Tafseer of The Thunder · Ar-Ra'd · 13:42
And those before them had plotted, but to Allah belongs the plan entirely. He knows what every soul earns, and the disbelievers will know for whom is the final home.
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 interpretation of the word of the Exalted: وَقَدْ مَكَرَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ فَلِلَّهِ الْمَكْرُ جَمِيعًا يَعْلَمُ مَا تَكْسِبُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ وَسَيَعْلَمُ الْكُفَّارُ لِمَنْ عُقْبَى الدَّارِ (42)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted says: those before these polytheists of Quraysh, from the earlier peoples, employed cunning against the prophets and messengers of Allah. فَلِلَّهِ الْمَكْرُ جَمِيعًا (and all cunning belongs to Allah) — He says: the means of cunning are all in the hand of Allah — with Him and unto Him — and the cunning of whoever among them employed cunning harms no one except the one whom Allah wills to harm thereby. He says: the cunning ones, by their cunning, harmed only the one whom Allah willed to be harmed, and thereby harm only themselves — for through it they brought down upon themselves the wrath of their Lord until He destroyed them and saved His messengers. He says: likewise these polytheists of Quraysh will employ cunning against you, O Muḥammad — but Allah will save you from their cunning and turn back the harm of their cunning upon themselves, not upon you.
And His word: يَعْلَمُ مَا تَكْسِبُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ (He knows what every soul earns) — He says: your Lord, O Muḥammad, knows what these polytheists of your people do and what they devise of cunning against you, and He knows all the deeds of His entire creation — nothing is hidden from Him.
وَسَيَعْلَمُ الْكُفَّارُ لِمَنْ عُقْبَى الدَّارِ (and the unbelievers will know for whom is the best outcome of the Abode) — He says: they will know, when they stand before their Lord on the Day of Resurrection — for whom the best final outcome of the Hereafter will be, when they enter the Fire and those who believe in Allah and His messenger enter the Garden (janna).
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the reciters differed concerning the reading of this:
The reciters of Medina and some of those of Basra read it as "wa-sayaʿlamu al-kāfiru" (and the unbeliever will know), in the singular.
As for the reciters of Kūfa — they read it as وَسَيَعْلَمُ الْكُفَّارُ (and the unbelievers will know), in the plural.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct reading in this is the plural reading: وَسَيَعْلَمُ الْكُفَّارُ — for the report preceding it was about their community, and thereafter the report about them was continued. That is His word: وَإِمَّا نُرِيَنَّكَ بَعْضَ الَّذِي نَعِدُهُمْ أَوْ نَتَوَفَّيَنَّكَ and thereafter His word: وَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَسْتَ مُرْسَلاً. And it has been transmitted that in the reading of Ibn Masʿūd it is "wa-sayaʿlamu al-kāfirūna" (and the unbelievers will know), and in the reading of Ubayy "wa-sayaʿlamu alladhīna kafarū" (and those who disbelieved will know) — and all of that is a proof for the correctness of what we have chosen as the reading.
