Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:175

"And recite to them" is linked to the implicit verb governing "when He took" [in the previous verse]. It follows the pattern of "news of the transformation after the stability," meaning: recite to the Jews, or to your own people, as stated by al-Khazin.

"The news of him to whom We gave Our signs" means: the news of one who possesses status and gravity. As reported by Ibn Marduyah and others through various chains from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), this is Bal'am ibn Ba'ura. In another narration, it is Bal'am ibn Ba'ar, and he was of the Canaanites. Another narration from him and Abu Talhah states that he was of the Children of Israel. Ibn Asakir reported from Ibn Shihab that he was Umayyah ibn Abi al-Salt. Abu al-Shaykh reported from the Scholar [Ibn Abbas] that he was a man from the Children of Israel who had a wife named al-Basus. In another narration reported by Ibn Abi Hatim from him, it is said he was al-Nu'man ibn Sayfi the monk. That he was an Israelite is more fitting for the context, as is evident. The most famous [opinion] is that he was Bal'am or Bal'am, and he had been given knowledge of some of the books of Allah. Less famous is the [opinion that he was] Umayyah, who had read some of the books.

"But he detached himself from them," meaning: from those signs, like the peeling of skin from a slaughtered animal. The intended meaning is that he exited them entirely by disbelieving in them and casting them behind his back. The reality of salkh (peeling) is the stripping and total removal of skin from the skinned. It is said of anything that departs from something in the most complete manner that it has "peeled away" from it. There is an evident hyperbole in this expression. Some have found comfort in this verse, [noting] that knowledge is not stripped from men, as the Almighty said: "But he detached himself from them," and did not say "they were stripped from him."

"So Satan followed him," meaning: he caught up with him and overtook him—as al-Raghib said—after having previously been unable to catch him due to his [prior] precedence in faith and obedience. Al-Jawhari said: It is said, "I followed the people" (atba'tu) if they preceded you and you caught up with them. It is as if the meaning is: "I made them followers of me after I had been a follower of them." In this case, there is hyperbole in the act of catching up, as if he were made an imam to Satan, while Satan follows him, and this is a position of severe condemnation. Similar to this is the saying: "He was a youth from the soldiers of Iblis, until his state ascended to the point that Iblis became one of his soldiers." Some have stated that the meaning is istatba'ahu, meaning: he made him a follower of his, and it is transitive to two objects, the second of which is omitted, meaning: "he made him follow his footsteps." It was also recited as fa-atba'ahu (from the form ifti'al).

"And he became of the erring ones," meaning: he became of the group of the astray who are entrenched in deviation after having been guided.

The nature of this [event], according to the opinion that he was Bal'am, is that when Moses (peace be upon him) intended to fight the giants, the people of Bal'am came to him. He possessed the Greatest Name of Allah. They said to him: "Moses (peace be upon him) is a man of iron, he has many armies, and he has come to expel us from our land, so pray to Allah Almighty to turn him away from us." He said: "Woe to you! He is a Prophet of Allah, and with him are the angels and the believers. How can I pray against them when I know from Allah what I know? If I do that, I will lose my worldly life and my Hereafter." They persisted, so he said: "Until I consult my Lord." He came [in a dream] and was told: "Do not do it." He informed his people, but they offered him a gift, which he accepted. They did not cease imploring him until they tempted him, so he began praying against Moses (peace be upon him) and his people. However, Allah Almighty would turn his tongue to pray against his own people instead. They said to him: "O Bal'am, do you know what you are doing? You are praying against us!" He said: "This is a matter over which Allah Almighty has prevailed." His tongue hung out and fell onto his chest. He said: "O my people, the world and the Hereafter have gone from me, and nothing remains but deceit and guile. Adorn the women and send them, and order them not to refuse themselves, for the people are travelers, and Allah Almighty hates adultery. If they fall into it, they will perish." They did so, and Zimri ibn Shalul, head of the tribe of Simeon ibn Ya'qub, was tempted by a woman among them named Kasba bint Sur. Moses (peace be upon him) forbade him from the obscenity, but he refused, took her into his tent, and committed adultery with her. Consequently, the plague struck them until seventy thousand of them perished, and it did not lift until Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron—who was absent initially—killed them both.

Muqatil reported that the King of al-Balqa said to him: "Pray to Allah Almighty against Moses (peace be upon him)." He said: "He is of my religion and I will not pray against him." So he set up a piece of wood to crucify him on it. He prayed with the Greatest Name that Allah would not let Moses enter the city, and it was granted to him. The Children of Israel fell into the "Tih" (wandering). Moses (peace be upon him) said: "O Lord, for what sin is this?" The Almighty said: "By the prayer of Bal'am." He said: "Lord, just as You heard his prayer against me, hear my prayer against him." He prayed to Allah, may His Majesty be glorified, to strip the Greatest Name and faith from him. Allah Almighty stripped the knowledge from him, and it exited his chest like a white dove. This is refuted by the fact that the wandering was a mercy and rest for Moses (peace be upon him), and it was the Children of Israel who were punished by it. This occurred due to his (peace be upon him) prayer. Moreover, praying for the removal of faith is a matter of contention. I wonder why this wretch did not pray with the Greatest Name—which he knew—against the King of al-Balqa to be saved from his evil, rather than praying against Moses (peace be upon him). This is nothing but dark ignorance.

