Tafseer of The Clans · Al-Ahzaab · 33:73
[It was] so that Allah may punish the hypocrite men and hypocrite women and the men and women who associate others with Him and that Allah may accept repentance from the believing men and believing women. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.
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 statement concerning the explanation of His saying, the Exalted: لِيُعَذِّبَ اللَّهُ الْمُنَافِقِينَ وَالْمُنَافِقَاتِ وَالْمُشْرِكِينَ وَالْمُشْرِكَاتِ وَيَتُوبَ اللَّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا (That Allah may punish the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women and the polytheistic men and the polytheistic women, and that Allah may turn in mercy to the believing men and the believing women; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful) (33:73).
He, exalted is His mention, says: and man bore the entrusted trust (amāna), so that Allah might thereby punish the hypocrites (munāfiqīn) — those who feign that they fulfill the obligations of Allah as believers therein, while they conceal disbelief in it — and the hypocritical women, and those who ascribe partners to Allah (mushrikīn) in their worship of the gods and the idols, وَالْمُشْرِكَاتِ وَيَتُوبَ اللَّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ (and the polytheistic women; and that Allah may turn in mercy to the believing men and the believing women): He brings them back to His obedience and to the fulfillment of the entrusted trusts which He has imposed upon them, until they fulfill them. وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا (and Allah is Forgiving) regarding the sins of the believing men and the believing women, by covering them for them and refraining from punishing them for them, رَحِيمًا (Merciful), that He would punish them for them after their repentance from them.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning that, the scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Sawwār ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAnbarī related to us, saying: my father related to me, saying: Abū al-Ashhab related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, that he used to recite this verse إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الأَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ ... (Indeed, We offered the entrusted trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains ...) until he ended at لِيُعَذِّبَ اللَّهُ الْمُنَافِقِينَ وَالْمُنَافِقَاتِ وَالْمُشْرِكِينَ وَالْمُشْرِكَاتِ (that Allah may punish the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women and the polytheistic men and the polytheistic women), and then he said: it is these two who betrayed the [trust], these two who wronged it: the hypocrite (munāfiq) and the polytheist (mushrik).
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda لِيُعَذِّبَ اللَّهُ الْمُنَافِقِينَ وَالْمُنَافِقَاتِ وَالْمُشْرِكِينَ وَالْمُشْرِكَاتِ (that Allah may punish the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women and the polytheistic men and the polytheistic women): these are the two who betrayed it. وَيَتُوبَ اللَّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ (and that Allah may turn in mercy to the believing men and the believing women): these are the two who fulfilled it. وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا (and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful).
End of Sūrat al-Aḥzāb; to Allah belong praise and bounty.
