Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:85
And let not their wealth and their children impress you. Allah only intends to punish them through them in this world and that their souls should depart [at death] while they are disbelievers.
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 statement concerning the interpretation of His word: وَلا تُعْجِبْكَ أَمْوَالُهُمْ وَأَوْلادُهُمْ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَنْ يُعَذِّبَهُمْ بِهَا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَتَزْهَقَ أَنْفُسُهُمْ وَهُمْ كَافِرُونَ (85) (And let neither their wealth nor their children amaze you. Allah only wishes to punish them thereby in this worldly life, and that their souls depart while they are unbelievers. [9:85])
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says to His prophet Muḥammad, the Prophet ﷺ: Let neither the wealth of these hypocrites (munāfiqīn) nor their children amaze you, O Muḥammad, such that you perform the prayer (ṣalāh) over one of them when he dies and stand at his grave, on account of the abundance of his wealth and his children. For truly, I have given him what I have given him thereof only in order to punish him thereby in this worldly life with griefs and worries, through the burdens, expenditures, and alms (zakāh) which I have imposed upon him therein, and through the calamities and misfortunes that befall him therein. =(And that their souls depart), He says: and so that he dies, so that his soul leaves his body, and he is separated from the wealth and children I have given him. Thus that becomes a source of regret for him at his death, and a misfortune for him at that moment, and a misfortune for him in the Hereafter, in that he dies as a denier of the oneness of Allah and of the prophethood of His prophet Muḥammad, the Prophet ﷺ.
17060- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Suddī: (And that their souls depart), in the worldly life.
