ﱠ ﱡ ﱢ ﱣ ﱤ ﱥ ﱦ ﱧ ﱨ ﱩ ﱪ ﱫ ﱬ ﱭ ﱮ ﱯ ﱰ ﱱ ﱲ ﱳ
You see many of them becoming allies of those who disbelieved. How wretched is that which they have put forth for themselves in that Allah has become angry with them, and in the punishment they will abide eternally.
Tafsir
Verse range: 5:80
"You see many of them befriending those who disbelieved"
This address is to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), or to anyone capable of seeing. The vision here is visual, and the verbal sentence that follows it is in the position of a state (hal) for its object, because the object is described. The pronoun in "many of them" refers to the People of the Scripture, or to the Children of Israel—a view supported by the author of al-Bahr. By "the many," Ka’b ibn al-Ashraf and his companions are intended, and by "those who disbelieved," the polytheists of Mecca. It has been narrated that a group of Jews went to Mecca to form an alliance with its polytheists against the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the believers, but they did not succeed in doing so.
It is narrated from al-Baqir (may Allah be pleased with him) that those who disbelieved were the tyrannical kings; meaning, you see many of them—specifically their scholars—befriending the tyrants and decorating their whims for them, so that they might obtain a portion of their worldly wealth. This is extremely far-fetched, and it is likely that its attribution to al-Baqir is incorrect. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), al-Hasan, and Mujahid that "the many" refers to the hypocrites of the Jews, and "those who disbelieved" refers to those of them who were openly defiant, while others said it refers to the polytheists.
"How evil is that which their souls have sent forth for them"
That is, how evil is that thing which they did in this world to receive its recompense in the Hereafter.
"That Allah is displeased with them"
This is the specific object of condemnation (al-makhsus bi-al-dhamm), with the omission of the genitive (mudaf) and the substitution of the genitive possessor (mudaf ilayh) in its place. This is to draw attention to the perfect connection and linkage between them, as if they were one thing, and to exaggerate the condemnation. That is, "Evil is that which they sent forth for their return, for it is the cause of Allah’s displeasure with them." They considered the omitted mudaf because the displeasure of Allah, in terms of its attribution to Him (Exalted is He), is not in itself condemnable; rather, what is condemnable are the causes that necessitated it. Moreover, the displeasure itself is not something one performs in this world to see its recompense in the Hereafter, as is not hidden.
Regarding the parsing (i'rab) of the object of condemnation or praise, there are famous opinions among the grammarians. Abu al-Baqa’ chose the view that the specific object here is the predicate of an omitted subject that serves to indicate the preceding sentence, as if it were said: "What is it?" or "Which thing is it?" and the response was: "It is that Allah is displeased with them." It is reported from Sibawayh that "that Allah is displeased" is in the nominative case as a substitute (badal) for the object of condemnation, which is omitted, and the sentence "that they sent forth" is its adjective. "That" (ma) is a perfect noun, definite, in the nominative case as the agent of the verb of condemnation. The estimation is: "Evil is the thing—a thing their souls sent forth for them—[which is] the displeasure of Allah." It is also said that it is in the nominative case as a substitute for "that" (ma), if we consider it a definite agent for the verb of condemnation, or in the accusative case if it is a specifier (tamyiz). This has been objected to on the grounds that it involves substituting a definite noun for an indefinite one. It is also said that it is based on the assumption of a preposition, and the specific object is omitted—that is: "Evil is that, for that Allah is displeased with them."
"And in the punishment they will abide eternally"
Meaning, the punishment of Hell, for all of eternity. The sentence is in the position of a state (hal) and is a consequence of what preceded it; it is not included within the scope of the infinitive particle (an) grammatically, as some have erroneously imagined. ‘Isam al-Milla went to great lengths to claim that an is abbreviated (mukhaffafa) and acts upon a pronoun of state (dameer al-sha’n), with the estimation of "that He is displeased with them and in the punishment they will abide." It is also permitted that this sentence be conjoined to the second object of "you see" by making it epistemic, meaning: "You know that many of them befriend those who disbelieved and will abide eternally in the Fire." All of this is unnecessary.