It came in the words of Abu al-Mu'tamir that he had been given Prophethood, but this is refuted by the fact that disbelief is not permissible for the Prophets (peace be upon them) according to any of the wise. Perhaps he meant by "Prophethood" what he had been given of signs, similar to the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Whoever memorizes the Quran has had Prophethood folded between his sides."

Ibn al-Mundhir reported from Malik ibn Dinar that he was a scholar of the Children of Israel, and Moses (peace be upon him) used to promote him during hardships, favor him, and bestow blessings upon him. He sent him to the King of Midian to call them to Allah, and he was one whose prayers were answered. Then he abandoned the religion of Moses (peace be upon him) and followed the religion of the King. This narration is, in my view, more worthy of acceptance than what preceded it.

As for the opinion that he was Umayyah [ibn Abi al-Salt], it is that he had read the ancient books and knew that Allah would send a Messenger, so he hoped he would be that Messenger. It happened that he went out to Bahrain, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was commissioned as a prophet. He stayed there for eight years, then came and met the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) among a group of his companions. He invited him to Islam and recited Surah Yasin to him. When he finished, Umayyah jumped up dragging his feet, and the Quraysh followed him, asking: "What do you say, O Umayyah?" He said: "I bear witness that he is on the truth." They said: "Will you follow him?" He said: "Until I look into his affair." He went out to the Levant and arrived after the Battle of Badr, intending to accept Islam. When he was informed of it, he abandoned Islam and said: "If he were a prophet, he would not have killed his own kin." He went to Ta'if and died there. His sister, al-Fari'ah, came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he asked her about his death. She mentioned to him that he recited at his death: "Every life, even if it lasts a long time, will one day come to an end. Would that I were, before what became clear to me, on the mountain peaks tending the ibex. The day of reckoning is a great day, in which the young man turns gray—a heavy day." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her: "Recite to me from your brother's poetry." She recited: "To You be praise, grace, and bounty, our Lord. There is nothing higher than You in majesty and glory. A King on the throne of heaven, a Watcher; to His might, faces bow and prostrate..." [part of a long poem] until she finished it. Then she recited his poem in which he says: "People stand for the reckoning together, some wretched and tormented, and some happy," and in which he says: "Before the Possessor of the Throne they are displayed; He knows the manifest and the hidden secret. The day the Most Merciful comes, and He is Merciful; indeed, His promise is fulfilled. Lord, if You forgive, then forgiveness is my expectation; or if You punish, then You do not punish the innocent." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Your brother's poetry believed, but his heart disbelieved," and Allah Almighty revealed the verse.

As for the opinion that he was al-Nu'man, it is that he had become a monk in the Pre-Islamic era and wore wool. He came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "What is this that you have brought?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Hanifiya, the religion of Abraham (peace be upon him)." He said: "I am upon it." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You are not upon it, but you have introduced into it what is not of it." He said: "May Allah kill the liar among us, an exile and alone." Then he went to the Levant and sent to the hypocrites that they should prepare weapons. Then he came to Caesar and requested an army from him to drive the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) out of Medina, but he died in the Levant as an exile and alone.

As for the opinion that he was the husband of al-Basus, Ibn Abi Hatim and Abu al-Shaykh reported from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he was a man given three answered prayers. He had a wife named al-Basus, who had a son by him. She said: "Give me one of them." He said: "What do you want?" She said: "Pray to Allah Almighty to make me the most beautiful woman among the Children of Israel." He prayed to Allah, and He made her the most beautiful woman among them. When she knew there was no one like her among them, she turned away from him and wanted something else. He prayed to Allah to make her a dog, and she became a dog. Thus, two prayers were spent. Her children came and said: "We have no stability with this; our mother has become a dog and people are shaming us because of it, so pray to Allah Almighty to return her to the state she was in." He prayed, and she returned as she was, so the three prayers were spent on her. From this it is said: "More ominous than al-Basus." In al-Khazin, it is mentioned that al-Basus is the name of that man, but that is of no substance. This narration is not supported by the structure of the Quran, as is evident. What we know is that "al-Basus" is a proverb, and she was the daughter of Munqidh al-Tamimiyyah, maternal aunt of Jassas ibn Murrah ibn Dhuhl al-Shaybani, the killer of Kulayb, and her story is long. Al-Maydani and others mentioned it.

From al-Hasan and Ibn Kaysan, the meaning of "him to whom We gave the signs, and he detached himself from them" is the hypocrites of the People of the Scripture, who knew the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as they knew their own sons, yet they did not believe in him (peace and blessings be upon him) with true faith. But the singular form of the relative pronoun makes this remote. Qatadah said this is a parable for one to whom guidance was presented and who was prepared for it, yet he turned away and refused to accept it; but there is remoteness in this, as it contradicts the famous narrations. The weakest of the opinions in my view is the statement of Abu Muslim: that it refers to Pharaoh, and the "signs" refers to the proofs indicating the truthfulness of Moses (peace be upon him). It is as if it were said: "And recite to them the news of Pharaoh when We gave him the proofs indicating the truthfulness of Moses (peace be upon him), but he did not accept them."