Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:165
And when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We saved those who had forbidden evil and seized those who wronged, with a wretched punishment, because they were defiantly disobeying.
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 explanation of His word: فَلَمَّا نَسُوا مَا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ أَنْجَيْنَا الَّذِينَ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ السُّوءِ وَأَخَذْنَا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا بِعَذَابٍ بَئِيسٍ بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ (7:165) (So when they forgot that of which they had been reminded, We saved those who forbade evil, and We seized those who did wrong with a grievous punishment because of the moral corruption they were committing (165))
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: When the group that transgressed the Sabbath abandoned that which Allah had commanded it, namely the refraining from transgression therein, and neglected that with which the admonishing group had admonished and reminded it — namely the warning against Allah's punishment for its disobedience — and it persisted in holding lawful what Allah had forbidden it, then Allah saved those among them who forbade "evil" (al-sūʾ) — that is to say: disobedience to Allah and the holding lawful of what He forbade — "and We seized those who did wrong," that is to say: and Allah seized those who transgressed the Sabbath and therein held lawful what Allah had forbidden, regarding the catching of fish and the eating thereof, and He brought His might down upon them and destroyed them with a heavy, grievous punishment, because they used to transgress Allah's command, and thus departed from His obedience into His disobedience — and that is "the moral corruption" (al-fisq).
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
15287 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn Jurayj informed us concerning His word: "So when they forgot that of which they had been reminded, We saved those who forbade evil," he said: When they forgot the admonition of the believers toward them, who said: لِمَ تَعِظُونَ قَوْمًا (Why do you admonish a people?).
15288 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ḥaramī related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to me, saying: ʿUmāra informed me, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "We saved those who forbade evil," he said: O, would that I knew, what is the evil that was forbidden to them?
* * *
As for His word: "with a grievous punishment" (bi-ʿadhābin baʾīs), the reciters have differed concerning it in their recitation.
Most of the reciters of the people of Medina read it: (بِعَذَابٍ بِيسٍ) with a kasra on the bāʾ and a lightened yāʾ, without hamza, according to the pattern "fiʿl".
* * *
Some of the reciters of Kūfa and Baṣra read it: (بِعَذَابٍ بَئِيسٍ) according to the pattern "faʿīl", derived from "al-buʾs" (misery), with a fatḥa on the bāʾ and a kasra on the hamza with its lengthening.
* * *
Some of the people of Mecca likewise read it thus, except that he read the bāʾ of (بِئِيسٍ) with a kasra, according to the pattern "fiʿīl".
* * *
Some of the Kūfans read it: (بَيْئِسٍ) with a fatḥa on the bāʾ and a sukūn on the yāʾ, followed by a hamza bearing a kasra, according to the pattern "fayʿil".
* * *
That, however, is uncommon according to the philologists, for when "fayʿil" is not derived from words containing yāʾ or wāw, then the fatḥa on the middle radical is the most eloquent form in the language of the Arabs, as in their utterance regarding the counterpart among the sound (non-weak) words: "ṣayqal" and "nayrab". The kasra on the middle radical occurs only in words containing yāʾ or wāw, as in their utterance: "sayyid" and "mayyit". Some have cited the verse of Imruʾ al-Qays ibn ʿĀbis al-Kindī:
Both of them were a leader, brave and severe (bayʾisā), who on the day of the fray strikes the helmet's crest.
— with a kasra on the middle radical of "fayʿil", namely the hamza in "bayʾis"; and perhaps the one who read it thus read it according to this form.
* * *
And concerning another of the Kūfans it is likewise related that he read it: (بَيْئَسٍ), in accordance with the recitation we mentioned before this one, namely with a fatḥa on the bāʾ and a sukūn on the yāʾ and a fatḥa on the hamza after the yāʾ, according to the pattern "fayʿal", like "ṣayqal".
* * *
And concerning one of the Baṣrans it is related that he read it: (بَئِسٍ) with a fatḥa on the bāʾ and a kasra on the hamza, according to the pattern "faʿil", as Ibn Qays al-Ruqayyāt said:
Would that I had met Ruqayya in solitude, without any misery (baʾis).
* * *
And concerning another of them it is related that he read it: (بِئْسَ) with a kasra on the bāʾ and a fatḥa on the sīn, with the meaning: how evil is the punishment.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of these recitations, in my judgment, is that of the one who read it: (بَئِيسٍ) with a fatḥa on the bāʾ and a kasra on the hamza with its lengthening, according to the pattern "faʿīl", as Dhū al-Iṣbaʿ al-ʿAdwānī said:
Grim against me, while you see for me among them no trace that is brave and severe (baʾīsā).
— for the exegetes agreed that its meaning is: grievous; and that indicates the correctness of what we have chosen.
* Mention of who said that:
15289 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn Jurayj informed us, saying: A man informed me, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "and We seized those who did wrong with a grievous punishment," he said: painful and tormenting.
15290 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "with a grievous punishment," he said: grievous.
15291 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "with a grievous punishment," painful and grievous.
15292 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: "with a grievous punishment," he said: tormenting.
15293 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: "with a grievous punishment," he said: with a heavy punishment.
