424-425-426

As for the form of the phrase

 اَلَّذِينَ يَنْقُضُونَ عَهْدَ اللّٰهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ مِيثَاقِهِ وَ يَقْطَعُونَ مَا اَمَرَ اللّٰهُ بِهِ اَنْ يُوصَلَ وَ يُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْاَرْضِ1

Know that there is an elevated subtlety in describing here the fâsiq, who are doubtful about the Qur'an's miraculousness and word order, in this manner.

It is as though the Qur'an is saying, "It's not at all unlikely that the fâsiq should be doubtful and ignorant about the miraculousness of the Qur'an’s order because they cannot see the miraculousness of Qoudrah in the order of the universe, which is the large Qur'an; moreover, they view the order of the universe as coincidental and its fruitful changes as purposeless; therefore, the hikmahs in it are concealed from them since their rûhs are corrupt. They see the miraculous order of the Qur'an as a disordered muddle, its preliminaries barren and its fruits bitter due to their sick fitrah and their corrupt desires."

As for the phrase يَنْقُضُونَ عَهْدَ اللّٰهِ :

أن النقض  literally means untying the strands of a rope and breaking them. Here, the use of the wordأن النقض  indicates an elevated style with its meaning. It is as though the covenant with Taâ’lâ was a luminous rope twisted with hikmah, ‘inâyah and will; it extends from azal to eternity. It manifests in the universe in the form of general order, and the rings of that chain of general order have been sent to all the species; the most important and wondrous tip of it has been extended to mankind. In the rûh of man, it has bequeathed the seeds of potentialities and abilities and has yielded fruits from them. Those seeds of potentialities and abilities have been watered and bloomed through juz’ al-ikhtiyârî, which is rectified by the commands of Sharî'ah, that is, the textual evidences (al-dalâil al-naqliyyah2).

Thus, the covenant is fulfilled by using these dispositions as they should be, and it is broken by doing the opposite, that is, separating the strands of that rope3. For example, believing in some of the prophets and denying others, accepting some laws and rejecting others, approving some âyahs and disapproving others.4 And this violates the order, arrangement and regularity.

As for the phrase 5 وَ يَقْطَعُونَ مَا اَمَرَ اللّٰهُ بِهِ اَنْ يُوصَلَ :

Know that 6 مَا اَمَرَ اللّٰهُ embraces the commands of Sharî’ah and the takwînî commands, both of which are included within 'Âdâtullah and the laws of fitrah7. So severing what the Sharî’ah commands to be tied means breaking off sila ar-rahm8 and severing the hearts of believers from one another. You can make further analogies.

Examples of severing what the takwînî Sharî’ah commands to be tied:

Severing actions from ‘ilm, severing ‘ilm from intelligence, severing intelligence from dispositions, severing ma’rifatullah from the mind, severing labour from strength, severing jihad from courage, and so on, because the giving of strength is a ma’nawî takwînî command to work, and the giving of intelligence is a ma’nawî takwînî command to obtain ‘ilm, and so on.

As for the phrase 9 وَ يُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْاَرْضِ :

Know that the people whose rûh is corrupted and who are embroiled in depravity want companions embroiled, like themselves, to relieve their terrible situation. It is said that "the more general the calamities, the more agreeable they become."

Likewise, if a sense of rebellion falls into someone's heart, it will ruin the perfections and attainments of the heart, and it will cause its elevated feelings to decline, and the inclination to destroy will be born in it. As a consequence of this state, he feels pleasure in destruction and seeks pleasure in corruption and rebellion.