God has not provided two hearts in the breast of a man, nor made your wives, whom you pronounce "mothers" (in order to divorce them), your real mothers, nor has He made your adopted sons your real sons. This is only what your lips pronounce. God says what is just, and shows the right way.
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Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (allah hath not assigned unto any man two hearts within his body) this was revealed about abu ma'mar jamil ibn asad who was called “the one with two hearts” because of his measured speech, (nor hath he made your wives whom ye declare (to be your mothers)) by a simple oath ((to be your mothers) your mothers) as your mother in relation to unmarriageability-this was revealed about aws ibn al-samit the brother of 'ubadah ibn al-samit and his wife khawlah-, (nor hath he made those whom ye claim (to be your sons)) those whom you adopted in order to help and strengthen you (your sons) like your real sons. (this is but a saying of your mouths) between yourselves. (but allah saith the truth) allah explains the truth (and he showeth the way) and lead to what is right.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : god has not placed two hearts inside any man: [this was revealed] in order to refute those disbelievers who said that they each had two hearts with which they could reason better than muhammad’s single mind; nor has he made your wives whom (read as allā’ī, or allā’) you repudiate by zihār (read tazzahharūna, or tuzāhirūna; the original tā’ [of tatazāharūna] has been assimilated with the zā’) — a man would say to his wife for example, ‘you are for me as [untouchable as] my mother’s back’ — your mothers, in other words, [he has not made you wives] like [your] mothers, so that they are illicit [for conjugality] in that respect, [a practice] which in pre-islamic times was considered a [valid form of] divorce. an atonement with [necessary] conditions is necessary in such a case, as mentioned in sūrat al-mujādila [q. 58:2-3]. nor has he made those whom you claim as [adopted] sons (ad‘iyā’, the plural of da‘iyy, which is one claimed as the son of one who is not his [biological] father) your sons, in reality. that is a mere utterance of your mouths, namely, [of] the jews and the hypocrites. when the prophet (s) married zaynab bt. jahsh, who had been zayd b. hāritha’s wife, the adopted son of the prophet (s), they said, ‘muhammad married his son’s wife!’, and so god proved them liars in this. but god speaks the truth, in this [matter], and he guides to the way, the way of truth.
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi
تفسير : (allah hath not assigned unto any man two hearts within his body…) [33:4].
this verse was revealed about jamil ibn ma'mar al-fihri who was a sensible man who memorised whatever he heard. the quraysh said: “he could not have memorised all these things unless he had two hearts”. labib used to say: “i have two hearts and my perception by means of either one of them is better than the perception of muhammad”. when the battle of badr took place and the idolaters were defeated, abu sufyan met jamil ibn ma'mar, who had accompanied the idolaters. jamil was wearing one shoe and holding the other shoe in his hand. abu sufyan asked him: “what is the state of people?” he said: “they were defeated”. abu sufyan asked him again: “but why are you wearing one shoe and holding the other in your hand?” jamil said: “i thought i was wearing both shoes”. on that day, people knew that he would not have forgotten his shoe in his hand if he really had two hearts.
(hath he made those whom ye claim (to be your sons) your sons) [33:4].
this verse was revealed about zayd ibn harithah. he was a slave of the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, but he freed him and adopted him before he was sent as a prophet. when the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, married zaynab bint jahsh, who was the divorcee of zayd ibn harithah, the jews and hypocrites said: “muhammad has married the wife of his son while forbidding people from doing the same!” and so allah, exalted is he, revealed this verse.
sa'id ibn muhammad ibn ahmad ibn nu'aym al-ishkabi informed us> al-hasan ibn ahmad ibn muhammad ibn 'ali ibn makhlid> muhammad ibn ishaq al-thaqafi> qutaybah ibn sa'id> ya'qub ibn 'abd al-rahman> musa ibn 'uqbah> salim> 'abd allah ibn 'umar who used to say: “we did not use to call zayd ibn harithah with any other name except zayd ibn muhammad until the qur'an revealed (proclaim their real parentage. that will be more equitable in the sight of allah) [33:5]”. this was narrated by bukhari> mu'alla ibn asad> 'abd al-'aziz ibn al-mukhtar> musa ibn 'uqbah.
Sahl al-Tustari
تفسير : god has not placed two hearts inside any man…he said:the one who has directed himself to god, mighty and majestic is he, and is intent upon (qaṣdan) [him], [does not] avert his gaze (iltifāt) [from him]. for whoever pays attention to anything other than god is not truly intent upon his lord. indeed god, exalted is he, says, god has not placed two hearts inside any man…it has been said:[that is, he does not have] one heart (qalb) with which he approaches god, and another heart with which he manages the affairs of this world. [on the other hand], the intellect (ʿaql) does have two natures (ṭabʿān): a nature which is orientated towards this world, and a nature which is orientated towards the hereafter. the nature which is orientated to the hereafter is in coalition (mūʾtalif) with the spiritual self (nafs al-rūḥ), whereas [the intellect’s] worldly-orientated nature is in coalition with the lustful self (nafs shahwāniyya). it was due to this that the prophet <img border="0" src="images/salatonmassenger.jpg" width="24" height="22"> [prayed], ‘do not leave me to my self for the blinking of an eye.’ for truly the servant, ⸢as long as he is occupied with god, will be veiled from himself, and⸣ as long as he is occupied with himself will be veiled from god, mighty and majestic is he.his words, exalted is he:
