Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:177
How evil an example [is that of] the people who denied Our signs and used to wrong themselves.
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: سَاءَ مَثَلا الْقَوْمُ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا وَأَنْفُسَهُمْ كَانُوا يَظْلِمُونَ (177) ("Evil is the example of the people who denied Our signs; and it was they who wronged themselves." (7:177))
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says: Evil is the example of the people who denied the proofs of Allah and His indications and rejected them; and it was they who diminished the portion of their own souls and withheld benefits from their souls, in that they denied those signs and nothing else.
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And it has been said: "sāʾa mathalan" (evil is it as an example) is derived from "al-sūʾ" (evil), in the sense of: "wretched is the example" — [namely: the example of the people]. Here "the people (al-qawm)" has been put in the place of "the example (al-mathal)," and "the example (al-mathal)" has been omitted, because the meaning of the statement was understandable, just as the Exalted, whose praise is sublime, said: وَلَكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ [Surah Al-Baqarah: 177] ("but righteousness is he who believes in Allah"). For the meaning of that is: "but righteousness is the righteousness of him who believes in Allah." And we have already expounded the parallels of this in other places, in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it here.
