deliver salvation to His creation.^{‎[7]Tabrisi, 10/765.}

EXPOSITION

Orphans often grow up to be deficient in a number of ways due to the absence of loving parents. As for the Prophet, even though he was orphaned from both his parents, his true caretaker was God Himself, whose rearing is better than that of any parent.^{‎[8]Ibn Ashur, 30/353.} Consequently, he became the exemplar for all of humankind^{‎[9]Mudarrisi, 18/173.} and the shelter and mecca for all people in both worlds.^{‎[10]Tabrisi, 10/766.}

During his lifetime, God provided the Prophet with shelter and protection through Abū Ṭālib, his uncle. Abū Ṭālib raised him and was his most devoted and powerful protector until his last breath. Later, God sheltered and protected the Prophet and his followers by means of the Anṣār who pledged to protect him until the end. Finally, all of Arabia became the Prophet’s safe haven as he became its guardian and ruler.

[1] Gharaib, 6/516; Alusi, 15/382.
[2] Alusi, 15/382.
[3] Qummi, 2/427; Uyun, 1/15-159.
[4] Lisan, 12/645.
[5] Lisan, 12/646.
[6] Tabrisi, 10/765.
[7] Tabrisi, 10/765.
[8] Ibn Ashur, 30/353.
[9] Mudarrisi, 18/173.
[10] Tabrisi, 10/766.