A083
Surah: 004 - Ayah: 083
Click here to see the translations
4:83
Yastanbituna (They deduce, discover, they do istinbat)
Istinbat primarily means "to dig a well and bring out water for the first time". Secondarily it is used in the sense of thinking, reflection, to penetrate deeply (Qamus, p. 717). For instance, istanbata'sh-shay' means to reveal a thing from its hidden state.
Verse (4:83), in which it is used, clearly means that after the holy Prophet, it is the ulu'l-amr, the Imams from the progeny of the holy Prophet, who bring out the inner meaning of the Qur'anic verses, because it is they who know the ta'wil of the Qur'an.
Yastanbituna (They deduce, discover, they do istinbat)
It is said in verse (4:83): "And when there comes to them any news of security or of alarm, they spread it abroad, and if they had referred it to the Messenger and to the ulu'l-amr amongst them, then they, who could discover the truth, would have known it." This shows that after the holy Prophet it is the ulu'l-amr who know the esoteric meaning of the Qur'an.
Among the blessed Qur'anic words in which are hidden key wisdoms, one such word is "yastanbitun" (4:83). The usual meaning of which is "they search out, discover". From this word is coined the term "istinbat". Let us examine its original meaning also, in any authentic lexicon, such as Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon. According to this Lexicon (Vol. VIII, p. 2759) "istinbat" means "to dig a well and reach water and bring it out"; "to produce something with one's labour", such as istinbata'l-faqih - the faqih or the jurist elicited an esoteric doctrine of law, by his intelligence and his labour or study.
The word "istinbat" is mentioned only in one holy verse (4:83), but due to its link with the ulu'l-amr (the custodians of the Divine command), its meaning spreads from the beginning to the end of the Holy Qur'an. For it means to verify, establish or substantiate something, or to reflect properly, or it is the wisdom and ta'wil, or the batin (esoteric aspect) of a verse. In this sense, istinbat is in every place of the Noble Qur'an.
The translation of the verse under discussion is: "And when there comes to them news of security or fear, they spread it abroad; and if they had referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority (ulu'l-amr) among them, those among them who can search out the knowledge of it (i.e. hudud-i din) would have known it." (4:83). The wisdom-filled allusion of this verse is that mu'mins should have faith and certainty in their hearts about the Prophet and the ulu'l-amr, so that they may attain the grace of istinbat from the Imam of the time, and the physical and spiritual hudud. In this verse, the word "min-hum" (from among them) is mentioned twice, of which the first is used for the ulu'l-amr and the second for the hudud under them. As you know, Divine knowledge was revealed to the Holy Prophet, who granted it to the ulu'l-amr (i.e. the Imams) and they open the door of knowledge and wisdom to their representatives.
These two verses (4:59, 4:83), namely, the verse of obedience and the verse of deduction respectively, become one subject because they are about the ulu'l-amr and they are the exegesis of one another. Verse (4:59) says: "O you who believe! obey God and obey the Prophet and the ulu'l-amr from among you (who are with you throughout history and in all the cycles); then if you quarrel about anything, refer it to God and the Prophet, if you believe in God and the last day; this is better (for you) and very good with respect to ta'wil."
This verse has been referred 2 times.