Tafseer of Taa-Haa · Taa-Haa · 20:135
Say, "Each [of us] is waiting; so wait. For you will know who are the companions of the sound path and who is guided."
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 explanation of the word of Allah, the Exalted: قُلْ كُلٌّ مُتَرَبِّصٌ فَتَرَبَّصُوا فَسَتَعْلَمُونَ مَنْ أَصْحَابُ الصِّرَاطِ السَّوِيِّ وَمَنِ اهْتَدَى (Say: Everyone is waiting — so wait. You shall soon know who are the people of the straight, even path, and who has found the right way.) (135)
Allah, exalted be His praise, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Say, O Muḥammad: All of you, O polytheists, are waiting — that is to say: you are waiting to see whose the victory shall be, and to what my affair and your affair shall lead; you stand in expectation and look out for the vicissitudes of time. So wait then — that is to say: keep watch and wait — for you shall soon know who are the people of the straight, even path in which there is no crookedness, when the command of Allah comes and the Day of Judgement arrives: is it we, or is it you? وَمَنِ اهْتَدَى — He says: and you shall then know who is the rightly guided one who stands upon the straight and non-deviating way, out of the two of us.
In the two occurrences of مَنْ — in His word فَسَتَعْلَمُونَ مَنْ أَصْحَابُ الصِّرَاطِ السَّوِيِّ and the second in His word وَمَنِ اهْتَدَى — two grammatical interpretations are possible: the nominative, in which case تَعْلَمُونَ exerts no governing effect upon either of them, just as Allah, exalted be His praise, said لِنَعْلَمَ أَيُّ الْحِزْبَيْنِ أَحْصَى (that We may know which of the two parties...); and the accusative, in which case تَعْلَمُونَ does exert a governing effect upon both of them, just as Allah, exalted be His praise, said وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ الْمُفْسِدَ مِنَ الْمُصْلِحِ (and Allah knows how to distinguish the corrupter from the reformer).
