Tafsir of Al-Jathiyah 45:9

"And if he learns anything of Our verses, he takes it in mockery."

That is, if something of Our verses reaches him and he learns that it is from Us, he hastens to mock all of the verses, not limiting his mockery to what has reached him. It is also possible that the meaning is: if he learns something of Our verses that he can cling to, debate with, and find a pretext to climb upon for the purpose of disparagement and defamation, he seizes it and takes the verses of Allah the Exalted in mockery. An example of this is the objection of Ibn al-Ziba'ra regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Indeed, you and what you worship other than Allah are the firewood of Hell," and his fallacious argument against the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), saying according to some narrations: "I have defeated you in argument."

The pronoun in "takes it" (ittakhadhaha), in both interpretations, refers to the "verses." The difference between the two is that in the second interpretation, "anything" (shay'an) implies specificity due to the context of "takes it in mockery," since it only pertains to what can be deceptively presented in that manner. He then makes it a standard for the rest, saying: "All of them are of this kind." Another difference between the two views is that, in the first, the taking occurs before contemplation, while in the second, it occurs after contemplation and after distinguishing one verse from another. It is also said: The mockery is of what he learned of the verses, but the pronoun is returned to the "verses" because mockery of one of them is mockery of them all, due to their similarity. It is also permissible that the pronoun refers to "anything" (shay'an), with the feminine form used because it conveys the meaning of "verse" (ayah), as Abu al-Atahiya said: "My soul is attached to a thing (shay') of the world—Allah, the Everlasting, and the Mahdi are sufficient for it." He meant the "thing," and he intended a servant girl of the Mahdi, one of his favorites, whom Abu al-Atahiya was fond of, so he said what he said. Qatada and Matar al-Waraq read "learns" (‘ullima) in the passive voice.

"Those..." is an indication of those who are like him in terms of being characterized by the aforementioned vile traits. The plural is used to account for the inclusion of all, just as in the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Each party rejoices in what they have," just as the singular pronouns previously used referred to each individual separately. The remote demonstrative is used to indicate the remoteness of their status in evil.

"...will have a humiliating punishment."

The punishment is described as "humiliating" to fully recompense their arrogance and their mockery of the verses of Allah the Almighty.