Tafseer of The Groups · Az-Zumar · 39:59
But yes, there had come to you My verses, but you denied them and were arrogant, and you were among the disbelievers.
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: بَلَى قَدْ جَاءَتْكَ آيَاتِي فَكَذَّبْتَ بِهَا وَاسْتَكْبَرْتَ وَكُنْتَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ ("Yes indeed, My signs came to you, but you denied them, you were arrogant, and you were among the disbelievers") (39:59).
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says this in refutation of the one who says: لَوْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ هَدَانِي لَكُنْتُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ ("If only Allah had guided me, I would have been among the God-fearing"), and of the one who says: لَوْ أَنَّ لِي كَرَّةً فَأَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ ("If only I had another return, I would be among the doers of good"): the matter is not as you say. ( بَلَى قَدْ جَاءَتْكَ ) ("Yes indeed, there came to you"), O you who desire from Allah the return to the worldly life so that therein you would be among the doers of good, ( آيَاتِي ) ("My signs"). He says: My proofs came to you—both a messenger whom I sent to you and a book that I sent down and that was recited to you, containing the promise and the warning and the admonition—( فَكَذَّبْتَ ) ("but you denied") My signs, ( وَاسْتَكْبَرْتَ ) ("and you were arrogant") to accept them and follow them, ( وَكُنْتَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ ) ("and you were among the disbelievers"). He says: and you were among those who do the work of the disbelievers, follow their custom, and walk their path.
And in line with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: Allah says this in refutation of their saying and in denial of them, that is, of the saying of those who said: لَوْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ هَدَانِي ("If only Allah had guided me"), and of the other group: ( بَلَى قَدْ جَاءَتْكَ آيَاتِي ) ("Yes indeed, My signs came to you") ... the rest of the verse.
With the fatḥa on the kāf and the tāʾ in His saying ( قَدْ جَاءَتْكَ آيَاتِي فَكَذَّبْتَ ) ("My signs came to you, but you denied them"), as an address directed to the masculine form, the reciters in all the lands of Islam have recited this. And it has been transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he recited all of this with the kasra, as an address directed to the soul (al-nafs), as though He said: so that a soul should say: يَا حَسْرَتَا عَلَى مَا فَرَّطْتُ فِي جَنْبِ اللَّهِ ("Woe to me, for what I neglected concerning Allah"), yes indeed, there came to you, O soul, My signs, but you denied them—whereby the entire saying was related to the soul, since the beginning of the saying had begun with it. The reading from which I do not permit any deviation is that upon which the reciters of the lands are unanimous, transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and that is the fatḥa in all those cases.
