Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:50
If good befalls you, it distresses them; but if disaster strikes you, they say, "We took our matter [in hand] before," and turn away while they are rejoicing.
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 the saying of the Most High: إِنْ تُصِبْكَ حَسَنَةٌ تَسُؤْهُمْ وَإِنْ تُصِبْكَ مُصِيبَةٌ يَقُولُوا قَدْ أَخَذْنَا أَمْرَنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَيَتَوَلَّوْا وَهُمْ فَرِحُونَ (50) ("If something good befalls you, it grieves them, and if a calamity befalls you, they say: 'We had already taken our precaution beforehand,' and they turn away, while they rejoice") (50).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Most High, whose praise is exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: O Muḥammad, if joy befalls you through Allah's granting you victory over the land of the Romans in this expedition of yours, that grieves al-Jadd ibn Qays and his like and their followers among the hypocrites (munāfiqūn). And if a calamity befalls you through the defeat of your army therein, then al-Jadd and his like say: قَدْ أَخَذْنَا أَمْرَنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ ("We had already taken our precaution beforehand"), that is to say: we had already taken our precaution by staying behind from Muḥammad and refraining from following him against his enemy. مِنْ قَبْلُ ("beforehand"), He says: before this calamity struck him. وَيَتَوَلَّوْا وَهُمْ فَرِحُونَ ("and they turn away, while they rejoice"), He says: and they fall away from Muḥammad, while they rejoice over the calamity that has struck Muḥammad and his companions, through the defeat of his companions and their routed flight away from him, and the killing of those of them who were killed.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
16792 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning إِنْ تُصِبْكَ حَسَنَةٌ تَسُؤْهُمْ ("If something good befalls you, it grieves them"), he says: if on this journey, this expedition of Tabūk, حَسَنَةٌ تَسُؤْهُمْ ("something good befalls you, it grieves them"), he said: al-Jadd and his companions.
16793 — 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: قَدْ أَخَذْنَا أَمْرَنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ ("We had already taken our precaution beforehand"), [means] our precaution.
16794 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Numayr related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: قَدْ أَخَذْنَا أَمْرَنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ ("We had already taken our precaution beforehand"), he said: our precaution.
16795 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: إِنْ تُصِبْكَ حَسَنَةٌ تَسُؤْهُمْ ("If something good befalls you, it grieves them"), [namely:] if there was a victory for the Muslims, it weighed heavily upon them and grieved them.
