Tafseer of Those drawn up in Ranks · As-Saaffaat · 37:174
So, [O Muhammad], leave them for a time.
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 interpretation of His word, the Exalted: فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّى حِينٍ (174) [So turn away from them for a time]
Allah, glorified be His mention, means by His statement ( فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّى حِينٍ ): so turn away from them until an appointed time.
The scholars of interpretation differed concerning this "time." Some of them said: its meaning is: until death.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda ( فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّى حِينٍ ): that is, until death.
Others said: until the day of Badr.
* Mention of who said that:
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, concerning His statement ( فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّى حِينٍ ), he said: until the day of Badr. And others said: its meaning is: until the Day of Resurrection.
* Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His statement ( فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّى حِينٍ ), he said: the Day of Resurrection.
And this statement which al-Suddī made is the most consonant with that to which the literal meaning of the revelation points. That is because Allah threatened them with the punishment (ʿadhāb) which they wished to hasten, for He said: ( أَفَبِعَذَابِنَا يَسْتَعْجِلُونَ ) [Do they then seek to hasten Our punishment?], and He commanded His Prophet ﷺ to turn away from them until the coming of its time. The interpretation of the statement, then, is: so turn away from them, O Muḥammad, until the time of the coming of Our punishment and its descent upon them.
