Tafsir of Al-Mumtahanah 60:2

[60:2] If they come upon you, they will be...

(If they come upon you): That is, if they attain victory over you. The origin of al-thaqf (coming upon/mastering) is skill in grasping something and acting upon it. From this is the expression "a thaqif laqif man" (a clever, quick-witted man). It is used metaphorically for victory and attainment in an absolute sense.

(They will be enemies to you): That is, an enmity from which harm follows in action, as evidenced by His saying: (And they will stretch forth their hands and their tongues against you with evil), meaning with that which harms you, such as killing, captivity, and verbal abuse. It is as if this were an explanatory conjunction. The occurrence of (they will be) as the response to the condition is based on the perspective we have indicated; otherwise, their being enemies to those addressed is a matter realized before the condition, as evidenced by what is in this Surah. Similar to this is the saying of some: "That is, they will manifest what is in their hearts of enmity and act according to its dictates."

It is also said: The intended meaning is the necessary consequence and fruit of enmity, which is the realization that showing affection is of no benefit. It is as if it were said: "If they come upon you, it will become clear to you that casting affection toward them and befriending them is of no benefit."

His saying: (And they desire that you should disbelieve): This is conjoined to the response (the apodosis). It is future in meaning, as is the nature of a response. It is interpreted in the same way its predecessor was interpreted: by saying, according to what is in al-Kashf, that the intended meaning is a desire that results in the ability to turn you back to disbelief. Or, it is said, according to what some have stated, that the intended meaning is the manifestation of that desire and the execution of what it entails. The expression is in the past tense—even though the meaning refers to the future—to signify that their desire for your disbelief precedes everything else, and that it is present even if they do not come upon you.

[As in the verse] (that Allah may forgive for you your past and future sins). What is in the Sublime Arrangement here is said to be possibly interpreted as the desire being present [pre-eternal] for the future regarding certain considerations, as previously mentioned. The past tense was used, considering the rank-based precedence, in that turning [a believer] back to disbelief is the most difficult of harms, because the disbelievers know that the religion is dearer to the believers than their own souls, for they are willing to sacrifice them for its sake. The most important thing for an enemy is to target the most important thing for his opponent.

It is also possible, thirdly, that the intent is the totality [of these acts], interpreted as "they desire for you the harms of this world and the Hereafter." It is said that [it applies] to the second [interpretation] as well, in that the recompense is [And they will stretch forth...] and their enmity and desire for your apostasy were mentioned due to the intensity of the connection, given the causal relationship between them. This is as you see.

Al-Tayyibi made the whole [sequence] a metaphor, based on mentioning the cause while intending the effect, which is the harms of both realms. He mentioned that the response is, in reality, omitted; that is, "they desire for you the harms of this world and the religion," and what was mentioned serves as its evidence in its place.

It is said that the past tense was used for the desire to emphasize that its realization among the believers is more complete than the realization of what preceded it, and the words of the author of al-Miftah are construed this way.

Some have said that the waw (and) is a waw of state (hal), not a waw of conjunction, and the sentence is in the position of a state, with or without the estimation of qad (already). However, it is not hidden that the [most] immediate interpretation is that of conjunction, and its being on the response is further in depth of meaning; [yet] extracting the condition and response in such a manner is more frequent than can be counted.