Tafseer of The Hypocrites · Al-Munaafiqoon · 63:9
O you who have believed, let not your wealth and your children divert you from remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that - then those are the losers.
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 Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: O you who have held Allah and His Messenger to be true, لا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَالُكُمْ ("let not your possessions distract you") says: let not your possessions occupy you وَلا أَوْلادُكُمْ ("nor your children") with distraction عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ("from the remembrance of Allah"). It is derived from "alhaytuhu ʿan kadhā wa-kadhā" (I distracted him from such-and-such), from which comes "lahā huwa yalhū lahwan" (he is distracted, he is distracting, distraction); and of this is the saying of Imruʾ al-Qays:
And many a woman like you, pregnant or nursing, have I visited by night,
and distracted her from her child, who was not yet a year old, with amulets.
And it has been said: by the remembrance of Allah, exalted is His praise, what is meant in this place is: the five prayers.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Sinān, on the authority of Thābit, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلا أَوْلادُكُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ("O you who believe, let not your possessions and your children distract you from the remembrance of Allah"), he said: the five prayers.
And His word: وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ ("And whoever does that") says: and whoever lets himself be distracted by his possessions and his children from the remembrance of Allah, فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ ("then those, they are the losers") says: they are the ones who have forfeited their share of the honor of Allah and His mercy, blessed and exalted is He.
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Footnotes:
(2) The verse is by Imruʾ al-Qays. The author has already cited it earlier in volume (17:114), and we have explained it in detail there; consult that. The point of evidence in it is here his word "fa-alhaytuhā" (and I distracted her), which is derived from "al-lahw" (distraction, amusement), namely that with which one amuses oneself, plays, and is occupied — out of desire, joy, and the like. One says: "lahawtu bi-l-shayʾ alhū bihi lahwan" (I was distracted by a thing, I am distracted by it, distraction), and "talahhaytu bihi" when one plays with it and occupies oneself with it and thereby forgets other matters. And one says: "alhānī fulān ʿan kadhā" (so-and-so distracted me from such-and-such), that is: he occupied me and made me forget; it is as though the hamza in it carries the meaning of deprivation.
