Tafseer of Jonas · Yunus · 10:27
But they who have earned [blame for] evil doings - the recompense of an evil deed is its equivalent, and humiliation will cover them. They will have from Allah no protector. It will be as if their faces are covered with pieces of the night - so dark [are they]. Those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The exposition of the meaning of the word of Allah, the Exalted: وَالَّذِينَ كَسَبُوا السَّيِّئَاتِ جَزَاءُ سَيِّئَةٍ بِمِثْلِهَا وَتَرْهَقُهُمْ ذِلَّةٌ مَا لَهُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِنْ عَاصِمٍ (And those who have earned evil deeds: the recompense of an evil deed is the like thereof, and humiliation will overwhelm them; they have no protector against Allah.)
Abū Jaʿfar says: Allah, Whose remembrance is exalted, says: And those who committed evil deeds in the world — that is: those who disobeyed Allah therein, and who were disbelievers toward Him and His Messenger — (the recompense of an evil deed) for the evil work that he performed in the world, (is the like thereof) in the punishment of Allah in the Hereafter. (And humiliation will overwhelm them:) he says: and humiliation (dhilla) and disgrace will cover them, through the punishment of Allah that comes upon them. (They have no protector against Allah:) he says: they have no one with Allah who restrains Him from them — when He punishes them — and who places himself between Him and them.
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Concerning the explanation of His word: "and humiliation will overwhelm them" — this is what the exegetes said.
* Mention of who said this:
17646 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (and humiliation will overwhelm them) — he said: "Humiliation and wretchedness will cover them."
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The scholars of the Arabic language differed concerning what places the word "al-jazāʾ" (the recompense) in the nominative case.
Some of the Kufan grammarians said: it stands in the nominative through an elided "lahum" (for them), as if it were said: and for them is the recompense of the evil deed by the like thereof — as Allah said: فَصِيَامُ ثَلاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ فِي الْحَجِّ (Al-Baqara: 196), and the meaning is: then the fasting of three days during the pilgrimage (ḥajj) is obligatory upon him. They also said: if you wish, you may place "al-jazāʾ" in the nominative by means of the bāʾ in His word: (recompense of an evil deed by the like thereof).
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Some of the Basran grammarians said: "al-jazāʾ" stands in the nominative as a subject (mubtadaʾ), and its predicate is (bimithliha — by the like thereof). They said: the meaning of the sentence is: the recompense of an evil deed is the like thereof, and the bāʾ is added, just as it is added in the expression: "biḥasbika qawl al-sūʾ" (it is enough for you what is said of evil).
But some of them rejected this position and said: it is permissible that the bāʾ in "ḥasb" be superfluous, because the explanation reads: if you say something evil, then that is enough for you — and because it was not inserted in the predicate, it was inserted in "ḥasb." Likewise: "biḥasbika an taqūma" — if you stand up, then that is enough for you. When what comes after "ḥasb" is praised, you insert the bāʾ after it, as you say: "ḥasbuka bi-Zayd" — but not "biḥasbuka Zayd," for Zayd is the one who is praised and therefore does not stand in the position of a predicate.
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Abū Jaʿfar says: The most correct view concerning this is that "al-jazāʾ" stands in the nominative through an elided (element), with the meaning: and for them is the recompense of an evil deed by the like thereof — for Allah said in the verse before it: لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا الْحُسْنَى وَزِيَادَةٌ (For those who did good is the best, and more), and therein He described what He has prepared for His friends; then He followed this with the announcement of what Allah has prepared for His enemies. And the most fitting for the form of speech is then that it be said: and for those who have earned evil deeds is the recompense of an evil deed. And when it is explained in this way, the bāʾ is a connective (ṣila) to the recompense.
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The exposition of the meaning of the word of Allah, the Exalted: كَأَنَّمَا أُغْشِيَتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ قِطَعًا مِنَ اللَّيْلِ مُظْلِمًا أُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ (27) (It is as though their faces were covered with pieces of the dark night. They are the companions of the Fire, abiding therein eternally.)
Abū Jaʿfar says: Allah, Whose remembrance is exalted, says: It is as though the faces of these people who have committed evil deeds were covered with (qiṭaʿan min al-layl — pieces of the night), and that is the plural form of "qiṭʿa" (piece).
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Qatāda used to explain this verse as follows:
17647 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related this to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: (it is as though their faces were covered with pieces of the dark night) — he said: "Darkness of the night."
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The Qurʾān reciters differed over the reading of His word, the Exalted: (qiṭaʿan). Most of the reciters of the great cities read it as (qiṭaʿan) with a fatḥa on the ṭāʾ, in the sense of the plural of "qiṭʿa" — and the explanation is then: as though the face of each of them were covered with a piece of the darkness of the night, upon which this is then summarized and it is said: it is as though their faces were covered with pieces of darkness, when "wajh" (face) is summarized in the plural.
* * *
Some of the later reciters read it as "qiṭʿan" with a sukūn on the ṭāʾ, in the sense of: as though their faces were covered with darkness of the night, or a remnant of the night, an hour of it — as Allah says: فَأَسْرِ بِأَهْلِكَ بِقِطْعٍ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ (Hūd: 81 / Al-Ḥijr: 65), that is: with a remnant that yet remains of it.
In support of the correctness of his reading, he adduces that in the ṣuḥuf (scriptures) of Ubayy it stands as: وَيَغْشَى وُجُوهَهُمْ قِطْعٌ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ مُظْلِمٌ .
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar says: The reading from which no deviation is permissible according to me is the reading of the one who reads it with a fatḥa on the ṭāʾ — because of the consensus of the scholars among the reciters of the great cities concerning its correctness, and because of the anomalous character of everything else. And it is already sufficient proof of the incorrectness of the other reading that its reciter deviates from what the reciters of the cities of Islam follow.
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If someone were to ask us: if the correct reading is what you said, what then is the reason that "al-muẓlim" (the dark) stands in the masculine singular, while it is an attribute of "al-qiṭaʿ" (the pieces), and "al-qiṭaʿ" is the plural of a feminine word?
Then it is answered: for the masculine singular form there are two explanations:
The first: it may be a "qiṭʿ" of "al-layl" (the night) — and then it is an attribute of "al-layl" (the night). Because it is an indefinite word, while "al-layl" is definite, it is placed in the accusative as a ḥāl (circumstantial qualifier), so that the meaning of the sentence is then: as though their faces were covered with pieces of the dark night — whereby the definite article is then dropped from "al-muẓlim," so that it became indefinite and, as an attribute of "al-layl," was placed in the accusative as a ḥāl. The Basrans call this kind of construction a "ḥāl," and the Kufans call it "qiṭʿ" (detachment).
The second explanation: by analogy with the verse of the poet:
* "Lū anna midḥata ḥayyin munshirun aḥadan" * (If a panegyric could raise anyone living…)
The first explanation is the finer of the two.
Concerning His word: (They are the companions of the Fire) — he says: These, whose attributes I have described to you, are the people of the Fire, those destined for it. (They abide therein eternally) — he says: they remain therein forever.
