Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:162
But those who wronged among them changed [the words] to a statement other than that which had been said to them. So We sent upon them a punishment from the sky for the wrong that they were doing.
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 statement: فَبَدَّلَ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْهُمْ قَوْلا غَيْرَ الَّذِي قِيلَ لَهُمْ فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِجْزًا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ بِمَا كَانُوا يَظْلِمُونَ (162) ("But those among them who did wrong substituted a word other than that which had been said to them; so We sent down upon them a plague from the sky because of the wrong they used to do." (7:162))
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Those among them who committed disbelief in Allah altered that which Allah had commanded them to say. For it had been said to them: say "ḥiṭṭa" (forgiveness); but instead they said: "ḥinṭa fī shaʿīra" (wheat in a barley grain). And that word of theirs was something other than the word they had been told to say. Allah, the Exalted, says: "so We sent down upon them a plague from the sky" — We brought upon them a punishment (ʿadhāb) and destroyed them, because they altered that which they were commanded, and acted contrary to what Allah had ordered them to do, and said something other than what Allah had commanded them to do.
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We have already expounded the meaning of "al-rijz" (the plague) previously.
