Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:212

Meaning: It was made to appear beautiful and rendered beloved in their hearts, so they rushed toward it like moths rushing into a fire, turning away from everything else. For this reason, the People of the Scripture turned away from the signs and altered them. The One who causes this "beautification" in this true sense is Allah (the Exalted). If it is interpreted as "making it appear beautiful" through speech and similar whispers—as in the verse: "I will surely beautify for them [evil] on the earth"—then the one acting is Satan. The verse is susceptible to both meanings, and the term "beautification" is used in its literal sense in both, according to what the apparent words of al-Raghib suggest.

The relative pronoun here refers to specific individuals, namely the poor among the believers, such as Suhayb, Bilal, and ‘Ammar. That is, they mock them for their rejection of worldly life and their devotion to the Hereafter. The particle "min" (from/at) is used for transitivity and conveys the sense of "origin," as if they made their poverty and the shabbiness of their condition the source of their mockery. It is possible for "mockery" to be made transitive with the particle "ba," though that is a poor linguistic form. The conjunction links it to "beautified," and the use of the present/future tense indicates continuity. It is also permissible that the "wa" (and) is a circumstantial connector (waw al-hal), making "they mock" the predicate of an omitted subject—that is: "while they mock."

This verse was revealed regarding Abu Jahl and his ilk among the leaders of Quraysh, for whom the world was expanded; they would mock the poor believers, saying: "If Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) were a prophet, our nobles would have followed him." This is reported from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him). It is also said it was revealed regarding ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, and it is also said it was regarding the leaders of the Jews, from the tribes of Qurayza, an-Nadir, and Qaynuqa‘, who mocked the poor among the Emigrants (Muhajirun). ‘Ata’ held that there is no objection to it having been revealed regarding all of them.

They are the very same individuals who believed, but the expression was chosen to praise them for their righteousness (taqwa) and to intimate the cause for the ruling. It is also permissible for it to imply generality, in which case these individuals are included within it in the most primary sense.

"Above them on the Day of Resurrection" means in status, for they shall be in the highest positions (Illiyyin) while those others shall be in the lowest depths; or in standing, for they shall be at the pinnacle of honor while those others are in the abyss of humiliation and disgrace; or because they shall look down upon them in the Hereafter, mocking them just as they mocked them in the worldly life. The sentence is conjoined to what preceded it, and the nominal structure was chosen to indicate the perpetuity of its content; therein lies a solace for the believers that is not hidden.

In the Hereafter, meaning without limit to what He bestows. Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "This provision is in the worldly life," and therein is an indication that the mocked believers would come to possess the wealth of the tribes of Qurayza and an-Nadir. It is also permissible to interpret it as applying to both abodes, thereby serving as a concluding summary for both rulings.