Bismillah, alhamdulillah
Reading verse 85 from the fourth surah (Al-Nisaa’ – Women.) I was puzzled by the words in red:
مَّن يَشْفَع شَفَاعَةً حَسَنَةً يَكُن لَّهُ نَصِيبٌ مِّنْهَا وَمَن يَشْفَعْ شَفَاعَةً سَيِّئَةً يَكُن لَّهُ كِفْلٌ مِّنْهَا وَكَانَ اللّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُّقِيتًا (4:85 )
85. Whoever recommends and helps a good cause becomes a partner therein: And whoever recommends and helps an evil cause, shares in its burden: And Allah hath power over all things. [Yusuf Ali]
The above is Yusuf Ali’s rendition of this verse. A literal translation will probably show what I found puzzling:
Whoever intercedes (yashfa’) an intercession (shafaa’ah) of good there is for him a portion from it, and whoever intercedes (yashfa’) an intercession (shafaa’ah) of evil there is for him a portion from it. And Allah is over everything capable.
What I found puzzling was the use of the verb يشفع yashfa’ (to intercede) and its related noun شفاعة shafaa’ah (intercession). My brain paused at this point and tried to work out what was meant by intercession here. The commentaries of Sayyid Tantawi and Fath al-Qadeer combined to offer a very nice linguistic explanation of this word. The verb yashfa’ is derived from the noun شفع shaf’ or even, as opposed to odd. It may leave you wondering what the connection between even and intercession is?
Every even number can be thought of as a paired number. This is the key to the link, the pairing number can be thought of as aiding or helping the odd number to become even. Hence the meaning of intercession: ‘the act of mediation through speech to help someone achieve something beneficial or save him from something harmful, whether in this world or the next’.
It brings to my mind the picture of someone pairing with someone to help them carry out their deed – good or bad to greater effect. The imagery of the Quran never ceases to amaze me:
ربنا زدنا علما O our Lord increase us in knowledge.
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