Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:206
And when it is said to him, "Fear Allah," pride in the sin takes hold of him. Sufficient for him is Hellfire, and how wretched is the resting place.
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 it is said to him: fear Allah, then arrogance seizes him in sin; hell (jahannam) is enough for him, and what a wretched resting place! (206)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He means by it, exalted is His praise: and when it is said to this hypocrite — whose characteristic He described to His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and concerning whom He informed him that his saying pleases Him [the Prophet] in the worldly life — fear Allah and be wary of Him in your spreading of corruption upon the earth of Allah, and in your striving therein with what Allah has forbidden you of disobedience toward Him, and in your destroying of the crops of the Muslims and their offspring — then he becomes arrogant and pride and obstinate self-willedness seize him at what Allah has forbidden him, and he persists in his error and his straying. Allah, exalted is His praise, said: then as punishment for his error and his straying it suffices him to burn in the fire of hell (jahannam), and what a wretched resting place for whoever burns therein.
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And the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning who was meant by this verse.
Some of them said: by it was meant every transgressor (fāsiq) and hypocrite (munāfiq).
* Mention of who said that:
3998 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Bazīʿ related to me, saying: Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: Bisṭām ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Abū Rajāʾ al-ʿUṭāridī related to us, saying: I heard ʿAlī concerning this verse: And among the people is he whose saying pleases you in the worldly life until: And Allah is compassionate toward the servants, ʿAlī said: "The two of them fought one another, by the Lord of the Kaʿba."
3999 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: "And when it is said to him: fear Allah, then arrogance seizes him in sin" until His saying: And Allah is compassionate toward the servants, he said: when ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, had performed the voluntary prayer (al-subḥa) and was finished, he would enter an enclosed place of his [for drying dates], (44) and then he would send for young men who had recited the Qurʾān [memorized it], among whom were Ibn ʿAbbās and the nephew of ʿUyayna; (45) he said: then they would come, recite the Qurʾān and study it together, and when it was time for the midday nap, he would depart. He said: and they came upon this verse: "And when it is said to him: fear Allah, then arrogance seizes him in sin", And among the people is he who sells himself in seeking the good pleasure of Allah, and Allah is compassionate toward the servants = Ibn Zayd said: and these are the warriors in the way of Allah (al-mujāhidūn fī sabīl Allāh) = whereupon Ibn ʿAbbās said to someone sitting beside him: have the two men fought one another? ʿUmar heard what he said and said: and what did you say? He said: nothing, O leader of the believers! He said: what did you say? "Have the two men fought one another"? He said: and when Ibn ʿAbbās saw that, he said: I see here someone who, when he is commanded to fear Allah, is seized by arrogance in sin, and I see someone who sells himself in seeking the good pleasure of Allah; this one stands up and commands that other to fear Allah, and when he does not accept it and arrogance seizes him in sin, this [other] one says: and I, I sell myself! And then he fights him, and thus the two men fight one another! Then ʿUmar said: may Allah [bless] your land, O Ibn ʿAbbās. (46)
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And others said: no, by it was meant al-Akhnas ibn Sharīq, and we have already mentioned who said that in what preceded. (47)
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And as for His saying: "and what a wretched resting place", by it He means: and what a wretched sleeping place and bed is hell (jahannam) with which He, exalted is His praise, threatened this hypocrite, and which he has prepared for himself through his hypocrisy (nifāq), his transgression, and his rebellion against his Lord.