Al-Mutaffifin 83:3 - Linguistic Miracle

But if they give by measure or by weight to them, they cause loss

This verse seems simple on sight but is quite complex.

Firstly, the norm is to use the verbs ( كالو give by measure) and ( وزنو give by weight)

with the preposition lām but that is not the case here. The preposition lām is omitted. The people of Hijaz allowed omitting the lām and used these two verbs with the lām as well as without it.⁶⁴ So even though it is grammatically correct to use these verbs without being accompanied by the lām, it is still a usage that is rare in Arabic. So the question arises, why do this? Why use these verbs without the lām, which though grammatically correct, is still a rare usage? The reason is quite beautiful. The Qurʾān omits one small barely noticeable letter when describing their cheating that is also barely noticeable. Just as most people will miss that one letter is skipped here because of how delicate this omission is, so do people miss the cheating done to them by these people because of how barely noticeable the amount is. Secondly, it is also possible that what is omitted is not the letter lām, but rather the object itself. The verse is actually, “But when they measure their measured goods or weigh their weighed goods, they cause loss.” The Qurʾān leaves out the possessed noun, and leaves only the possessor - the people who are buying things from them. Why? Because this would then drive the focus on the people they wrong, not the amount they take. Yes they take the amount but the important thing is that they wrong people! It is not the grains they steal that are important - it is a barely noticeable amount - but the fact that they wrong people! This is consistent with the

last verse as well which breaks the norm by using the preposition ( على over) instead of the letter lām to show how they exert dominance and wrong people in their dealings.

In my view, both of these are equally plausible and I hold that these both to be true. So now, they give less to people but take it in full. Justice for them but injustice for others. A man who brings benefit to himself at the cost of others, but does not want others to do the same to him. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Be just to others just as you want others to be just to you, or in other words, the golden rule. The previous surah described the disobedience of men with regards to the rights of Allah, whereas this surah describes man’s disobedience with regards to the rights of other men. Both of them stem from the same cause - denial of recompense on judgment day. Hence,

⁶⁴ Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr, vol. 30, p. 191