Surah Al-Anfal 8:57
ﲀ ﲁ ﲂ ﲃ ﲄ ﲅ ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ
So if you, [O Muhammad], gain dominance over them in war, disperse by [means of] them those behind them that perhaps they will be reminded.
Tafsir of Al-Anfal 8:57
Tafsir
Ruh al-Ma'ani
Verse range: 8:57
{فَإِمَّا تَثْقَفَنَّهُمْ} This is a commencement in explaining the rulings concerning them after detailing their states. The letter *fa* (ف) is for ordering that which follows it upon that which preceded it. *Al-thaqf* (الثقف) is used to denote encountering (coincidence) and overcoming (victory); what is meant here is that which results from encountering and meeting. That is: If their state is as has been mentioned, then if you encounter them and overcome them {فِي الْحَرْبِ}—that is, in the midst of it—{فَشَرِّدْ بِهِم مَّنْ خَلْفَهُمْ}—that is, disperse by means of them those who are behind them, meaning the disbelievers. It means: Act toward those who have violated your covenant with such great killing and exemplary punishment that those behind them are dispersed and fear you because of it, and those who hear of it, from the people of Mecca and others, take heed.
To this returns what has been said: that the meaning is to punish them severely so that others may take heed. It is also said that the meaning of sharrid (شرد) in the dialect of the Quraish is "to make heard of them" [to make them infamous/a warning]. A poet said: I roam the valleys every day, fearing that Hakim may make me a cautionary tale (yusharrada bi).
Ibn Mas’ud and al-A’mash read fasharridh (فشرذ) with a dotted dhal (ذ), which carries the same meaning as sharrada (شرد) with the undotted dal (د). Ibn Jinni stated that no such linguistic root as sh-r-dh (شرذ) has passed us by, and the most sound view is that the dhal is a substitute for the dal, as both are voiced and close in articulation. It has also been said that it is an inversion of shadhara (شذر), from which comes shadhara madhara (شذر مذر), meaning "dispersed." Some linguists went so far as to say that it exists and its meaning is exemplary punishment, while the meaning of the undotted version is "to disperse," as Qutrub stated, though it is rare.
Abu Haywah read {مَّنْ خَلْفَهُمْ} with the preposition min (from). The verb is treated as if it were intransitive, as in the saying: "He wounds them in their tendons, as we pierce..." The meaning is the act of dispersal from behind them, and it is in the sense of making the "behind" a container for the dispersal, due to the proximity in meaning between min (from) and fi (in). You say: "Strike Zayd from behind ‘Amr," and "behind him," meaning in his rear. This points to the dispersal of those in that direction by way of metonymy, for the realization of dispersal in the rear is not achieved except by dispersing those who are behind them. Thus, there is no difference between the two readings (with the fatha or kasra) except in terms of emphasis.
{لَعَلَّهُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَ}—that is, so that those who are dispersed might take heed from what they learn of what befell those who violated the covenant, and thus refrain from violation. It is said: or [refrain] from disbelief.