Tafsir of Muhammad 47:25

"Indeed, those who turned back on their heels"—meaning, they returned to what they were upon of disbelief. Ibn Abbas and others said: This was revealed regarding hypocrites who had accepted Islam, but then their hearts turned to hypocrisy. In Irshad al-'Aql al-Salim, it is stated that they are the hypocrites who were described previously as having hearts afflicted with disease and other repulsive states, for they disbelieved in him—peace and blessings be upon him—"after the guidance had become clear to them" through manifest proofs and overwhelming, compelling miracles.

'Abd al-Razzaq and a group narrated from Qatadah that he said: They are the enemies of Allah, the People of the Scripture, who know of the sending of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and find it written in the Torah and the Gospel, yet they disbelieve in him. Ibn al-Mundhir narrated from Ibn Jurayj that he said: "Indeed, those who turned back," etc., refers to the Jews who turned back from the guidance after they knew that Muhammad was a Prophet. The latter is the preferred view.

Regardless, the relative pronoun (the "those" [الذين]) is the noun for Inna, and the sentence of His saying, "Satan tempted them [sawwala]," is its predicate. It is like saying, "Indeed, Zayd, 'Amr passed by him." Taswil (temptation) means he made easy for them the undertaking of grave sins. It is derived from al-sawl (with two fathas), which is slackening; it is used metaphorically for facilitation—meaning, he made it seem easy and trivial to them so that they would not be concerned by it, as if he likened it to the loosening of something that was taut.

It is also said: It means he incited them toward desires, from al-sawl meaning wishing (al-tamanni). Its origin is inciting them toward their su'l—that is, what they desire and wish for. Thus, the taf'il form denotes compelling someone toward the noun, like gharrabahu (he drove him away) when one compels someone toward exile, except that they treated the noun as having the meaning of a passive participle, and this was transmitted from Ibn al-Sikkit. This was objected to on the grounds that al-sawl in the sense of wishing comes from al-su'al (questioning/asking), so it is hamzated (sawl), whereas taswil is waw-based (from s-w-l). Its meaning is embellishment (tazyin), so there is no appropriateness either in wording or meaning, and thus the claim of deriving taswil from it is erroneous. This was countered by saying that al-sawl comes from al-su'al and has two usages: it is hamzated, which is well-known, and it is weak (defective), as one says sa'a-yasa'u (he asked) like khafa-yakhafu (he feared). They say from it yatasawalan (they both ask) with a waw. Thus, it is possible for taswil to be from al-sawl based on this dialect, or it is the famous usage where the hamza was lightened by turning it into a waw, then it became fixed. A parallel is tadayyur from al-dar (the house) due to the heart's fixation on houses, and likewise tahayyuz due to the heart's fixation on a space. Consequently, the meaning in this case leads to inciting them toward desires.

Zayd ibn 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) recited it as suwwila lahum (passive voice). This is explained by the estimation of a deleted addition—meaning, "Satan's plot tempted them." It is also permitted that the estimation is "he tempted his plot for them," so the genitive pronoun was deleted and replaced by the plot, which then became nominative and implicit. It is said: This is more appropriate because it is an estimation at the time of need, though it is not hidden that the first [view] is less labored.

"And [he] prolonged for them [their hope]"—meaning, Satan extended for them their vain desires and hopes. The meaning of "extending" them is expanding them and causing them to be prolonged, either by their own nature or by time, by whispering to them that "You will attain in this world such and such" of things that have no basis, until this hinders them from performing deeds. The origin of imla' (granting respite) is to leave [something] for a duration of time—that is, a while. Hence, it is said that the meaning is he promised them a long life.

Some made the subject of amlaytu (I prolong) to be His—the Almighty—pronoun, and the meaning is: He gave them respite and did not hasten their punishment. There is a disjointedness in this, but it is supported by the recitation of Mujahid, Ibn Hurmuz, al-A'mash, Sallam, and Ya'qub: wa-umli (with a hamza for the first person), the imperfect of amlaytu. In this case, the subject is clearly the pronoun of His, the Almighty. The origin is for the two recitations to be in agreement. It is also allowed that it is a past passive verb from the augmented form, with the end made silent for ease, just as they said baqa (he remained) for baqiya with a silent ya'. Based on the apparent meaning, it is permitted that the waw is for initiation or for a circumstantial state, and a subject is estimated after it—i.e., "And I am prolonging," so that it would not be irregular like [the expression] qumtu wa-assuku wajhahu (I stood and I strike his face). The circumstantial state is also permitted in the popular recitation by making the subject the pronoun of His, the Almighty; then, one estimates "already" (qad) according to the famous view. Ibn Sirin, al-Jahdari, Abu 'Amr, and 'Isa recited it as wa-umliya lahum (passive voice), with lahum being the deputy of the subject; meaning, they were given respite and their lives were prolonged. It is also permitted that it is the pronoun of Satan, and the meaning is: Satan gave them respite—meaning, he made them among those granted delay until the Day of Resurrection for their sake. In this is a clarification of the continuity of their misguidance and the repulsiveness of their state.