Tafsir of Al-Mutaffifeen 83:36

"Have the disbelievers been rewarded for what they used to do?"

Some reject this [interpretation], arguing that the verse is explicit that the laughter of the believers at them is a requital for their own laughter at them in this world; therefore, consistency and parity are inevitably required. However, the truth is that there is no such rejection, as is not hidden. Al-thawb and al-ithabah mean requital; it is said "he rewarded him" (thawwabah) and "he recompensed him" (athabahu) when he requites him. From this is the saying of the poet: "I shall reward you, or may [someone] reward you on my behalf a reward / and it is enough for you that you are praised and commended."

The manifest meaning of the speech of the scholars is that this [term] applies to requital for both good and evil, though it has become famous for requital for good. It is permissible to interpret it as such here, provided that the intent is mockery, just as has been said regarding the Almighty's saying: "So give them tidings of a painful punishment," and "Taste! Indeed, you are the honored, the noble." It is as if the Almighty is saying to the believers: "Have We rewarded these for what they used to do, just as We rewarded you for what you used to do?" Thus, this statement adds to their joy due to the exaltation of them and the belittlement of their enemies.

In this case, the interrogative sentence is the object of an implied verb that acts as a circumstantial qualifier (hal) to the pronoun in "they laugh" or the pronoun in "they look"—meaning they laugh or look, with it being said to them: "Have the disbelievers been rewarded, etc.?" The majority [of commentators] did not address this. In al-Bahr, it is stated that the interrogation is for the sake of affirming the believers, and the meaning is: "The disbelievers have indeed been rewarded for what they used to do, etc."

It is also said that "Have been rewarded" (hal thuwwiba) is linked to "they look" (yanzurun), and the sentence is in the position of being an object to it after the omission of the preposition, which is ila (to). The ma is either masdariyyah (forming an infinitive) or a relative pronoun, with the referent omitted—meaning "for what they used to do of it." The speech implies an added noun, meaning "the reward for what they used to do." Another view is that it implies the ba of causality, meaning "Have the disbelievers been rewarded for (bi-ma) what they used to do?"

The two grammarians [Al-Kisa'i and Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala], Hamzah, and Ibn Muhaisin read it with the assimilation (idgham) of the lam into the ta'. And Allah, the Almighty, knows best.