Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:10
But if We give him a taste of favor after hardship has touched him, he will surely say, "Bad times have left me." Indeed, he is exultant and boastful -
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 explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: وَلَئِنْ أَذَقْنَاهُ نَعْمَاءَ بَعْدَ ضَرَّاءَ مَسَّتْهُ لَيَقُولَنَّ ذَهَبَ السَّيِّئَاتُ عَنِّي إِنَّهُ لَفَرِحٌ فَخُورٌ (And if We let him taste favors after the affliction that has touched him, he surely says: "The misfortunes have departed from me" — truly, he is exultant and boastful.) (verse 10)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted says: And if We give man ample room in his worldly life, grant him a comfortable existence, and broaden his sustenance for him — and that is the favor (naʿmāʾ) about which Allah the Exalted says: وَلَئِنْ أَذَقْنَاهُ نَعْمَاءَ — and His words: بَعْدَ ضَرَّاءَ مَسَّتْهُ mean: after he had been in the straitness of existence and the hardships (ḍarrāʾ) that had visited him, لَيَقُولَنَّ ذَهَبَ السَّيِّئَاتُ عَنِّي — Allah the Exalted says: he will then surely exclaim: "The straitness and the hardship have departed from me, the misfortunes and the maladies have vanished." إِنَّهُ لَفَرِحٌ فَخُورٌ — Allah the Exalted says: man is truly exultant over the favors bestowed upon him and rejoicing in them, and فَخُورٌ (boastful) — that is to say: he boasts of the abundance he has acquired in the world and of the ampleness of existence apportioned to him therein, and he forgets the vicissitudes of fortune and the harshness of the trials in it, and he neglects the pursuit of the enduring bliss and the joy that remains and does not perish.
18005 — Al-Qāsim related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us; he said: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His words: ذَهَبَ السَّيِّئَاتُ عَنِّي — [this is] presumptuousness toward Allah and insolence against Him; إِنَّهُ لَفَرِحٌ — but Allah does not love the exultant; فَخُورٌ — boastful after he has been given, while he is not grateful to Allah.
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Then Allah the Exalted made an exception of the man whom He had described with these two qualities: "those who were patient and performed good works." It is permissible to except them from it because "man" (al-insān) carries the meaning of a kind and of a plural. This is like His words: وَالْعَصْرِ * إِنَّ الإِنْسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ * إِلا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ (By time! Indeed, man is in loss — except those who believe and perform good works.) [Surah al-ʿAṣr 103:1–3].