Tafseer of Mary · Maryam · 19:77
Then, have you seen he who disbelieved in Our verses and said, "I will surely be given wealth and children [in the next life]?"
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 remembrance, says to His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: أَفَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي كَفَرَ بِآيَاتِنَا وَقَالَ لَأُوتَيَنَّ مَالًا وَوَلَدًا ("Have you seen him who disbelieved in Our signs and said: 'I shall surely be given wealth and offspring'") — that is to say: O Muhammad, have you seen that one, among the people of disbelief (kufr), who rejected Our proofs, did not acknowledge Our warnings, while he disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, and yet said: "In the Hereafter I shall be given wealth and offspring."
It has been mentioned that these verses were revealed concerning al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil al-Sahmī, the father of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ.
Mention of the narration concerning this: Abū al-Sāʾib and Saʿīd ibn Yaḥyā related to us — they said: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Masrūq, on the authority of Khabbāb, who said: "I was a smith (qayn), and I had a debt owed to me by al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil. I went to him to demand payment, whereupon he said: 'By Allah, I will not pay you until you disbelieve in Muhammad.' I said: 'By Allah, I will not disbelieve in Muhammad until you die and are then resurrected.' He said: 'When I die and am resurrected, as you claim, I shall come to you, and then I shall have wealth and offspring.'" Thereupon Allah, the Exalted, revealed: أَفَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي كَفَرَ بِآيَاتِنَا وَقَالَ لَأُوتَيَنَّ مَالًا وَوَلَدًا أَطَّلَعَ الْغَيْبَ أَمِ اتَّخَذَ عِنْدَ الرَّحْمَنِ عَهْدًا — up to His word: وَيَأْتِينَا فَرْدًا.
Abū al-Sāʾib related this to me, and he read in the narration: "wa-waladan."
Muhammad ibn Saʿd related to me — he said: my father related to me — he said: my uncle related to me — he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that men among the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil al-Sahmī to press him for payment of a debt. He said: "Do you not claim that in paradise (janna) there is silver and gold and silk and all manner of fruits?" They said: "Yes." He said: "Then your appointed time is the Hereafter; by Allah, I shall receive wealth and offspring, and I shall receive the same as the book that you have brought." Thereupon Allah struck down his likeness in the Qurʾān and said: أَفَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي كَفَرَ بِآيَاتِنَا وَقَالَ لَأُوتَيَنَّ مَالًا — up to His word: وَيَأْتِينَا فَرْدًا.
Muhammad ibn ʿAmr related to me — he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us — he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me — he said: al-Ḥasan related to us — he said: Warqāʾ related to us — all on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: لَأُوتَيَنَّ مَالًا وَوَلَدًا — he said: "Al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil is the one who said this."
Al-Qāsim related to us — he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us — he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — to the same effect.
Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us — he said: Yazīd related to us — he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: أَفَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي كَفَرَ بِآيَاتِنَا وَقَالَ لَأُوتَيَنَّ مَالًا وَوَلَدًا — he mentioned to us that men among the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to a man of the polytheists (mushrikīn) to press him for payment of a debt. He said: "Does your master not claim that in paradise there is silk and gold?" They said: "Yes." He said: "Then the appointed time is paradise; by Allah, I do not believe in your book that you have brought" — this in mockery of the Book of Allah — "and I shall be given wealth and offspring." Allah said concerning this: أَطَّلَعَ الْغَيْبَ أَمِ اتَّخَذَ عِنْدَ الرَّحْمَنِ عَهْدًا.