Tafseer of The Spider · Al-Ankaboot · 29:38
And [We destroyed] 'Aad and Thamud, and it has become clear to you from their [ruined] dwellings. And Satan had made pleasing to them their deeds and averted them from the path, and they were endowed with perception.
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 saying of the Exalted: وَعَادًا وَثَمُودَ وَقَدْ تَبَيَّنَ لَكُمْ مِنْ مَسَاكِنِهِمْ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ وَكَانُوا مُسْتَبْصِرِينَ (38) (And ʿĀd and Thamūd — and it has become clear to you from their dwellings — and Satan made their deeds fair-seeming to them and barred them from the way, though they were sharp-sighted. (29:38))
The Exalted, whose remembrance is high, says: And remember, O people, ʿĀd and Thamūd, وَقَدْ تَبَيَّنَ لَكُمْ مِنْ مَسَاكِنِهِمْ (and it has become clear to you from their dwellings) — their destruction and their desolation by them, through Our calamities which We brought upon them and the descent of Our mighty power upon them all, وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ, He says: and Satan made their unbelief in Allah and their denial of His messengers fair-seeming to them, فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ, He says: and so he turned them away, by his embellishing for them — the unbelief which he made beautiful for them — from the way of Allah, which is belief in Him and His messengers and in what they brought them from their Lord, وَكَانُوا مُسْتَبْصِرِينَ, He says: and they were sharp-sighted in their misguidance, pleased with it, supposing that they were upon guidance and rightness, while they were in misguidance.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad 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, concerning His saying: فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ وَكَانُوا مُسْتَبْصِرِينَ — he says: they were sharp-sighted in their religion.
Muḥammad 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 — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَكَانُوا مُسْتَبْصِرِينَ — in misguidance.
Bishr related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَكَانُوا مُسْتَبْصِرِينَ — in their misguidance, pleased with it.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn; he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us; he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say, concerning His saying: وَكَانُوا مُسْتَبْصِرِينَ — he says: in their religion.
