Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:143

Mudhabbadhibīn (wavering) between that: This is a state (ḥāl) describing the subject of "they show off" (yurā'ūn) or the subject of "they remember" (yadhkurūn).

It is also permissible for it to be a state describing the subject of "they stand" (qāmū), or it may be in the accusative case due to disparagement (dhamm) by an implied verb. "That" refers to belief and disbelief, which is indicated by the mention of the believers and the disbelievers; hence, "between" is annexed to it. This has been narrated from Ibn Zayd. It is also valid for it to be a reference to the believers and the disbelievers, in which case what follows it serves as an explanation for it, along the lines of the poet’s saying: "The sharp-witted man who assumes of you what he assumes, as if he has already seen and heard." The meaning is: oscillating between them, bewildered, for Satan has caused them to waver (dhabdhabahum).

The origin of dhabdhaba, as Al-Raghib said, is the sound of the movement of a hanging object; then it was metaphorically applied to every disturbance, movement, or hesitation between two things. The second dhal is original according to the Basrans, and a substitute for a ba' according to the Kufans; this is a well-known disagreement between them.

Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them both—read it as mudhabdhibīn with a kasra on the second dhal. Its object in this reading is omitted; that is, "causing their hearts, their religion, or their opinion to waver." It is also possible that it is intransitive, based on the principle that the fa‘lala form acts as tafa‘lala, as in ṣalṣala meaning taṣalṣala (to ring/resound), meaning "wavering." This is supported by what is in the codex of Ibn Mas'ud: mutadhabbidhibīn. It was also read with an undotted dal (mudab-dabīn), which is derived from dabba (with a ḍamma on the dal and a doubled ba'), meaning a path or method, as mentioned in al-Nihayah. It is said, "He is on my dabba," meaning my path and my way. In a tradition of Ibn Abbas: "Follow the dabba (path) of Quraysh and do not depart from the community." The meaning in this case is that they take one path at one time and another path at another time.

"Neither to these nor to those": That is, they are neither attributed to the believers in reality, because they conceal disbelief, nor to the disbelievers, because they manifest belief—or they are not tending toward the former nor toward the latter. Its grammatical place is the accusative as a state from the pronoun in mudhabbadhibīn, or as an appositive (badal) to it. It is also possible that it is an elucidation and explanation for it.

"And whoever Allah leads astray": due to his lack of readiness for guidance and success, "you will never find for him a way" leading to the truth and what is correct, let alone guide him to it. The address is directed at everyone for whom it is appropriate, and this is more eloquent in describing the atrocity of their condition.