Tafsir of Al-`Ankabut 29:12

(And those who disbelieved said to those who believed): This is an explanation of how they pressured the believers into disbelief by means of persuasion, after having previously explained their pressure through harm and threats. They are described here as "disbelievers" rather than by what preceded it, because the flow of the discourse here is to clarify their crime, whereas previously it was to clarify the crime of those who led them astray. The "lam" is for conveying; meaning they said this addressing them: (Follow our way): meaning, traverse our path which we follow in religion. This is expressed as "following," which is walking behind another who is walking, treating the path as equivalent to the one traversing it, or "follow us in our way."

(And we will bear your sins): Meaning, if that following is a sin for which one is held accountable on the Day of Resurrection, as you claim, or: "We will bear whatever sins are upon you, if there is indeed a resurrection and accountability." They commanded themselves to bear [the sins], joining it to the command to follow as a way to emphasize the connection of bearing to following. It is as if the original phrasing was: "Follow our way, [and] we will bear your sins," with the verb "we will bear" being jussive as a response to an imperative command. The meaning would be: "If you follow, we will bear." However, the phrasing was diverted to what is in the glorious text for the aforementioned emphasis. The source of this emphasis is the indication that the bearing—due to its certainty—is as if it were a binding duty commanded by an authority who is obeyed, with the connection tied to the condition contained within the command. As in the saying, "Honor me [and] I will benefit you," this does not entail that [the fulfillment is mandatory]. The incentive for them to use this emphasis is to embolden them to follow.

"Bearing" here is metaphorical. In al-Bahr, it is likened to the state of what accrues from the consequences of sin, akin to carrying a load on one's back, and the sins are the load. Mujahid said: "The bearing here refers to al-hamala (the undertaking of surety/debt), not the carrying of a physical load."

The verse, according to what a group reported from Mujahid, was revealed regarding the disbelievers of Quraysh. They said to those among them who believed: "We will not be resurrected, nor will you; so follow us, and if there is any burden upon you, it is upon us." Ibn Abi Shaybah and Ibn al-Mundhir reported from Ibn al-Hanafiyyah that he said: "Abu Jahl and the leaders of Quraysh would meet people coming to the Prophet (peace be upon him) to accept Islam and say: 'He prohibits wine, prohibits adultery, and prohibits what the Arabs used to do. Turn back, for we will bear your burdens,' so this verse was revealed." It is also said that the speaker was Abu Sufyan ibn Harb and Umayyah ibn Khalaf, who said to Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): "If there is sin in remaining upon the religion of the fathers, we will bear it for you." It is also said the speaker was al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah. The attribution of what is issued by one to the many is common, and the explanation for this has been mentioned more than once.

Al-Hasan, Isa, and Nuh al-Qari read "wa-linahmil" (and let us bear) with a kasra on the command "lam." It is also narrated from Ali (may Allah’s countenance be ennobled) [that he read it this way].

(And they are not bearers of any of their sins): A negated statement emphasized by continuity, because they do not bear anything at all of the sins they undertook to carry. The ba (in bi-hamilin) is extra, for the purpose of emphasizing the negation. The continuity implied by the nominal sentence is considered after the negation. The min (in min khatayahum) is for clarification and is placed before the word it modifies; the min in min shay is extra for emphasizing the inclusiveness. This sentence is a parenthetical clause or a state (hal).

Dawud ibn Abi Hind, according to what Abu al-Fadl al-Razi mentioned, read it as min khati'atihim (of their sin) in the singular. He said: "Its meaning is the genus," and this is indicated by the fact that it is qualified by the plural pronoun. Ibn Khalawayh and Abu Amr al-Dani mentioned that this Dawud read min khati'atihim as a sound plural with an alif and ta. Ibn Atiyyah mentioned from him that he read min khati'ihim with a fatha on the ta and a kasra on the ya. The kasra on the ya should be understood as a hamza that was softened in-between, appearing like a ya, as the linguistic rule for its softening is exactly that.

His saying: (Indeed, they are liars): This is a new start (infitah) confirming the previous negation. It is said that the lie refers to the conditional promise of "bearing" following "following," for it is a report, not the previous command, because a command is a performative act in which lying cannot occur. This has been countered by saying that the conditional statement does not necessarily have to be a report; rather, it is a promise conditional upon a property—that is, the initiation of a guarantee upon the existence of the attribute. This is why al-Zamakhshari said: "One who guarantees wealth, not knowing his ability to fulfill it, is not called a liar, neither when he guarantees it nor when he becomes incapable, because in both cases he does not fall under the definition of a liar, which is one who reports something contrary to reality." He treated this as a question regarding the expression "liars" and answered it in two ways. The second, as found in al-Kashf, is the [correct] way; its essence is that the lie does not refer to the fact that they are not bearing [the sins]—so that one might say a guarantor is not called a liar—but rather that Allah informed us that they were incapable of what they guaranteed, and despite that, they are liars in the promise of initiating the guarantee upon the existence of the description. The conclusion is that whoever promises a guarantee, if he guarantees and does not fulfill, he is not called a liar; but if he did not [intend to] guarantee [in the first place], he is called a liar. The first [answer] is that Allah likened their state—as He knew that what they guaranteed had no way of being fulfilled—to the liars whose reports are not according to what the reported object is.

Some scholars of verification said: The lying refers to the report contained within their promise to "bear," which is that they are capable of fulfilling what they promised. Lying, just as it can be applied to speech in consideration of its literal meaning, can also be applied to it in consideration of what its implication entails. In al-Intisaf, it is stated that in the saying of the Exalted: (Indeed, they are liars), there is a fine point from which it is inferred that it is valid for a command to come with the meaning of a report, as some people denied this and insisted on parsing all that came in that form as a command, but that did not hold up for them in this verse, because He—the Exalted—followed their saying: (And we will bear your sins), which is in the imperative form, with His saying: (Indeed, they are liars), and falsification (takdhib) only applies to reports. This makes clear how they are liars in that saying of theirs, even though they presented it in the form of a command. However, the notion that the verse is evidence for what he mentioned has its considerations, as is not hidden.