Tafseer of Muhammad · Muhammad · 47:16
And among them, [O Muhammad], are those who listen to you, until when they depart from you, they say to those who were given knowledge, "What has he said just now?" Those are the ones of whom Allah has sealed over their hearts and who have followed their [own] desires.
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 His word, the Exalted: وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَسْتَمِعُ إِلَيْكَ حَتَّى إِذَا خَرَجُوا مِنْ عِنْدِكَ قَالُوا لِلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ مَاذَا قَالَ آنِفًا أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ طَبَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ وَاتَّبَعُوا أَهْوَاءَهُمْ (16) ("And among them are those who listen to you, until, when they have gone out from your presence, they say to those who have been given knowledge: 'What did he say just now?' They are those whose hearts Allah has sealed and who follow their desires.")
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: And among these unbelievers, O Muḥammad, are مَنْ يَسْتَمِعُ إِلَيْكَ ("those who listen to you"), and that is the hypocrite (munāfiq); he listens to what you say but does not retain it and does not understand it, out of disdain for what you recite to him from the Book of your Lord, and out of indifference toward what you say and that to which you call of faith (īmān). حَتَّى إِذَا خَرَجُوا مِنْ عِنْدِكَ ("until, when they have gone out from your presence"), they say — in order to let those of the people of knowledge concerning the Book of Allah who attended your gathering with them, and who heard you recite what you recited and heard them say what you said, know that they will lend no ear to your word and your recitation —: مَاذَا قَالَ ("What did") Muḥammad say to us آنِفًا ("just now")? And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (taʾwīl) 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, concerning His word وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَسْتَمِعُ إِلَيْكَ حَتَّى إِذَا خَرَجُوا مِنْ عِنْدِكَ ("And among them are those who listen to you, until, when they have gone out from your presence"): These are the hypocrites. Two men would enter: a man who reflected upon Allah and benefited from what he heard, and a man who did not reflect upon Allah and did not benefit from what he heard. It used to be said: People are of three kinds: a hearer who acts, a hearer who is heedless, and a hearer who abandons it.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَسْتَمِعُ إِلَيْكَ ("And among them are those who listen to you"), he said: They are the hypocrites. And it used to be said: People are of three kinds: a hearer who then acts, a hearer who is then heedless, and a hearer who then abandons it.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of ʿUthmān Abī al-Yaqẓān, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn al-Jazzār, or Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word حَتَّى إِذَا خَرَجُوا مِنْ عِنْدِكَ قَالُوا لِلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ مَاذَا قَالَ آنِفًا ("until, when they have gone out from your presence, they say to those who have been given knowledge: 'What did he say just now?'"). Ibn ʿAbbās said: I was among them, and I was among those who were asked.
Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَسْتَمِعُ إِلَيْكَ حَتَّى إِذَا خَرَجُوا مِنْ عِنْدِكَ ("And among them are those who listen to you, until, when they have gone out from your presence") ... to the end of the verse: These are the hypocrites, and those who have been given knowledge are the Companions (ṣaḥāba), may Allah be pleased with them.
And His word أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ طَبَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ ("They are those whose hearts Allah has sealed"). The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: These, who have this description, are the people whose hearts Allah has sealed, so that they are not guided to the truth with which Allah sent His Messenger — peace and blessings be upon him. وَاتَّبَعُوا أَهْوَاءَهُمْ ("and they follow their desires"). He says: And they have rejected the command of Allah and followed that to which their soul called them, so that they do not return from what they are upon to any truth or proof. And the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, has equated the description of these hypocrites with that of the polytheists (mushrikīn), in that all of them, in their abandonment of the religion of Allah with which He sent Muḥammad ﷺ, follow only their desires. Thus He said concerning these hypocrites: أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ طَبَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ وَاتَّبَعُوا أَهْوَاءَهُمْ ("They are those whose hearts Allah has sealed and who follow their desires"), and He said concerning the unbelievers among the people of associating partners (shirk): كَمَنْ زُيِّنَ لَهُ سُوءُ عَمَلِهِ وَاتَّبَعُوا أَهْوَاءَهُمْ ("like one to whom the evil of his deed is made fair-seeming and who follows their desires").
