Al-Infitar 82:6 - Linguistic Miracle

O you man! What has deceived you concerning your Lord, the Karīm

We need to look at the word Karīm first. At its root, it was used for a tilled land that did not have any stones, for a necklace of gold and silver, as well as for a cloud that rained abundantly.⁵⁵ The necklace is of pure gold and silver only, the land is pure and free of any stones, and the cloud rains profusely without holding anything back, as if being free of the quality of not giving generously.

The meanings of purity and of being free of defects stand out as we can see. This root then came to be used in the meaning of generosity because the generous person is free of ulterior motives and his intentions are pure. Hence, it came to be used for a person who gives without asking for anything in return as Taj al Urus points out:

أَوْ خَلاصٍ من ذَمٍّ ، فَمَنْ وَهَبَ المَالَ لِجَلْبِ نَفْ عِ اَوْ دَفْعِ ضَرَرٍ ، إِفَادَةُ مَا يَنْبَغِي لَا لِغَرضٍ : الــكَرَمُ : وقِيلَ

. فَلَيْس بكَرِيمٍ

Karam means providing or giving what is needed without any ulterior motive or asking for anything in return. Hence, whoever gave money to gain some benefit, or to ward off some harm, or to be safe from blame, is not Karīm.

When applied to Allah, Karīm means a number of things. Firstly, Allah is pure and free of all impurities, flaws and deficiencies. He is independent and free of all needs. He is the owner of all good, and He provides from it freely and independently, as He wishes, and this giving does not reduce the amount of good that is with Him, because He, whatever He does, and all His attributes, are pure - free from all flaws. But this word Karīm is an inclusive term which encompasses all good and praiseworthy things inside it because the root meaning of purity and being free of any defect, negate anything that is defective or flawed, and hence what is left behind is only goodness and purity as Lisan al Arab points out:

. وَهُوَ الْ كَرِيمُ الْمُطْ لَقُ ، وَهُوَ الْكَثِيرُ الْ خَيْرِ الجَوادُ المُعطِي الَّذِي لَا يَنْفَدُ عَطاؤه ، مِنْ صِفَاتِ اللَّ هِ وأَ سمائه : الكَريم

فَاللَّ هُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ كَرِيمٌحَمِيدُ ، اسْمٌ جَامِعٌ لِكُلِّ مَا يُحْمَد . والكَريم . الْ جَامِعُ لأَ نواع الْ خَيْرِ والشرَف وَالْفَضَائِلِ : والكَرِيم

… الفِعال

“Al Karīm is one of the attributes of Allah and one of His names. It means that He is abundant in all goodness, the most generous, the giver whose giving does not cease, and He possesses these attributes in the absolute sense. Also, Al- Karīm gathers all types of goodness, honor and virtues. Al- Karīm is a comprehensive term for everything that is praiseworthy. Hence, Allah is Karīm, praiseworthy in all his actions.”

So Allah is al-Karīm. He is everything that is good, pure and praiseworthy and He is free of all impurities, defects and unpraiseworthy attributes. He is the perfect one, He is only good and praiseworthy, just as everything He does is good, pure, and praiseworthy.

In the last surah, Allah used the same word for angel Gabriel, but without the definite article. Here, when He uses it for Himself, He does so with the definite article to convey that Allah is karīm in the absolute and complete sense and that He is the source of it. Gabriel is karīm, but without the definite article, He is karīm in only the domain Allah has willed him to be, and even that is because of Allah Himself. It is a given quality and he is dependent on Allah for it.

Next, Allah asks man a powerful question. On judgment day, man sees what he preferred, gave importance to and what he neglected. The context indicates that this man, to whom the question is being addressed to, was neglectful of what is right and instead preferred wrong things in his life. He was neglectful of Allah, and preferred to disobey him.

Next, what is meant by being deluded with regards to Allah? The word used means something hidden at its root. It came to be used for deceiving or tricking someone by misleading him into something by hiding its true nature.⁵⁶ Allah asks this man, what caused him to be deceived regarding Allah, the Karīm - the one who is all good and praiseworthy? Who is free of all evil, impurities and unpraiseworthy things including injustice.

What caused you to develop a wrong impression of Allah? What caused you to develop a wrong understanding of Allah and His attributes while He is the karīm? Allah is karīm - the perfect one, free of all impurities and flaws. What caused you to believe that Allah will not serve justice to people? Justice entails that people pay for their actions, that they be taken into account for their crimes and wrongdoings just as we punish a criminal. If Allah does not punish the criminals and wrongdoers, then He is unjust, and this would be a defect and a flaw within Him. Since Allah is al Karīm, it entails that He is free from it, which necessarily entails that He will punish the criminals and serve the wrongdoers justice. What caused you to think that Allah will not take you to account on judgment day? This wrong impression that you had of

Allah, led you to neglect your responsibilities and to give priority to the wrong things in your life.

Secondly, one of the meanings in which the root Karam was used was to bestow or give without seeking anything in return as mentioned above. Since Allah bestows and gives, it is easy for the one who disobeys Him to become deluded regarding Him. Despite my sins, He continues to bestow and provide for me. This leads man to continue to sin and develop a false impression of Allah that He will not take him to account. We see this often in our lives. More often than not, people only return to God when they are in a pinch. They turn to Allah to rescue them, but in happy times, they are content with living as they please.

So what caused you to feel secure from Allah’s punishment? What deceived you into thinking that Allah will not punish sins? This is rooted in the language itself. The word ( غر deluded) was used in the meanings of deceiving someone regarding a road, telling him that the road was safe and secure when it actually wasn’t and was riddled with bandits.

This is why the manner in which Allah calls out to man is very emphatic. يأيها is

emphatic because it contains an extra letter ( )ي in it. Just using أيها without the ي would still be enough. It is as if Allah is saying, - O you human being engrossed in your error! What caused you to be deluded regarding your Lord, the Karīm!

⁵⁵ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 4, p. 1885 - 1886
⁵⁶ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 3, p. 1552