Al-Ḥijr 15:49

The issue

The verse contains an address to Muhammad ordering him to tell the Quraysh that Allah is “the pardoning, the merciful” and that Allah’s punishment is a “grievous woe.” Then the text continues, “And inform them concerning Abraham’s guests” (verse 51).

What is the connection between the two parts of this text: the description of Allah’s attributes followed by his command to inform the guests of Abraham?

Islamic commentaries do not provide an explanation concerning how the two parts of the text are related, but Muhammad al-Rāzī gives two possibilities:

After the two verses (49-50) came, fear overtook the Companions of Muhammad because of Allah’s “grievous woe.” Verse 51 then came concerning Abraham “so the fear of the Companions would subside and their hearts would settle. For the guests of Abraham brought him good news for the patron, who is Abraham, and punishment to the enemy, who are the people of Lot”.

The “connection is seen in that the slave [worshipper of Allah], even if he had many transgressions and sins but did not covet forgiveness, Allah most high would still be willing to forgive him in spite of his desperation, just like Allah gave Abraham a son at his time of despair after he [Abraham] had aged, reaching a hundred years or close to it”.

Muhammad al-Rāzī’s first explanation is contradicted by the fact that the text describes Allah as “the pardoning, the merciful”. Thus, Muhammad’s Companions should not fear grievous punishment and need to hear the story of Abraham to alleviate their fears. Al-Rāzī describes the first Muslims as if one is talking about children who do not discern the meaning in the passage and become easily terrified from hearing any words about suffering, so Allah intervenes and tells them a joyous story.

The second explanation, which tries to correlate Allah as a forgiver of transgressions and sins based on the story of Abraham being given a son, is a forced effort to make the text say what it does not contain. There is no connection here between Allah’s giving forgiveness and giving Abraham a son.

There is another possible explanation for this odd passage of Q 49-51. When Muhammad composed the text, he was captive to al-fāšila, or the rhyme of the verse because its use would positively influence the hearers. Thus, the content was overlooked to keep the rhyme. Note the ending of the words in Arabic: al-raģīm (“forgiving”), al-’alīm (“grievous”), and Ibrāhīm (Abraham). Muhammad offered a disjointed text for no other reason than his compunction to only keep the rhyme.