Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:98
And among the bedouins are some who consider what they spend as a loss and await for you turns of misfortune. Upon them will be a misfortune of evil. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
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 words: وَمِنَ الأَعْرَابِ مَنْ يَتَّخِذُ مَا يُنْفِقُ مَغْرَمًا وَيَتَرَبَّصُ بِكُمُ الدَّوَائِرَ عَلَيْهِمْ دَائِرَةُ السَّوْءِ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ (98) (And among the bedouins are those who regard what they spend as a fine, and who await for you the turns of fortune. Upon them be the turn of evil! And Allāh is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.) (9:98)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And among the bedouins are those who regard what they spend in expenditure in the fight against a polytheist (mushrik), or in support of a Muslim, or in one of the matters to which Allāh has urged His servants, (as a fine), that is to say: as a loss that befalls him, for which he hopes for no reward and by which he averts no punishment from himself. (and who await for you the turns of fortune), He says: and they await for you the turns of fortune, that the days and the nights will turn for you toward something detested, and the coming of something detested, and the victory of an enemy over you. Allāh, the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: (upon them be the turn of evil), He says: Allāh has placed the turn of evil upon them, and the descent of the detested upon them, not upon you, O believers, and not with you. (And Allāh is All-Hearing), of the supplication of those who supplicate, (All-Knowing), of their cunning and of what will befall them of punishment from Allāh, and what will become their portion of His painful chastisement.
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, so have the exegetes of the Qurʾān (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
17094- Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the words of Allāh: (And among the bedouins are those who regard what they spend as a fine, and who await for you the turns of fortune), he said: These are the hypocrites (munāfiq) among the bedouins, who spend only for show, out of fear that they might be sent to war, warred upon, or fought, and who regard their expenditure as a fine. Do you not see that He says: (and who await for you the turns of fortune — upon them be the turn of evil)?
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And the readers (qurrāʾ) differed concerning its reading.
The generality of the readers of the people of Medina and of Kūfa read: (عَلَيهِم دَائِرَةُ السَّوْءِ) with fatḥa on the sīn (al-sawʾ), in the sense of an adjectival qualifier (naʿt) to "al-dāʾira" (the turn), even though "al-dāʾira" is annexed to it in the iḍāfa construction, as they say: "he is a man of evil (rajul al-sawʾ)," and "a man of truth (imruʾ al-ṣidq)," as if it were a verbal noun from their saying: "I did him evil (suʾtuhu), I do him evil (asūʾuhu), sawʾan, masāʾatan, and masāʾiyatan."
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And some of the people of the Ḥijāz and some of the Basrans read it: (عَلَيهِم دَائِرَةُ السُّوْءِ) with ḍamma on the sīn (al-sūʾ), as if it were made into an independent noun, as one says: upon him be the turn of affliction and of punishment. And whoever says: "upon them be the turn of al-sūʾ," with ḍamma, does not say: "this is a man of al-sūʾ" with ḍamma, nor "the man of al-sūʾ." And the poet said:
And I was like the wolf of evil (al-sawʾ), when he saw blood upon his companion one day, he turned toward the blood.
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct one of its readings, in our judgment, is with fatḥa on the sīn, in the sense of: upon them be the turn that afflicts them with evil, sawʾan. As one says: "he is a man of truthfulness (rajul ṣidq)," by way of adjectival qualification (naʿt).
