Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:63

"By Allah, We have certainly sent [messengers] to nations before you..."

This is a consolation for the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) regarding the ignorance of his disbelieving people, and a threat to them for that. The great emphasis inherent in this [oath] is not hidden. It means: We sent messengers to nations before your nation, or before your being sent to these people, and they invited them to the Truth.

"...but Satan made their [evil] deeds seem fair to them..."

They neither abandoned them nor complied with the invitation of the messengers (peace be upon them). The discussion regarding attributing the beautification [of evil] to Satan has already preceded.

"...so he is their ally today..."

That is, their companion—and what an evil companion—or the one in charge of their seduction and turning them away from the Truth. "Today" refers to the day Satan made their deeds fair to them. Although this is in the past, and the defined "today" is known in present time—like "now"—it is depicted in the form of the present to bring that wondrous scene before the listener so they may marvel at it. Such a thing is called "narrating a past state," and it is a metaphor from external presence to mental presence.

Alternatively, "today" may refer to the duration of the worldly life, as it is like the present time in relation to the Hereafter, encompassing the past, the future, and what is between them. That is, he is their ally in the world.

"...and they will have a painful punishment."

In the Hereafter, this is the punishment of the Fire. It has frequently been the case that "the day" is applied to the duration of that punishment, making it a well-known metaphor; in this view, there is no narration of a past state. Or, it may refer to the Day of Resurrection, in which their punishment occurs, but it is depicted in the form of the present to bring it to mind, as in the first interpretation—except that this is the narration of a future state, not the first [past] type of metaphor.

In this [latter] interpretation, "ally" (wali) means "helper," meaning they have no helper in that [punishment] other than him. This is a negation of a helper in the most eloquent manner, akin to the saying: "And a land that has no intimate companion, except the wild cows and the ‘īs (camels)." It is not permissible for it to mean "the one in charge of seduction," for there is no seduction there, nor "the companion," for he [Satan] is in the lowest depth of the Fire. Some permitted it, considering that he is with them in the Fire in a general sense, and their differing in the depths [of Hell] does no harm.

The apparent meaning is that all the plural pronouns refer to the "nations," as we have indicated regarding some of them. Al-Zamakhshari permitted that the pronoun in "their ally" (walīyuhum)—the possessive pronoun—refers to the Quraysh, not the nations, and that "today" refers to the time in which the address occurred. That is, Satan made the deeds of the previous disbelievers fair to them, and he is the ally of these [Quraysh] because they are of them.

Or, the pronoun could refer to the aforementioned [nations] while the speech involves an elided noun, meaning "the ally of their likes," where "the likes" refers to the Quraysh. Abu Hayyan criticized this as being far-fetched due to the variation in pronouns without a necessity for it, nor for estimating an elided noun. It was countered that the word "today" necessitates it.

Al-Tayyibi said: "It is the [preferred] interpretation, and upon it lies the superior composition." This is because starting the oath with His saying, "By Allah," after their denial of the message and the enumeration of their evils, carries the implication that what was mentioned serves as a consolation for the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). It is as if it were said: "The past nations, with the past messengers, were always in this manner. Those are an example regarding the messengers (peace be upon them), and your people are successors to those nations, so do not be concerned by that, for your Lord shall take vengeance for you upon them in the world and the Hereafter. So, occupy yourself with conveying what has been sent down to you, establishing the types of proofs set up for Oneness, and calling to the performance of gratitude for the manifest blessings of Allah the Exalted."

In al-Kashf, he [the author] stated: "There is no preference for this view from the standpoint of consolation, since all are beneficial for that in a clear way. Preference is only for the view that leads to 'bringing the state to mind' due to the additional solace it contains." The truth is that what Al-Zamakhshari mentioned is not apparent, and the claim that the word "today" necessitates it is open to objection. The most that can be said is that it is the existence of a justifying context, not a prioritizing one.

Regarding the connection of the verses, it was mentioned in al-Kashf that His saying, "And they assign to what they do not know..." up to this point is a new branch of their disbelief and the enumeration of their evils. It is also possible that it is a completion of what preceded it, in the manner of "And whatever you have of blessings, it is from Allah," except that it is constructed upon the third person to indicate that it is a different branch. This is easily understood. It is also possible that it be treated as a conjunction to His saying, "And they swore by Allah," for the speech that occurred after it is a completion of it, by way of interruption and digression. It is as if it were said: "That is their belief regarding the afterlife, and this is [their belief] regarding the origin; and they, between these, are followers of this upright religion." Despite the difference in creed regarding the origin and the afterlife, they claim that they have the best [outcome], and they are entitled to the opposite of that, truly. Then he said: And His saying...