Tafsir of Ad-Dhariyat 51:9

{يُؤْفَكُ عَنْهُ}—meaning, he is turned away from the faith he was tasked to believe in, as indicated by the preceding discourse.

Al-Hasan and Qatadah said: "Turned away from the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)." Many others said: "Turned away from the Qur’an." The preceding discourse implies both, for there is no turning away more severe or greater than this. The aspect of hyperbole lies in attributing the verb to the one described by it; were it not for the purpose of hyperbole, it would be an explanation of the obvious. It is as if he established for the one turned away another turning, as it is said: "He is turned away from it—the one who is turned away." Thus, the hyperbole arises from the doubling. Furthermore, the absolute usage in this address has a role in strengthening the doubling, as does the ambiguity in the relative pronoun (the "who"), which is similar to the Almighty’s saying: “And there covered them from the sea that which covered them.”

It was said: The intended meaning is "he is turned away from it in external existence from he who was 'turned away from it' in the eternal knowledge and decree of Allah the Almighty." This was critiqued on the grounds that there is no benefit in its mention, because everything that exists is known to be fixed in His preceding, eternal knowledge, and it lacks the aforementioned hyperbole. It was answered regarding the first point that it contains an indication that the decisive argument belongs to Allah the Exalted in his turning away, and that is a sufficient benefit. This is based on the premise that knowledge is dependent upon the known, so understand this.

Al-Zahrawi recounted that the pronoun may refer to {لِمَا تُوعَدُونَ} (what you are promised) or to the Religion. The Almighty swore by the Dhariyat (the scatterers) that the occurrence of the matter of the Resurrection is the truth; then He swore by the Heaven that they are in a "diverse speech" regarding its occurrence, for among them are those who doubt and those who deny. Then the Exalted and Majestic said: {يُؤْفَكُ عَنْهُ مَنْ أُفِكَ}—meaning, he who is "turned away" is turned away from acknowledging the matter of the Resurrection. Al-Zamakhshari mentioned this but did not attribute it. The author of al-Kashf claimed that it is the most sound interpretation for the harmony of the speech.

It was said: It is permissible for the pronoun to refer to "diverse speech," and {عَنْ} (from/about) to be for causality, as in the Almighty’s saying: “And we are not those to leave our gods for your word” (11:53), and his saying: "They forbid from eating and from drinking, like the oryx that graze and become fat." Meaning: he is turned away due to that "diverse speech" from he who desired Islam. Al-Zamakhshari said: "Its reality is that their lying originates from the diverse speech." This is possible while keeping 'an (from) upon its original meaning of transcendence and considering inclusion (tadmin). However, it involves committing to that which is contrary to the apparent meaning without necessity, along with the loss of that hyperbole.

Ibn Atiyyah permitted the pronoun to return to the "speech," but he said: The meaning is that the one whose felicity has prevailed is turned away from that diverse speech through Allah’s granting of success to Islam. This was critiqued on the grounds that it contradicts usage, for the custom of usage in ifk (turning away) is turning from good to evil; therefore, you only find it among the blameworthy. Furthermore, this is based on the address in “you” (in the preceding verses) being directed at the disbelievers, which is the view of Ibn Zayd and others. Abu Hayyan favored that it is general for both the Muslim and the disbeliever, and he favored this generality in what preceded as well. The "diverse speech" in that case is the statement of the Muslims regarding the truthfulness of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and the statement of the disbelievers to the contrary.

Ibn Jubayr and Qatadah read {مَنْ أَفَكَ} in the active voice, meaning: "He who turned people away from it," and they are the Quraysh. Zayd bin Ali read {يَأْفِكُ عَنْهُ مَنْ أَفَّاك}—meaning: "He who is a liar/fabricator turns people away from it." It was also read {يُؤْفَنُ عَنْهُ مَنْ أُفِنَ} with an nun, meaning: "He is deprived from it—the one who is deprived," from afana the udder, when one has exhausted it by milking.