Tafseer of The Bee · An-Nahl · 16:28
The ones whom the angels take in death [while] wronging themselves, and [who] then offer submission, [saying], "We were not doing any evil." But, yes! Indeed, Allah is Knowing of what you used to do.
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.
Allah, exalted be His praise, says: those who had been given knowledge said: the disgrace is this day, and the evil befalls whoever does not believe in Allah and denies His oneness. الَّذِينَ تَتَوَفَّاهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ — He says: those whose souls the angels seize, ظَالِمِي أَنفُسِهِمْ (while they wrong themselves) — that is to say: while they persist in their unbelief and in ascribing partners to Allah (shirk). It has also been said that what is meant by this are those of Quraysh who were killed at the Battle of Badr, after they had been compelled to march out.
Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Isḥāq informed us, saying: Yaʿqūb ibn Muḥammad al-Zuhrī related to us, saying: Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna related to me, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: There were people in Mecca who had professed Islām but had not emigrated; they had been compelled to go out to Badr, and some of them were killed. Allah revealed concerning them: الَّذِينَ تَتَوَفَّاهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ ظَالِمِي أَنفُسِهِمْ .
The words فَأَلْقَوُا السَّلَمَ — He says: they surrendered to His command and submitted to it, after they had beheld the death that had descended upon them. مَا كُنَّا نَعْمَلُ مِنْ سُوءٍ — In the text there is an elided portion which the listener infers from the context and whose mention is not needed; it is: "they said: we did not commit any evil." This reports of them that they lied and said: "We did not disobey Allah" — as a recourse to falsehood in the hope of being saved thereby. Allah branded them as liars and said: "Nay, you committed the evil and barred the way of Allah." إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ — He says: Allah has knowledge of what you did in the worldly life of acts of disobedience to Him, and of what you committed therein of that which provokes His wrath.
