Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:205
And when he goes away, he strives throughout the land to cause corruption therein and destroy crops and animals. And Allah does not like corruption.
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.
Explanation of the saying of the Exalted: And when he turns away, he hastens about the earth to spread corruption therein
Abū Jaʿfar said: He means by His saying, exalted be His praise: "And when he turns away," that is: when this hypocrite (munāfiq) turns his back on you and turns away from you, O Muḥammad. (32) As in:
3980 - Ibn Ḥumayd related it to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad related to me, saying: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr or ʿIkrima related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And when he turns away," he said: this means: and when he departs from you, "he hastens about." (33)
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And some of them said: and when he becomes angry.
* Mention of who said that:
3981 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said concerning His saying: "And when he turns away," he said: when he becomes angry.
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So the meaning of the verse is: and when this hypocrite departs from you, O Muḥammad, enraged, he then acts upon the earth with what Allah has forbidden him, and he strives therein to disobey Allah, cuts off the road and spreads corruption upon the path to the detriment of the servants of Allah, as we have just mentioned regarding the deed of al-Akhnas ibn Sharīq al-Thaqafī — concerning whom al-Suddī mentioned that this verse was revealed about him — namely his burning of the crops of the Muslims and his killing of their donkeys. (34)
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The word "al-saʿy" (hastening about) means in the language of the Arabs "working"; one says of it: "so-and-so works for his family (yasʿā ʿalā ahlihi)," by which is meant: he works at what brings them benefit. To this belongs the saying of al-Aʿshā:
And he strove for Kinda, the striving of one who does not tarry, Qays, and he harmed their enemy and built for them. (35)
By that he means: he worked for them at noble deeds.
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And as for what we have said about this, Mujāhid used to say.
3982 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the saying of Allah "And when he turns away, he hastens about," he said: he works.
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And the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the meaning of "spreading corruption" (al-ifsād) which Allah, mighty and exalted, ascribed to this hypocrite.
Some of them said: its explanation is what we have said about it, namely his cutting off the road and his spreading of fear upon the path, as we mentioned earlier regarding the deed of al-Akhnas ibn Sharīq.
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And some of them said: no, the meaning of that is the severing of kinship ties (qaṭʿ al-raḥim) and the shedding of the blood of the Muslims.
* Mention of who said that:
3983 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His saying: "he hastens about the earth to spread corruption therein," [namely] the severing of kinship ties and the shedding of blood, the blood of the Muslims; and when it was said to him: why do you do this and not that? he would say: I seek thereby nearness to Allah, mighty and exalted.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct view concerning that is that one says: Allah, blessed and exalted, described this hypocrite as one who, when he turns away and turns his back on the Messenger of Allah, may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him, commits corruption upon the earth of Allah. And under "spreading corruption" all forms of disobedience may fall, (36) for committing disobedience is corruption upon the earth, so Allah did not restrict His description to some meanings of "spreading corruption" to the exclusion of others. It is possible that this corruption of his had the meaning of cutting off the road, and it is possible that it was something else. And whatever it was on his part, it was corruption upon the earth, for that was on his part disobedience to Allah, mighty and exalted. Except that what most resembles the apparent meaning of the revelation is that he cut off the road and spread fear upon the path. For Allah, exalted be His mention, described him in the course of the verse as one who "hastens about the earth to spread corruption therein and to destroy the crops and the offspring," and that resembles more the deed of one who spreads fear upon the path than the deed of one who severs kinship ties.
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Explanation of the saying of the Exalted: And to destroy the crops and the offspring
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes differed concerning the manner of "the destroying" by this hypocrite, whom Allah described with what He described him of the attribute of "destroying the crops and the offspring."
Some of them said: that was on his part the burning of the crops of a group of Muslims and the maiming of their donkeys.
3984 - That Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to me, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī. (37)
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And others said, with what follows:
3985 - Abū Kurayb related it to us, saying: ʿAthhām related to us, saying: Al-Naḍr ibn ʿArabī related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid: "And when he turns away, he hastens about the earth to spread corruption therein and to destroy the crops and the offspring," the verse. He said: when he turns away, he hastens about the earth with aggression and injustice, and because of that Allah withholds the rain, and thus the crops and the offspring perish, "and Allah does not love corruption." He said: then Mujāhid recited: Corruption has appeared on the land and on the sea by what the hands of men have wrought, that He may make them taste a part of what they have done, so that perhaps they may return [al-Rūm: 41]. He said: then he said: by Allah, it is not this sea of yours, but every settlement upon flowing water, that is a "sea" (baḥr). (38)
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And what Mujāhid said is indeed an opinion of interpretation that the verse allows, but what more resembles the apparent meaning of the revelation in interpretation is what we have mentioned from al-Suddī; therefore we have preferred that.
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And as for "al-ḥarth" (the crops), that is the sown seed, and "al-nasl" (the offspring) is the progeny and the child.
