Tafsir of Ghafir 40:47

"And when they will argue within the Fire..."

The word idh (when) is a complement to an omitted verb that is implied; that is: "And remember the time of their disputing in the Fire." The sentence is conjoined to what precedes it, a conjunction of narrative to narrative, not to a hidden estimation—such as "Remember what has been recited to you of the story of Moses, peace be upon him, Pharaoh, and the believer from the family of Pharaoh"—nor to His saying, the Exalted: "Do not let their movement in the land deceive you," nor to His saying, Glorified be He: "And warn them of the Day of the Imminent," due to the lack of necessity for estimation in the first, and the distance of the conjoined-to in the others.

Al-Tabari claimed that idh is conjoined to "when the hearts are at the throats." This is remote and contains within it what it contains. Others have allowed that it is conjoined to "were brought morning and evening," with the sentence "the Day the Hour rises" being an interjection between them. This, despite being contrary to the apparent meaning, is of little benefit.

Regarding the disputing, Ibn Atiyyah and others have chosen that it applies to the disbelievers of all nations. From the speech of some, it appears that it is specifically for the disbelievers of Quraysh. It is also said that it is for the family of Pharaoh.

His saying, the Exalted: "The weak will say to those who were arrogant," is a detailing of the arguing and disputation in the Fire; that is, the subordinates will say to their leaders: "Indeed, we were" in the worldly life "followers to you," which is the plural of tabi‘ (follower), similar to khadam (servants) as the plural of khadim (servant). A group, noting the scarcity of this plural, went to the view that taba‘ is an infinitive—either by estimating a genitive, meaning "Indeed, we were for you possessors of following," i.e., followers; or by way of figurative usage in the construct or the predication for the sake of hyperbole, by making them, due to the intensity of their subservience, as if they were the very essence of following.

"So will you avail us against a portion of the Fire," meaning to repel some of its torment or bear it on our behalf. Mughniyun (availers) is derived from al-ghana (with a fathah), meaning benefit. Nasiban (a portion) signifies a share, acting as the object for the verb implied by the context—repelling or bearing—or the word is interpreted by including the meaning of one of them; that is, "Will you repel or bear for us a portion?" It is also permissible for nasiban to stand in the place of the infinitive, like shay’an (anything) in His saying, the Exalted: "Neither their wealth nor their children will avail them against Allah anything." In this case, "from the Fire" is related to mughniyun; according to the former view, it is a stable circumstantial qualifier serving as an explanation for nasiban.