Tafseer of The Forgiver · Ghafir · 40:5
The people of Noah denied before them and the [disbelieving] factions after them, and every nation intended [a plot] for their messenger to seize him, and they disputed by [using] falsehood to [attempt to] invalidate thereby the truth. So I seized them, and how [terrible] was My penalty.
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.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: كَذَّبَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ قَوْمُ نُوحٍ وَالأحْزَابُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ (Before them the people of Nūḥ denied, and the confederates after them), he said: those are the unbelievers (al-kuffār).
And His saying: وَهَمَّتْ كُلُّ أُمَّةٍ بِرَسُولِهِمْ لِيَأْخُذُوهُ (And every community was determined against their messenger to seize him). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and every community of these communities that denied their messengers, who joined themselves into parties against their prophets, was determined against their messenger who had been sent to them, to seize him and then to kill him.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَهَمَّتْ كُلُّ أُمَّةٍ بِرَسُولِهِمْ لِيَأْخُذُوهُ (And every community was determined against their messenger to seize him): that is, to kill him. And it is said "bi-rasūli-him" (against their messenger); and it is also said "kull umma" (every community), whereby one directed the hāʾ and the mīm (in "rasūli-him") to the man and not to the word "umma" (community, which is feminine). And it is mentioned that in the reading of ʿAbdallāh this is "bi-rasūli-hā," that is: against the messenger of the community.
And His saying: وَجَادَلُوا بِالْبَاطِلِ لِيُدْحِضُوا بِهِ الْحَقَّ (And they disputed with falsehood in order thereby to nullify the truth). He says: and they contended with their messenger by falsehood, in the form of dispute, so that by their wrangling with him and their struggle against him they might nullify the truth which he had brought them from Allah: namely, the entering into His obedience, the acknowledgment of His oneness, and the declaring oneself free of the worship of anything other than Him — just as the unbelievers of your people dispute with you, O Muḥammad, with falsehood.
And His saying: فَأَخَذْتُهُمْ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عِقَابِ (So I seized them; and how was My punishment!). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: so I seized those who were determined against their messenger to seize him, with the punishment (ʿadhāb) from Me; and how was My punishment (ʿiqāb) of them — did I not destroy them and make them a warning example for creation, and an admonition for those who came after them? And did I not make their dwellings and abodes empty of them, and a dwelling place for the wild beasts?
And Bishr has already related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning فَأَخَذْتُهُمْ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عِقَابِ (So I seized them; and how was My punishment!), he said: severe, by Allah.
