Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:187
And [mention, O Muhammad], when Allah took a covenant from those who were given the Scripture, [saying], "You must make it clear to the people and not conceal it." But they threw it away behind their backs and exchanged it for a small price. And wretched is that which they purchased.
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: wa-idh akhadha llāhu mīthāqa lladhīna ūtū l-kitāba latubayyinunnahu li-l-nāsi wa-lā taktumūnahu fa-nabadhūhu warāʾa ẓuhūrihim wa-shtaraw bihi thamanan qalīlan fa-biʾsa mā yashtarūn (187) (And when Allah took the covenant of those to whom the Book was given: that you shall surely make it clear to the people and shall not conceal it; but they cast it behind their backs and sold it for a paltry price; and how evil is that which they buy) (187).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, means by this: and remember also, O Muḥammad, [the affair of] these Jews and the rest of the People of the Book among them, when Allah took their covenant that they would surely make your affair clear to the people — that concerning which He had taken their covenant that they would make it clear to the people in their Book which they hold in their hands, namely the Torah and the Gospel — and that you are truly a messenger sent by Allah with the truth, and that they would not conceal it — "but they cast it behind their backs." He says: they abandoned the command of Allah and let it be lost, and they broke His covenant which He had taken with them concerning that; they concealed your affair and called you a liar — "and sold it for a paltry price." He says: and in exchange for their concealing that concerning which the covenant had been taken with them that they would not conceal it, regarding the matter of your prophethood, they took a contemptible and paltry compensation of worldly goods. Then He, exalted be His praise, censured their purchase by which they bought that, and said: "and how evil is that which they buy."
* * *
The people of interpretation differed concerning who is intended by this verse.
Some of them said: by it the Jews specifically are intended.
* Mention of who said that:
8318 – Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, the freedman of Zayd ibn Thābit, related to me, on the authority of ʿIkrima, that he narrated to him on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "and when Allah took the covenant of those to whom the Book was given: that you shall surely make it clear to the people and shall not conceal it" up to His saying: ʿadhābun alīm (a painful punishment) — this concerns Finḥāṣ and Ashyaʿ and their like among the rabbis.
8319 – Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, the freedman of Zayd ibn Thābit, on the authority of ʿIkrima, the freedman of Ibn ʿAbbās, the like of it.
8320 – Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "and when Allah took the covenant of those to whom the Book was given: that you shall surely make it clear to the people and shall not conceal it; but they cast it behind their backs": they were commanded to follow the unlettered Prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and He said: ittabiʿūhu laʿallakum tahtadūn (follow him, that you may be guided) [sūrat al-Aʿrāf: 158]. So when Allah sent Muḥammad, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, He said: wa-awfū bi-ʿahdī ūfi bi-ʿahdikum wa-iyyāya fa-rhabūn (and fulfill My covenant, and I shall fulfill your covenant, and fear Me) [sūrat al-Baqara: 40]. He made a covenant with them concerning that and said, when He sent Muḥammad: affirm him as truthful, and you will find with Me what you love.
8321 – Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and when Allah took the covenant of those to whom the Book was given: that you shall surely make it clear to the people" — the verse. He said: Allah took the covenant of the Jews that they would surely make him clear to the people, namely Muḥammad, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, and that they would not conceal him — "but they cast it behind their backs and sold it for a paltry price."
8322 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Abū l-Jaḥḥāf, on the authority of Muslim al-Baṭīn, saying: al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf asked his table-companions about this verse: "and when Allah took the covenant of those to whom the Book was given." So a man went to Saʿīd ibn Jubayr and asked him about it, and he said: "and when Allah took the covenant of the People of the Book," namely the Jews, "that they would surely make him clear to the people," namely Muḥammad, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, "and that they would not conceal him; but they cast it away."
8323 – Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His saying: "and when Allah took the covenant of those to whom the Book was given: that you shall surely make it clear to the people and shall not conceal it." He said: in it was that Islam is the religion of Allah which He has imposed as an obligation upon His servants, and that they find Muḥammad recorded with them in the Torah and the Gospel.
* * *
And others said: by it is intended everyone to whom knowledge concerning the matter of religion has been given.
Mention of who said that:
8324 – Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "and when Allah took the covenant of those to whom the Book was given: that you shall surely make it clear to the people and shall not conceal it; but they cast it behind their backs" — the verse. This is a covenant which Allah took with the people of knowledge: whoever knows something, let him teach it, and beware of concealing knowledge, for the concealing of knowledge is ruin. And let no man set himself up for that of which he has no knowledge, lest he depart from the religion of Allah and become one of the pretentious. They used to say: "the likeness of knowledge that is not spoken is like the likeness of a treasure from which nothing is spent; and the likeness of wisdom that does not come forth is like the likeness of an erected idol that neither eats nor drinks." And they used to say: "blessedness to a scholar who speaks, and blessedness to a listener who preserves." This concerns a man who acquired knowledge and then taught it, distributed it, and called to it, and a man who heard something good and then retained it, preserved it, and benefited from it.
8325 – Yaḥyā ibn Ibrāhīm al-Masʿūdī related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, saying: a man came to a group of people in the mosque, and among them was ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd, and he said: your brother Kaʿb sends you greetings and gives you the glad tidings that this verse does not apply to you: "and when Allah took the covenant of those to whom the Book was given: that you shall surely make it clear to the people and shall not conceal it." Then ʿAbdallāh said to him: and convey to him too the greeting, and inform him that it was revealed while he was a Jew.
8326 – Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, the like of it, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh and Kaʿb.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: and when Allah took the covenant of the prophets concerning their peoples.