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And "his destroying of the seed sown" is his burning of it. And it may be that it was as Mujāhid said, through the withholding of the rain on account of his disobedience to his Lord and his striving for corruption upon the earth. And it may be that it was through his killing of those who tend it and maintain it, until it spoiled and perished. And likewise it is permissible in the meaning of "his destroying of the offspring": that it was through his killing of the mothers or the fathers from whom the offspring comes into being, so that in his killing of the fathers and the mothers lies the cutting off of their offspring. And it is possible that it was as Mujāhid said, except that although this is allowed by the verse, what is more in agreement with its apparent meaning is what al-Suddī said — except that al-Suddī mentioned that this verse, concerning which it was revealed, was revealed only about his killing of the donkeys of the group of Muslims and his burning of a crop of theirs. And although it is permissible that it was so, it is not incorrect that the verse was revealed about him while what is meant by it is: anyone who walks his path in killing all that he killed of animals whose killing is not permitted under any circumstance, and whose killing is permitted in some circumstances — when he kills it without legal right. Rather, so it is according to me, for Allah, blessed and exalted, did not single out any of that above anything else, but He made it general.
And with what we have said about its generality, a group of the exegetes has spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
3986 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, both saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Tamīmī, that he asked Ibn ʿAbbās: "and to destroy the crops and the offspring," he said: the offspring of every beast of burden.
3987 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAṭiyya related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Tamīmī, that he asked Ibn ʿAbbās: he said: I said: what is your opinion concerning His saying: "the crops and the offspring"? He said: the crops are your crops, and the offspring is the offspring of every beast of burden.
3988 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥukkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Tamīmī, he said: I asked Ibn ʿAbbās about "the crops and the offspring," whereupon he said: the crops are that which you cultivate, and the offspring is the offspring of every beast of burden.
3989 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥukkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Muṭarrif, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of a man from Tamīm, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the same. (39)
3990 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "and to destroy the crops and the offspring," [namely] the offspring of every beast of burden, and also the people.
3991 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to me, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and to destroy the crops," he said: the vegetation of the earth, "and the offspring" of every beast of burden that walks, of the living beings, of the people and the beasts of burden.
3992 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: "and to destroy the crops," he said: the vegetation of the earth, "and the offspring": the offspring of every thing.
3993 - Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, he said: the crops are the vegetation, and the offspring is the offspring of every beast of burden.
3994 - It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "and to destroy the crops," he said: "the crops" is that which the people cultivate: the vegetation of the earth, "and the offspring" is the offspring of every beast of burden.
3995 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: I said to ʿAṭāʾ: "and to destroy the crops and the offspring," he said: the crops are the sown seed, and the offspring is of the people and the cattle; he said: he kills the offspring of the people and the cattle. He said: and Mujāhid said: he strives upon the earth for the destruction of the crops — the vegetation of the earth — and of the offspring of every thing of the living beings.
3996 - Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Yazīd informed us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His saying: "and to destroy the crops and the offspring," he said: the crops are the root/origin (al-aṣl), and the offspring is every beast of burden, and the people belong to that. (40)
3997 - Ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Barqī related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Abī Salama related to us, saying: (41) Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz was asked about "the corruption of the crops and the offspring" and what they both are: which crops, and which offspring? Saʿīd said: Makḥūl said: the crops are that which you cultivate, and as for the offspring: the offspring of every thing.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And some reciters have recited: "and the crops and the offspring perish (wa-yahluku)" with the nominative (rafʿ) on "yahluk," = with the meaning: and among the people is he whose speech pleases you in the worldly life, and he calls Allah to witness over what is in his heart, while he is the most vehement in dispute, and the crops and the offspring perish, and when he turns away, he hastens about the earth to spread corruption therein, and Allah does not love corruption = whereby "and they perish (wa-yahluku)" refers back to "and he calls Allah to witness," as a conjunction to it.
And that is, in my opinion, an impermissible recitation, although it has a way out in Arabic, on account of its deviation from that upon which the authoritative proof is in agreement in its recitation, [namely] the recitation "and to destroy the crops and the offspring (wa-yuhlika l-ḥartha wa-l-nasl)" [with the accusative], and because this in the recitation of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb and his codex — according to what has been related to us — (42) reads: "to spread corruption therein and to destroy the crops and the offspring (li-yufsida fīhā wa-li-yuhlika l-ḥartha wa-l-nasl)," and that is the most indicative proof for the correctness of the recitation of whoever recited it as "and to destroy (wa-yuhlika)" with the accusative, as a conjunction of it to: to spread corruption therein.
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Explanation of the saying of the Exalted: And Allah does not love corruption (205)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He means by that, exalted be His praise: and Allah does not love the deeds of disobedience, and the cutting off of the path, and the spreading of fear upon the road.
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And "al-fasād" (corruption) is a verbal noun from the saying of the one who says: "the thing became corrupt, it becomes corrupt (fasada l-shayʾu yafsudu)," comparable to their saying: "he went, he goes, a going (dhahaba yadhhabu dhahāban)." And among the Arabs are those who make the verbal noun of "fasada" to be "fusūd," and the verbal noun of "dhahaba yadhhabu" to be "dhuhūb." (43)
