Tafsir of Az-Zumar 39:45

"And when Allah is mentioned alone" (i.e., singled out in mention, and their gods are not mentioned with Him. It is said: i.e., when it is said, "There is no god but Allah") "the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter shrink with aversion" (i.e., they contract and recoil, as in the words of the Exalted: "And when your Lord is mentioned in the Qur'an alone, they turn their backs in aversion"). "And when those other than Him are mentioned" (whether alone or along with the mention of Allah, Mighty and Majestic is He) "behold, they rejoice."

The intensity of their infatuation with them and their forgetfulness of the right of Allah, the Exalted, is stated in a way that exhausts the description of their ugly state, as the limits of both are shown. Istibshar (rejoicing) is for the heart to be so filled with joy that the skin of the face expands, whereas ishmi'zaz (shrinking with aversion) is for the heart to be so filled with rage and distress that the skin of the face contracts—as is witnessed in the face of one who is grief-stricken.

The first "when" (idha) is conditional; its place is accusative as an adverb of time, and its operative factor—according to the majority—is the answer (the consequence), which is "shrink with aversion," or the verb following it, which is "mentioned," according to Abu Hayyan and a group; it is not, according to them, linked to the sentence that follows it. Likewise is the second "when"; its operative factor is either the "mentioned" that comes after it or "rejoice."

The third "when" is for suddenness (fujai'yyah), acting as a link between the condition and the consequence, like the fa (so/then). According to those who hold it to be a particle, nothing operates upon it. According to those who hold it to be a noun—either an adverb of time or place—the operative factor here is the predicate of the nominal sentence that follows it. Al-Zamakhshari said: its operative factor is an implied verb derived from the word for "surprise" (suddenness), the estimation being "they were surprised at the time of rejoicing," so it is an object. He also allowed that it could be the subject, in the sense of "the time of rejoicing surprised them." This implied verb is the answer to the second "when," and it is linked to it based on the opinion of the majority that the operative factor in "when" is its answer. There is no necessity for two adverbs to be linked to one operative factor, because the second of them is not in the accusative case as an adverb.

Indeed, it has been said regarding Al-Zamakhshari that he has no predecessor in this view, and you know that in matters of Arabic, a man does not imitate another. It is strange that Al-Hufi said the third "when" is an adverbial, brought as a repetition for the "when" before it and for emphasis, with its condition elided, the estimation being "when that occurs, they rejoice." This should not be given any consideration at all.

The verse concerns the polytheists in general. Ibn Mardawayh narrated from Ibn Abbas that he interpreted "those who do not believe in the Hereafter" as Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, Al-Walid ibn Uqbah, Safwan, and Ubayy ibn Khalaf, and he interpreted "those other than Him" as Al-Lat and Al-Uzza. This is as if it were a specification of some individuals of a general category. Ibn Al-Mundhir and others narrated from Mujahid that the verse reports what took place among the polytheists on the day the Prophet (peace be upon him) recited [Surah] "The Star" at the door of the Kaaba. This also does not negate the generality, as is not hidden.

We have seen many people in a state similar to this which Allah, the Exalted, described regarding the polytheists. They rejoice at the mention of the dead, seeking aid from them, and asking to hear false stories about them that conform to their desires and their beliefs regarding them. They exalt whoever recounts these tales to them, while they shrink with aversion at the mention of Allah, the Exalted, alone, or the mention of His independence in disposing of affairs—Mighty and Majestic is He—or the recital of that which indicates His supreme greatness and majesty. They recoil from the one who does this with total aversion, and they attribute to him what he dislikes.

I once said to a man who was calling out in distress to one of the dead, crying, "O so-and-so, aid me," I said to him: "Say, 'O Allah,' for the Sublime has said: 'And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then I am near. I answer the prayer of the caller when he calls upon Me.'" He became angry, and it reached me that he said, "So-and-so is a denier of the saints." I heard from some of them that he said, "The saint is swifter to answer than Allah, the Exalted." This is a position of disbelief; we ask Allah, the Exalted, to protect us from deviation and tyranny.