Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:128
There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you and to the believers is kind 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: لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُمْ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ (128) ("Indeed, a messenger has come to you from among yourselves; grievous to him is what you suffer, full of concern for you, kind and merciful to the believers.") (9:128)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to the Arabs: "Indeed, there has come to you" — O community — the Messenger of Allah to you; "from among yourselves" — you know him, he is not from others than you, so that you would not distrust him concerning the sincere counsel that he gives you; "grievous to him is what you suffer" — that is to say: it weighs heavily upon him that you suffer, which means the befalling of hardship, adversity, and harm upon them; "full of concern for you" — He says: anxious for the guidance of those of you who go astray, for their repentance and their return to the truth; "kind to the believers" — that is to say: gentle; "and merciful (raḥīm)."
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And in agreement with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
17504 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, on the authority of his father, concerning His word: "Indeed, a messenger has come to you from among yourselves; grievous to him is what you suffer," he said: At his birth nothing of shirk (the assigning of partners to Allah) touched him.
17505 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, concerning His word: "Indeed, a messenger has come to you from among yourselves," he said: Nothing of the birth from the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya) touched him. He said: And the Prophet ﷺ said: "I came forth from a lawful marriage and not from fornication."
17506 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿUyayna, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, on the authority of his father, with similar import.
17507 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "Indeed, a messenger has come to you from among yourselves; grievous to him is what you suffer," he said: Allah made him from among themselves, so that they would not envy him for the prophethood and the honor that Allah has bestowed upon him.
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As for His word: "grievous to him is what you suffer" — concerning this the interpreters differed regarding its explanation.
Some of them said: Its meaning is: what you go astray.
* Mention of who said that:
17508 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ṭalq ibn Ghannām related to us, saying: Al-Ḥakam ibn Ẓuhayr related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "grievous to him is what you suffer," he said: what you go astray.
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And others said: Rather, its meaning is: grievous to him is the suffering of those of you who believe.
* Mention of who said that:
17509 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "grievous to him is what you suffer" — grievous to him is the suffering of those among them who believe.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most correct of the two views therein is the view of Ibn ʿAbbās. That is because Allah made the report about the prophet of Allah general — namely, that what his people suffer weighs heavily upon him — and He did not restrict it to the people who believed in him. Thus he ﷺ was — [as the report] from Allah concerning that [came] — one upon whom the suffering of their entire group weighed heavily.
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If someone were to say: And how is it permissible that he ﷺ be described as one upon whom the suffering of them all weighed heavily, while he kills their disbelievers, takes their women and children as captives (sabī), and seizes their possessions from them as spoils?
Then it is said: Their acceptance of Islam — had they accepted Islam — was more beloved to him than their persisting in their disbelief and their denial of him, until they deserved that from Allah. Allah, exalted is His praise, described him only as one upon whom their suffering weighed heavily, because it weighed heavily upon him that they should commit that which would plunge them into suffering, namely that they should go astray and thus deserve the punishment of Allah through killing and captivity.
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As for "what" (mā) in His word: "what you suffer" — it stands in the nominative because of His word: "grievous to him is," since the meaning of the statement is what I mentioned: grievous to him is your suffering.
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As for His word: "full of concern for you" — its meaning is that which I have already clarified, and that is the view of the interpreters.
* Mention of who said that:
17510 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "full of concern for you" — concerned about the one of them who goes astray, that Allah might guide him.
17510m — 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, concerning His word: "full of concern for you," he said: concerned about the one who has not accepted Islam, that he might accept Islam.
