Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:71
And they thought there would be no [resulting] punishment, so they became blind and deaf. Then Allah turned to them in forgiveness; then [again] many of them became blind and deaf. And Allah is Seeing of what they do.
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 discourse on the explanation of His saying: وَحَسِبُوا أَلا تَكُونَ فِتْنَةٌ فَعَمُوا وَصَمُّوا ثُمَّ تَابَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ ثُمَّ عَمُوا وَصَمُّوا كَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ وَاللَّهُ بَصِيرٌ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ ("And they thought there would be no trial, so they became blind and deaf; then Allah turned to them in forgiveness, then many of them became blind and deaf. And Allah is Seeing of what they do.") (71)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, the Exalted, says: and these Israelites thought — those whose characteristic He, exalted is His mention, had described: that He had taken their covenant, and that He had sent messengers to them, and that whenever a messenger came to them with what their souls did not desire, they denied a group and killed a group — that there would be from Allah for them no trial and no testing through the calamities of punishments because of what they did.
"So they became blind and deaf" — He says: thus they became blind to the truth and to the fulfillment of the covenant which I had taken from them, namely the devotion of worship purely to Me, the adherence to My command and My prohibition, and acting according to obedience to Me, because of that thinking and supposing of theirs. "And deaf" they became to it. "Then I turned to them in forgiveness" — He says: then I guided them, through a gentleness from Me toward them, until they returned repentant and turned away from that disobedience to Me, opposition to My command, and acting according to what I detest in them, upon which they had been — toward acting according to what I love, and adhering to obedience to Me, My command and My prohibition. "Then many of them became blind and deaf" — He says: then they once again became blind to the truth and to the fulfillment of My covenant which I had taken from them: namely acting according to obedience to Me, adhering to My command, and abstaining from disobedience to Me. "And many of them became deaf" — He says: many of these whose covenant I had taken among the children of Israel — namely the following of My messengers and acting according to what I had sent down to them of My Books — became blind to the truth and deaf, after My forgiving turning toward them and My deliverance of them from destruction. "And Allah is Seeing of what they do" — He says: "Seeing," so that He sees their deeds, their good and their evil, and recompenses them on the Day of Resurrection for all of it: if good, then with good, and if evil, then with evil.
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning that, the exegetes have said.
Mention of who said that:
12288 — Bišr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his saying: "And they thought there would be no trial," the verse. He says: the people thought there would be no trial. "So they became blind and deaf" — whenever a trial occurred by which they were tried, they perished in it.
12289 — 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: "And they thought there would be no trial, so they became blind and deaf." He says: they thought that they would not be tried, so they became blind to the truth and deaf.
12290 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Mubārak, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: "And they thought there would be no trial." He said: a trial (balāʾ).
12291 — al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And they thought there would be no trial." He said: shirk (the ascribing of partners to Allah).
12292 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Šibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His saying: "And they thought there would be no trial, so they became blind and deaf." He said: the Jews.
12293 — al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: "So they became blind and deaf." He said: the Jews. Ibn Jurayj said, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr, who said: this verse concerns the children of Israel. He said: and "the trial (al-fitna)" is the trial and the purification.
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