Tafsir of Al-Furqan 25:27

"And the day the wrongdoer will bite on his hands." Al-Tabarsi stated: The governing agent for "the day" is an implied "Remember." It is also permissible for it to be a conjunction to what preceded it. The most apparent meaning is that the Al (definite article) in "the wrongdoer" (al-zalim) denotes the genus; thus, it encompasses every wrongdoer. Abu Hayyan narrated this from Mujahid and Abu Raja', and he mentioned that the reference to "such-and-such a person" (fulan) mentioned later in the verse refers to Satan.

It is also said that the Al is for definition by covenant (al-ahd), and the "wrongdoer" refers to Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt—may the curse of Allah Almighty be upon him—and "such-and-such a person" refers to Ubayy ibn Khalaf. It is reported that Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt would never return from a journey without preparing food and inviting all the people of Makkah to it. He used to sit frequently with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and enjoyed his speech, yet wretchedness overcame him.

One day, he returned from a journey, prepared food, and invited the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to his meal. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "I will not eat from your food until you testify that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah." He replied, "Eat, O son of my brother." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "I will not do so until you say it." He testified, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ate from his food.

News of this reached Ubayy ibn Khalaf, who came to him and said: "Have you apostatized, O Uqbah?" Ubayy was his close friend. He replied: "By Allah, I have not apostatized, but a man entered my house and refused to eat my food unless I testified for him. I was too ashamed for him to leave my house before eating, so I testified for him and he ate." Ubayy said: "I will not be satisfied with you until you go to him and do such-and-such," mentioning an act unworthy of anyone but the accursed speaker. Uqbah did so.

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) then said to him: "I will not meet you outside of Makkah without striking your head with the sword." In another narration: "If I find you outside the mountains of Makkah, I will strike your neck as a captive." When the day of Badr came and his companions departed, he refused to go out. His companions said to him, "Go out with us." He replied, "This man has promised me that if he finds me outside the mountains of Makkah, he will strike my neck as a captive." They said, "You have a red camel that cannot be overtaken; if there is defeat, you will fly away on it." So he went out with them. When Allah Almighty defeated the polytheists, his camel carried him across the plains of the earth. He was taken prisoner among seventy men of Quraysh and brought before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who commanded Ali—may Allah ennoble his countenance—to strike his neck.

In a narration by Thabit ibn Abi al-Aflah, Uqbah said: "Will you kill me among these people?" He replied, "Yes." He asked, "Why?" He said, "Because of your disbelief, your wickedness, and your arrogance against Allah Almighty and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)." In one narration, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) explicitly reminded him of what he had done to him, then struck his neck.

As for Ubayy ibn Khalaf, despite that incident, he said: "By Allah, I will surely kill Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)." This reached the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "Rather, I will kill him, if Allah wills." This terrified Ubayy, and he said to the one who informed him: "I adjure you by Allah, did you hear him say that?" He said, "Yes." It settled in his heart, as they knew that whatever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said was the truth.

When the day of Uhud arrived, he went out with the polytheists and began seeking a moment of the Prophet's (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) negligence to attack him. A man from the Muslims would intervene between the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and him. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saw this, he said to his companions: "Leave him be." He took a spear and threw it at him; it struck his collarbone. Not much blood flowed from it, and the blood pooled inside him. He began to bellow like a bull bellows. His companions came and carried him while he was still bellowing. They said, "What is this? By Allah, it is nothing but a scratch." He replied, "By Allah, if only his spittle had touched me, it would have killed me. Did he not say, 'I will kill him'? By Allah, if what I have were distributed among the people of Dhu al-Majaz, it would kill them." He did not linger more than a day or so before he went to the Fire. Then Allah Almighty revealed this verse. This opinion is reported from Ibn Abbas and a group.

In another narration from Ibn Abbas, the "wrongdoer" is Ubayy ibn Khalaf and "such-and-such" is Uqbah. "Biting on his hands" is either taken literally—reported from al-Dahhak and a group, who said: "He will eat his hands up to the elbows, and they will grow back; he will continue like this, and whenever he eats them, they will grow back"—or it is a metonym for extreme regret and remorse. The same applies to "biting the fingertips," "falling into the hands," "grinding the teeth," and "tearing the skin," as these are associated with such states in custom and convention. In the proverb, it is said: "He eats his hands in regret, and his tears flow like blood." The poet said: "I despise injustice, while al-Nu'man grinds his teeth [in anger] at him..." The verb 'adda (he bit) follows the pattern fa'ala, with a kasra on the middle radical. Al-Kisa'i narrated 'adada, with a fatha on the middle radical.

"He says, 'Oh, woe to me! I wish I had taken a way with the Messenger.'"

This sentence occupies the place of a circumstantial clause (hal) for "the wrongdoer," or it is an initiating sentence, or one that clarifies the preceding one. "Oh, woe to me" (Ya laytani)—the "Ya" is merely for alerting, without the intention of specifying the person being alerted, or the vocative is implied: "O my people, I wish I had..." The Al in "the Messenger" (al-Rasul) is either for the genus, encompassing every messenger, or for covenant, referring to the messenger of this nation, Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The first applies if the Al in "the wrongdoer" is for the genus; the second if it is for covenant. The indefinite status of "a way" (sabilan) is either for generalization or for the singular, not being defined because of the claim of its determinacy; meaning: "I wish I had taken a path to salvation, any path whatsoever," or "a single path," which is the path of truth, and that the paths of misguidance had not branched out for me.