Tafseer of Muhammad · Muhammad · 47:25
Indeed, those who reverted back [to disbelief] after guidance had become clear to them - Satan enticed them and prolonged hope for them.
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.
And His word (إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ارْتَدُّوا عَلَى أَدْبَارِهِمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الْهُدَى) — Allah, exalted and glorious is He, says: Verily, those who have turned back upon their heels as disbelievers in Allah, after the truth and the straight path had become clear to them, so that they knew the manifest proof, and then preferred error over guidance out of obstinacy toward the command of Allah, exalted is His mention, after the knowledge.
As Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda, concerning His word (إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ارْتَدُّوا عَلَى أَدْبَارِهِمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الْهُدَى): they are the enemies of Allah, the People of the Book; they know the mission of Muḥammad, the Prophet of Allah — Allah's blessings and peace be upon him — and his companions are mentioned among them, and then they do not believe in him.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatāda: (مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الْهُدَى) — verily, they find it written down with them.
And others said: by this are meant the people of hypocrisy.
Mention of those who said that:
It was related to me from al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word (إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ارْتَدُّوا عَلَى أَدْبَارِهِمْ) up to His word (فَأَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالَهُمْ): they are the people of hypocrisy.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word (إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ارْتَدُّوا عَلَى أَدْبَارِهِمْ) up to (إِسْرَارَهُمْ): they are the people of hypocrisy. And this description, in our view, more closely resembles the description of the people of hypocrisy than that of the People of the Book, and that is because Allah, exalted and glorious is He, has communicated that their apostasy was the result of their statement (لِلَّذِينَ كَرِهُوا مَا نَزَّلَ اللَّهُ سَنُطِيعُكُمْ فِي بَعْضِ الأَمْرِ) (to those who hated what Allah had sent down: "We will obey you in some matters"). And if it were a description of the People of the Book, then describing them as deniers of Muḥammad — Allah's blessings and peace be upon him — would have sufficed, without the report that they became apostate only because of the statement that they made.
And His word (الشَّيْطَانُ سَوَّلَ لَهُمْ وَأَمْلَى لَهُمْ) — He, exalted is His mention, says: Satan has made fair-seeming to them their apostasy upon their heels, after guidance had become clear to them.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of exegesis have spoken.
Mention of those who said that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatāda: (الشَّيْطَانُ سَوَّلَ لَهُمْ وَأَمْلَى لَهُمْ) — he says: he made it fair-seeming to them.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda: (سَوَّلَ لَهُمْ) — he says: he made it fair-seeming to them.
And His word (وَأَمْلَى لَهُمْ) — He says: and Allah has prolonged their life-terms for a span, and the meaning of the expression is: Satan made it fair-seeming to them, and Allah granted them respite.
And the reciters differed concerning the recitation of this. The majority of the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Kūfa recited it as (وَأَمْلَى لَهُمْ) with an opened alif, with the meaning: and Allah granted them respite. And some of the people of Medina and Baṣra recited it as (وَأُمْلِيَ لَهُمْ) in the passive form whose agent is not named. And Mujāhid recited it, according to what is related from him, as (وَأُمْلِي) with a closed alif and an unvowelled yāʾ, in the form of a statement by Allah, exalted is His praise, about Himself that He does that with them.
And the most correct of these recitations is that upon which the majority of the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Kūfa are, namely the opening of the alif therein, because it is the widespread recitation among the reciters of the cities, even though they are united by a direction in which their meanings lie close to one another.
