Tafsir of Al-Hajj 22:72

"And when Our verses are recited to them..." This is a conjunctive clause linked to "[they] worship," with the intervening text serving as a parenthetical remark. The use of the present tense denotes continuous renewal.

The saying of Allah, Exalted is He, "as clear evidences" is a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for "the verses," meaning they are clear in their indication of true beliefs and truthful rulings, or clear in their invalidation of what they are upon regarding the worship of other than Allah.

"You recognize in the faces of those who disbelieve"—that is, in their countenances. The shift in phrasing is similar to what preceded. The address is either to the Master of those addressed (the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him) or to anyone capable of recognizing—whoever it may be.

"The denial"—intended as a mimic noun (a verbal noun prefixed with me), with the intended meaning being the sign of denial, or the repulsive display of frowning, scowling, and the bodily states that indicate their intentions. This is the most appropriate interpretation regarding the saying of Allah, Exalted is He: "they almost assault those who recite to them Our verses"—meaning they leap and strike at them out of excessive rage and anger for the falsehoods they adopted through imitation. The great ignorance inherent in this is not hidden. It is as if the intent is that throughout their era they were bordering on doing so; otherwise, they indeed assaulted some of the Companions who were reciting, as stated in al-Bahr. The sentence occupies the position of a circumstantial qualifier for the possessor (mudaf ilayh), though it is also permissible to consider it a qualifier for "the faces," provided that the intent by the faces is their owners, not the faces themselves.

Isa ibn Umar read yu'raf (you are recognized/it is recognized) in the passive voice, with al-munkaru (the denial) in the nominative case.

"Say"—by way of threat and reproach: "Shall I inform you"—meaning, shall I address you or shall you listen so that I may inform you? "of [something] worse than that"—that which is within you of rage toward the reciters and your assault upon them, or of the distress that has afflicted you because of what has been recited to you.

"The Fire"—meaning, it is the Fire, as the predicate of an omitted subject. The sentence is an answer to an implied question, as if it were said: "What is it?" It is also said that it is the subject, and its predicate is the saying of Allah, Exalted is He: "which Allah has promised those who disbelieve." According to the first interpretation, it is an initiating sentence, and it is permissible for it to be a second predicate after the first.

Ibn 'Abla, and Ibrahim ibn Yusuf from al-A'sha, and Zayd ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) read al-nara (the Fire) in the accusative case, denoting specialization (ikhtisas), and the sentence "which Allah has promised..." is either an initiating sentence or a circumstantial qualifier for "the Fire," with or without the estimation of qad, according to the differing opinions. They did not permit the circumstantial interpretation in the nominative reading based on the first grammatical analysis, as there is nothing in the sentence that can properly govern the circumstantial state. Concerning the accusative, it is also permissible that it is a case of ishtighal (preoccupation/engagement of a verb with a pronoun), in which case the sentence would be explanatory. Ibn Abi Ishaq, and Ibrahim ibn Nuh from Qutayba, read al-nari (the Fire) in the genitive case as an appositive substitution for "worse." The sentence itself allows for the possibilities of being initiating or circumstantial.

The apparent meaning is that the pronoun in wa'adaha (He promised it) is the second object, and the first is the relative pronoun (al-ladhina), meaning: "He promised the disbelievers it." Linguistically, it is also apparent that the first object is the relative pronoun and the second is the Fire, as if the Fire was promised to the disbelievers to consume them. "And wretched is the destination."