Tafseer of The Sovereignty · Al-Mulk · 67:27
But when they see it approaching, the faces of those who disbelieve will be distressed, and it will be said, "This is that for which you used to call."
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 exposition of the explanation of the words of the Exalted:
﴿فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهُ زُلْفَةً سِيئَتْ وُجُوهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَقِيلَ هَذَا الَّذِي كُنْتُمْ بِهِ تَدَّعُونَ﴾ (And when they saw it close at hand, the faces of those who disbelieved became grieved, and it was said: "This is that for which you used to call.")
And His word: ﴿فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهُ زُلْفَةً سِيئَتْ وُجُوهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا﴾ — the Exalted, glorified be His mention, says: when these polytheists saw the punishment of Allah close at hand — He says: near — and they beheld it with their own eyes, ﴿سِيئَتْ وُجُوهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا﴾, He says: Allah thereby made the faces of the disbelievers grieved.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning His word ﴿زُلْفَةً﴾ the people of exegesis have spoken.
Mention of who said that:
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, from Abū Rajāʾ, from al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: ﴿فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهُ زُلْفَةً سِيئَتْ﴾, he said: when they beheld it with their own eyes.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Bukayr related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, from Abū Rajāʾ, saying: I asked al-Ḥasan concerning His word: ﴿فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهُ زُلْفَةً﴾, he said: with direct beholding.
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 from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, concerning His word: ﴿فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهُ زُلْفَةً﴾, he said: it has drawn near.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda, concerning His word: ﴿فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهُ زُلْفَةً سِيئَتْ وُجُوهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا﴾: when they beheld with their own eyes the punishment of Allah.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatāda: ﴿فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهُ زُلْفَةً﴾, he said: when they saw the punishment of Allah close at hand — he says: their faces were made grieved when they beheld with their own eyes what they beheld of the punishment and the humiliation of Allah.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: ﴿فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهُ زُلْفَةً سِيئَتْ﴾: it was said: the nearness means that it is present, the punishment of Allah — exalted and glorified is He — has already befallen them.
﴿وَقِيلَ هَذَا الَّذِي كُنْتُمْ بِهِ تَدَّعُونَ﴾ — He says: and Allah said to them: this is the punishment for which you used to ask your Lord that He hasten it for you.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of exegesis have spoken.
Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: ﴿وَقِيلَ هَذَا الَّذِي كُنْتُمْ بِهِ تَدَّعُونَ﴾, he said: their hastening of the punishment.
And the Qurʾān reciters differed concerning the reading of this. The majority of the reciters of the great cities read it as ﴿هَذَا الَّذِي كُنْتُمْ بِهِ تَدَّعُونَ﴾ with doubling of the dāl, in the meaning of taftaʿilūna, derived from al-duʿāʾ (the calling/invocation).
And it has been transmitted from Qatāda and al-Ḍaḥḥāk that they read it as (tadʿūna), in the meaning of tafʿalūna in the worldly life.
Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf related to me, saying: al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, from Hārūn, saying: Abān al-ʿAṭṭār and Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba informed us, from Qatāda, that he read it as ﴿الَّذِي كُنْتُمْ بِهِ تَدَّعُونَ﴾ with light pronunciation; and he said: they used to ask for the punishment. Then he recited: ﴿وَإِذْ قَالُوا اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كَانَ هَذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِنْدِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِنَ السَّمَاءِ أَوِ ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ﴾ (And when they said: "O Allah, if this is the truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the sky, or bring us a painful punishment").
And the correct reading of this is that upon which the reciters of the great cities agree, on account of the consensus of the authoritative proof among the reciters concerning it.
