Tafsir of Yunus 10:91

"Now?" The interrogation is for denial and rebuke. The temporal adverb is connected to an elided predicate estimated to follow it—that is: "Do you believe now, when you have despaired of life and become certain of death?" It is estimated to follow so that the denial and rebuke may be directed at the delay of faith until a limit where its acceptance is prohibited.

The speech follows an implied verb—that is: "It was said to him that..." It is linked to (the verb) "He said," and this—up to "a sign"—is a narrative of what transpired from His glorious self—the wrath upon the forsaken one, the countering of what he manifested with a hideous rejection, and his berating for disobedience, corruption, and so forth. In the omission of the aforementioned verb and the presentation of the reported predicate in the form of an incipit, there is a clear indication of the enormity of indignation and the intensity of wrath.

As for who said this to him, it is said: It is Allah the Exalted. It is also said: It is Gabriel, peace be upon him. And it is said: It is Michael, peace be upon him. Abu al-Shaykh recorded from Abu Umamah that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah grant him peace and honor) said: "Gabriel said to me: 'I have never hated anything among the creation of Allah as much as I hated Iblis on the day he was ordered to prostrate and refused. And I have never hated anything more intensely than Pharaoh. When the day of drowning arrived, I feared he would cling to the word of sincerity (al-ikhlas) and be saved, so I took a handful of silt and struck his mouth with it.' I found Allah the Exalted even more wrathful toward him than I was, so He ordered Michael, and he came to him and said: 'Now?'..."

What this report contains regarding the action of Gabriel (peace be upon him) is mentioned in more than one narration. Among them is what al-Tayalisi, Ibn Hibban, Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Marduyah, al-Bayhaqi in al-Shu'ab, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Hakim—the latter two declaring it authentic—recorded from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): The Messenger of Allah (may Allah grant him peace and honor) said: "Gabriel said to me: 'If you could see me taking silt from the sea and stuffing it into Pharaoh’s mouth, for fear that mercy might overtake him.'"

This justification has been criticized. In al-Kashshaf, it is stated that this is among the fabrications of those who slander Allah and His angels (peace be upon them). It contains two ignorances: First, that faith is validated by the heart—like the faith of a mute person—so the silt of the sea does not prevent it. Second, that whoever dislikes the faith of a disbeliever and desires his persistence in disbelief is himself a disbeliever, because satisfaction with disbelief is disbelief. Ibn al-Munir approved this, saying: "He has denied a vile thing and become angry for the sake of Allah and His angels (peace be upon them), as is their due." The majority, however, differ from him due to the authenticity of the tradition according to the trusted Imams—such as al-Tirmidhi, who is preferred among the traditionists after Muslim—and others. They have delved into explaining its intended meaning such that no problem remains.

In Irshad al-'Aql al-Salim, it is stated that "mercy" refers to worldly mercy—meaning rescue, which is what the forsaken one sought. It is not a necessity that the attainment of it implies the validity of faith—as in the faith of the people of Jonah (peace be upon him)—such that the accusation of "satisfaction with disbelief," which is unthinkable regarding Gabriel (peace be upon him), would necessarily follow. For there is no impossibility in this (worldly) mercy resulting from the mere utterance of the word of faith, even if it is in a state of desperation and despair. Thus, the action of Gabriel (peace be upon him) is construed as closing the door to a remote possibility out of extreme rage and intense indignation.

It is not hidden that interpreting "mercy" as "worldly mercy" is remote, and almost rejected by what Ibn Jarir and al-Bayhaqi recorded from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of Allah (may Allah grant him peace and honor) said: "Gabriel (peace be upon him) said to me: 'If you could see me, O Muhammad, as I cover Pharaoh with one of my hands and stuff the silt into his mouth, fearing that the mercy of Allah the Exalted might overtake him and he be forgiven.'" He explicitly linked forgiveness to the overtaking of mercy. This makes it clear that the intended meaning is not worldly mercy, because forgiveness does not follow from it; rather, only rescue follows from it.

Some investigators have said: Gabriel (peace be upon him) only did what he did out of anger toward him for what he had done, and for fear that if he repeated that [faith], it might have been accepted from him as a break in the custom due to the vastness of the ocean of mercy that encompasses all things. As for satisfaction with disbelief, the truth is that it is not disbelief absolutely, but only if one deems it good. The only actual disbelief is satisfaction with one’s own disbelief, as stated in the Ta'wilat of 'Alam al-Huda.

As for the saying of the Almighty: "And you have disobeyed before..."—this is in the position of a state (hal) from the subject of the verb acting upon the adverb. It is brought to intensify the rebuke and berating for delaying faith until this moment, by explaining that his delay was not for what might be considered an excuse, but rather it was by way of rejection, rebellion, and corruption. For the saying of the Almighty: "And you were of the corrupters"—is coordinated with "disobeyed," entering into the scope of the state. This is an expression of his corruption that returns to himself and spreads to others through oppression, hostility, and preventing the Children of Israel from the path; the former refers to his own private disobedience.