Tafseer of The Pilgrimage · Al-Hajj · 22:72
And when Our verses are recited to them as clear evidences, you recognize in the faces of those who disbelieve disapproval. They are almost on the verge of assaulting those who recite to them Our verses. Say, "Then shall I inform you of [what is] worse than that? [It is] the Fire which Allah has promised those who disbelieve, and wretched is the destination."
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 is His mention, says: And when the polytheists of Quraysh — who worship besides Allah that for which He has sent down no authority — have آياتُنا ("Our signs") recited to them, meaning the verses of the Qurʾān, بَيِّناتٍ ("as clear proofs") — He says: with manifest arguments and proofs of that for which they were sent down, تَعْرِفُ فِي وُجُوهِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا الْمُنْكَرَ ("you recognize in the faces of those who disbelieve the abhorrence") — He says: you see in their faces that which those who believe in Allah reject, namely the change therein, because they hear the Qurʾān.
And His word: يَكَادُونَ يَسْطُونَ بِالَّذِينَ يَتْلُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِنَا ("They are about to assault those who recite to them Our signs") — He says: they are nearly on the point of attacking the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ who recite to them the verses of the Book of Allah, so intense is their aversion to hearing the Qurʾān when it is recited to them.
Concerning the interpretation of (يَسْطُونَ — "they lay hands upon / assault"), the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke in the same sense as we have.
Mention of those who said that: ʿAlī related to me, who said: ʿAbdullāh related to us, who said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word يَكَادُونَ يَسْطُونَ — he said: "they attack."
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, who said: my father related to me, who said: my uncle related to me, who said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word يَكَادُونَ يَسْطُونَ — he said: "they attack those who make mention of them."
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra related to us, who said: ʿAbdullāh ibn Mūsā related to us, who said: Isrāʾīl informed us, on the authority of Abū Yaḥyā, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning يَكَادُونَ يَسْطُونَ بِالَّذِينَ يَتْلُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِنَا — he said: "they are about to attack them."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, who said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, who said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, who said: al-Ḥasan related to us, who said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word يَكَادُونَ يَسْطُونَ — he said: "they attack, the disbelievers of Quraysh."
Al-Qāsim related to us, who said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, who said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
It was related to me from al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd informed us, who said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His word يَكَادُونَ يَسْطُونَ بِالَّذِينَ يَتْلُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِنَا — he said: "they are about to seize them, grasping them with their own hands."
And His word: قُلْ أَفَأُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِشَرٍّ مِنْ ذَلِكُمُ ("Say: Shall I inform you of something worse than that") — He says: Shall I, O polytheists, inform you of something you detest more than those whose recitation of the Qurʾān so repels you? That is النَّارُ — the Fire, which Allah has promised the disbelievers. And it has been mentioned from some that the polytheists said: "By Allah, Muḥammad and his Companions are the worst of Allah's creatures!" Whereupon Allah said to them: Say, to those who say this: Shall I inform you of something worse than Muḥammad ﷺ? It is you, O polytheists, to whom Allah has promised the Fire. "The Fire" stands in the nominative as the subject, for it is a definite noun that cannot serve as a further specification of "something worse" — which is indefinite — just as one says: "I passed by two men: your brother and your father." Had it stood in the genitive that too would be possible; likewise it could stand in the accusative in connection with the back-reference to its mention in "His promise of it" — in which case the connection with what precedes would be intended. Allah, exalted is His mention, says: these are the worst of creatures, not Muḥammad and his Companions.
And His word: وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ ("And what an evil destination") — He says: what an evil abode is that to which these polytheists in Allah return on the Day of Resurrection.