Mention of who said that:
8327 – Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Thābit related to me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, saying: I said to Ibn ʿAbbās: the companions of ʿAbdallāh read: ("wa-idh akhadha rabbuka mina lladhīna ūtū l-kitāba mīthāqahum") (and when your Lord took from those to whom the Book was given their covenant). He said: of the prophets concerning their peoples.
8328 – Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Qabīṣa related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ḥabīb, on the authority of Saʿīd, saying: I said to Ibn ʿAbbās: the companions of ʿAbdallāh read "and when Allah took the covenant of those to whom the Book was given" as (wa-idh akhadha llāhu mīthāqa l-nabiyyīn) (and when Allah took the covenant of the prophets). Thereupon he said: Allah took the covenant of the prophets concerning their peoples.
* * *
As for His saying: "that you shall surely make it clear to the people," that is as in:
8329 – ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith related to us, saying: my father related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Dhakwān related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿāma al-Saʿdī related to us, saying: al-Ḥasan used to explain His saying "and when Allah took the covenant of those to whom the Book was given: that you shall surely make it clear to the people and shall not conceal it" as: that you shall surely speak the truth and shall surely confirm it by deed.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: and the reciters differed concerning its reading:
Some read it: (latubayyinunnahu li-l-nāsi wa-lā taktumūnahu) with the tāʾ. This is the reading of the majority of the reciters of Medina and Kūfa, in the manner of the one addressed, with the meaning: Allah said to them: you shall surely make it clear to the people and shall not conceal it.
* * *
And others read it: ("layubayyinannahu li-l-nāsi wa-lā yaktumūnahu") with the yāʾ in both cases, in the manner of reporting about the absent, because at the time when Allah informed His Prophet, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, about them, they were not present; thus the report about them became like the report about an absent one.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: and our view concerning that is that they are two readings, both with a sound basis, both widespread among the reciters of Islam, not differing in meaning. With whichever of the two the reciter recites, he has therein attained the truth and the correct. Nevertheless, though the matter is so, the dearer to me of the two readings to recite is: ("layubayyinannahu li-l-nāsi wa-lā yaktumūnahu") with the yāʾ in both cases, on the basis of His saying "but they cast it away" ("fa-nabadhūhu"), since that came out in the manner of reporting about the absent, in line with His saying "fa-nabadhūhu" — so that the whole may be coherent upon one meaning and one pattern. For if the first had the meaning of address, then it would have been more fitting that it be said "fa-nabadhtumūhu warāʾa ẓuhūrikum" (then you cast it behind your backs), than that it be said "fa-nabadhūhu warāʾa ẓuhūrihim" (then they cast it behind their backs).
* * *
As for His saying: "but they cast it behind their backs," that is a figure for their neglect of fulfilling the covenant and their failure to act according to it.
And we have already set forth the meaning of why that was said thus in what preceded of this book of ours, so that we considered the repetition of it undesirable.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
8330 – Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb al-Bajalī informed us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, concerning His saying: "but they cast it behind their backs." He said: they used indeed to recite it; they only cast away the acting according to it.
8331 – Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "but they cast it behind their backs." He said: they cast away the covenant.
8332 – Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to me, saying: ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmar related to us, saying: Mālik ibn Mighwal related to us, saying: it was reported to me on the authority of al-Shaʿbī concerning this verse: "but they cast it behind their backs." He said: they cast it down before them and neglected acting according to it.
* * *
As for His saying: "and they sold it for a paltry price," the meaning of it is what we have said, namely their taking what they took in exchange for their concealing the truth and their distortion of the Book, as in:
8333 – Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and they sold it for a paltry price": they took it out of covetousness, and concealed the name of Muḥammad, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him.
* * *
And His saying: "and how evil is that which they buy." He says: and how evil is the purchase that they make, in their neglect of the covenant and their alteration of the Book, as in:
8334 – Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and how evil is that which they buy." He said: the alteration by the Jews of the Torah.
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Footnotes:
(1) The addition between brackets is something without which, or without something like it, the sentence is not complete.
(2) See the explanation of "nabadha" in what preceded, 2: 401 — and the explanation of "warāʾa ẓuhūrihim" in what preceded, 2: 404.
(3) See the explanation of "ishtarā" in what preceded, 1: 312–315 / 2: 340–342, 455 / 3: 330 / 4: 246 / 6: 527 / 7: 420. And see the explanation of "al-thaman" in what preceded, 1: 565 / 3: 328 / 6: 527, Būlāq edition.
(4) See the exposition of the meaning of "biʾsa" in what preceded, 2: 338–340 / 3: 56.
(5) The two narrations 8318 and 8319 — Sīrat Ibn Hishām 2: 208; they follow upon the preceding narration no. 8300, 8301.
(6) The verse stood in the printed edition as "layubayyinannahu li-l-nāsi wa-lā yaktumūnahu" with the yāʾ, in all the preceding narrations; I have set it in accordance with the reading of our muṣḥaf with the tāʾ in both words.
(7) In the printed edition: "and this is the reading of the very greatest of the reciters of Medina…", and that is an error; the correct comes from the manuscript, as has occurred dozens of times before. And "ʿuẓm al-qawm": the bulk and the majority of them.
(8) In the printed edition and the manuscript: "on the basis of His saying fa-nabadhūhu, that it, since it had come out in the manner of reporting about the absent…", and that is a sentence which is not complete, so I have deleted "annahu"; the import then becomes: "for the dearer to me of the two readings to recite… so that the whole may be coherent upon one meaning." And what stands between is a parenthetical clause by which he reasons out the choice of his reading.
(9) See what preceded, 2: 404, and what preceded, p. 459, footnote 1.
(10) See what preceded, p. 459, footnote 2.
