Tafseer of The Iron · Al-Hadid · 57:14
The hypocrites will call to the believers, "Were we not with you?" They will say, "Yes, but you afflicted yourselves and awaited [misfortune for us] and doubted, and wishful thinking deluded you until there came the command of Allah. And the Deceiver deceived you concerning Allah.
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.
His statement: يُنَادُونَهُمْ أَلَمْ نَكُنْ مَعَكُمْ قَالُوا بَلَى ("They call out to them: 'Were we not with you?' They say: 'Yes indeed.'"). The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: The hypocrites call out to the believers when a wall has been set up as a partition between them, so that they remain in the darkness and the punishment while the believers are in the Garden (janna): Were we not with you in the worldly life, did we not pray and fast, did we not marry among you and inherit from you? They say: "Yes indeed." That is to say: the believers say: "Yes indeed, it was so, but you brought your own souls into trial, and thus you committed hypocrisy (nifāq)." Their trial of their own souls in this place was the hypocrisy.
And thus the exegetes have said it.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: فَتَنْتُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ ("you put your souls to trial"), he said: The hypocrisy. The hypocrites were together with the believers when they were alive; they married among them, visited them, and associated with them, and they were together with them when they were dead. On the Day of Resurrection they all together receive the light, but the light of the hypocrites is extinguished when they reach the wall, and then they are separated from one another.
And His statement: وَتَرَبَّصْتُمْ ("and you waited"), He says: you delayed concerning the faith, and you postponed the acknowledgment of Allah and His Messenger.
And in the spirit of what we have said about this, some of the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: وَتَرَبَّصْتُمْ ("and you waited"), he said: with the faith in the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he recited: فَتَرَبَّصُوا إِنَّا مَعَكُمْ مُتَرَبِّصُونَ ("So wait; we too are waiting with you").
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَتَرَبَّصْتُمْ ("and you waited"), he says: they waited concerning the truth and its adherents. And His statement: وَارْتَبْتُمْ ("and you doubted"), He says: and you doubted the oneness of Allah (tawḥīd) and the prophethood of Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
As Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: وَارْتَبْتُمْ ("and you doubted"): they doubted.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَارْتَبْتُمْ ("and you doubted"): they were in doubt about Allah.
And His statement: وَغَرَّتْكُمُ الأمَانِيُّ ("and vain desires deceived you"), He says: and the desires of your souls deceived you, and turned you away from the path of Allah and led you astray. حَتَّى جَاءَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ ("until the command of Allah came"), He says: until Allah's decree of your moments of death came and swept you away.
And in the spirit of 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, concerning His statement: وَغَرَّتْكُمُ الأمَانِيُّ حَتَّى جَاءَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ ("and vain desires deceived you until the command of Allah came"): they were in a deception of Satan, and by Allah, they remained in it until Allah cast them into the Fire.
And His statement: وَغَرَّكُمْ بِاللَّهِ الْغَرُورُ ("and the deceiver deceived you concerning Allah"), He says: and Satan deceived you concerning Allah, and made you hope for deliverance from His punishment and for safety from His torment.
And in the spirit of what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: الْغُرُورُ ("the deceiver"): that is Satan.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: وَغَرَّكُمْ بِاللَّهِ الْغَرُورُ ("and the deceiver deceived you concerning Allah"): that is Satan.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: وَغَرَّكُمْ بِاللَّهِ الْغَرُورُ ("and the deceiver deceived you concerning Allah"): Satan.
