Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:167
And [mention] when your Lord declared that He would surely [continue to] send upon them until the Day of Resurrection those who would afflict them with the worst torment. Indeed, your Lord is swift in penalty; but indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful.
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: وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكَ لَيَبْعَثَنَّ عَلَيْهِمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ مَنْ يَسُومُهُمْ سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ (And [remember] when your Lord announced that He would surely send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, one who would inflict upon them the worst punishment)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted — may His praise be exalted — means by His word "and when He announced (wa-idh taʾadhdhana)": and remember, O Muḥammad, when your Lord announced and made known.
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= and it is a verb of the form "tafaʿʿala" from "al-īdhān" (the making known), as al-Aʿshā, Maymūn ibn Qays, said:
"Today my neighbours have announced their hasty departure, they have severed the bond of an intimately beloved friend."
By his word "adhina" he means: he made known. And we have already expounded that, with its proofs, elsewhere.
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And in accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of exegesis spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
15297 — 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, concerning the word of Allah: "and when your Lord announced," he said: your Lord commanded.
15298 — Al-Ḥārith related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Abū Saʿd related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and when your Lord announced," he said: your Lord commanded.
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And His word: "that He would surely send against them (la-yabʿathanna ʿalayhim)" means: your Lord made known that He would surely send against the Jews one who would inflict upon them the worst punishment. It has been said: those were the Arabs; Allah sent them against the Jews; they fought whoever of them did not submit and did not pay the poll-tax for non-Muslims (jizyah), and whoever of them paid the jizyah, for that one it was humiliation and debasement.
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And in accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of exegesis spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
15299 — Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm and ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to me, both of them saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "and when your Lord announced that He would surely send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, one who would inflict upon them the worst punishment," he said: that is the jizyah, and those who inflict this upon them are: Muḥammad ﷺ and his community, until the Day of Resurrection.
15300 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "and when your Lord announced that He would surely send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, one who would inflict upon them the worst punishment," that is the poverty and the collection of the jizyah from them.
15301 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said, Ibn ʿAbbās said: "and when your Lord announced that He would surely send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, one who would inflict upon them the worst punishment," he said: the Jews, and the humiliation and poverty that has been imposed upon them.
15302 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "and when your Lord announced that He would surely send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, one who would inflict upon them the worst punishment," he said: Allah sent against them this tribe of the Arabs, and they remain in a punishment from them until the Day of Resurrection.
15303 — 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: "that He would surely send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, one who would inflict upon them," he said: He sent against them this tribe of the Arabs, and they remain in a punishment from them until the Day of Resurrection. = And ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Jazarī said: it is preferable that the Nabateans (al-anbāṭ) be employed in [collecting] the jizyah.
15304 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Isḥāq ibn Ismāʿīl related to us, on the authority of Yaʿqūb, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd: "and when your Lord announced that He would surely send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, one who would inflict upon them," he said: the Arabs = "the worst punishment," he said: the land-tax (al-kharāj). And the first to institute the kharāj was Mūsā, peace be upon him, and he collected the kharāj for seven years.
15305 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd: "and when your Lord announced that He would surely send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, one who would inflict upon them," he said: the Arabs = "the worst punishment"? He said: the kharāj. He said: and the first to institute the kharāj was Mūsā, and he collected the kharāj for seven years.
15306 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd: "and when your Lord announced that He would surely send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, one who would inflict upon them the worst punishment," he said: they are the People of the Book; Allah sent against them the Arabs who collect the kharāj from them until the Day of Resurrection, and that is the worst punishment. And no prophet ever collected the kharāj except Mūsā ﷺ, for thirteen years, then he ceased from it, and except the Prophet ﷺ.
15307 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "and when your Lord announced that He would surely send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, one who would inflict upon them the worst punishment," he said: He sends against them this tribe of the Arabs, and they remain in a punishment from them until the Day of Resurrection.
15308 — ..... he said: Maʿmar informed us, saying: ʿAbd al-Karīm informed me, on the authority of Ibn al-Musayyab, he said: it is preferable that the Nabateans be employed in [collecting] the jizyah.
15309 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and when your Lord announced that He would surely send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, one who would inflict upon them the worst punishment," he says: your Lord sends against the Children of Isrāʾīl the Arabs, and they inflict upon them the worst punishment: they take the jizyah from them and kill them.
15310 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "and when your Lord announced that He would surely send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, one who would inflict": He would surely send against the Jews.
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The explanation of His word: إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَسَرِيعُ الْعِقَابِ وَإِنَّهُ لَغَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ (167) (Indeed, your Lord is swift in punishment, and indeed, He is forgiving, merciful) (167)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted — may His remembrance be praised — says: indeed, your Lord, O Muḥammad, is swift in His punishment against whoever deserves the punishment from Him on account of his disbelief in Him and his disobedience to Him = "and indeed, He is forgiving, merciful," he says: and indeed, He forgives the sins of whoever repents of his sins, turns to Him, and returns to His obedience; He covers them by His pardon thereof = "merciful" toward him, in that He does not punish him for his crime after his repentance from it, because He accepts repentance and pardons the misdeed.
