Tafseer of The Spider · Al-Ankaboot · 29:4
Or do those who do evil deeds think they can outrun Us? Evil is what they judge.
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 statement of the Exalted: أَمْ حَسِبَ الَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ أَنْ يَسْبِقُونَا سَاءَ مَا يَحْكُمُونَ (29:4) ("Or do those who commit evil deeds think that they can outstrip Us? Evil is that which they judge!") (4)
The Exalted, whose mention is lofty, says: Or do those who ascribe partners to Allah and worship another alongside Him think — and they are the ones intended by His statement: الَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ أَنْ يَسْبِقُونَا ("those who commit evil deeds, that they can outstrip Us") — that is to say: that they can render Us powerless and slip away from Us with their persons, so that We have no power over them and cannot take vengeance upon them for their ascribing partners to Allah (shirk).
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: أَمْ حَسِبَ الَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ ("Or do those who commit evil deeds think") — that is to say: the ascribing of partners (al-shirk) — that they can outstrip Us.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: أَنْ يَسْبِقُونَا ("that they can outstrip Us") — that they can render Us powerless.
And His statement: سَاءَ مَا يَحْكُمُونَ ("Evil is that which they judge!") — the Exalted, whose mention is lofty, says: evil is the judgment they pass, namely that these who commit evil deeds can outstrip Us with their persons.
