Tafsir of At-Tawbah 9:110

( La yazalu bunyanuhum... ) "Their building which they built will not cease..."—that is, their structure which they erected. Thus, al-bunyan (the building) is a verbal noun intended to signify the object, as previously mentioned. Describing it as singular refutes those who claim it is plural, as does the report concerning it in His words, "a source of raybah (doubt/anxiety) in their hearts." The assumption of an added noun (mudaf) or that the adjective or the report is for the collective is contrary to the apparent meaning. Indeed, it is said: reporting it as "doubt" contains no evidence against it being plural, for it is said: "the walls are collapsed" and "the mountains are standing firm."

Some permitted that al-bunyan remains a verbal noun and "that" (alladhi) is its object, and al-raybah is deeper than rayb in the sense of uncertainty. Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them both—interpreted it thus. What is meant is their doubt regarding the Prophethood of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), which is hidden in their hearts, and this is the very essence of hypocrisy. Making their building the doubt itself is for the sake of hyperbole, signifying that it is the cause of that doubt.

The Imam said: There are several facets to this. First: The hypocrites rejoiced greatly in its construction; when it was ordered to be destroyed, it weighed heavily upon them, and their rage and suspicion regarding his Prophethood (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) increased. Second: When the order came to destroy it, they thought it was out of envy; thus, their sense of security in him (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) vanished, and their fear grew, so they doubted whether they would be left as they were or if the order would be given to kill them and plunder their wealth. Third: They believed they were doing good in the construction, so when its destruction was ordered, they remained doubtful and suspicious as to the reason why it was ordered. The correct view is the first.

As the scholar al-Tayyibi said, it is possible to favor the second by interpreting raybah according to its primary linguistic sense, meaning anxiety of the soul and its agitation.

The gist of the meaning is: The destruction of their building which they built will not cease to be a cause of anxiety, agitation, and fear in the hearts. Describing their building as He did is to alert one to the nature of their construction and its foundation upon what you know, and to indicate the rationale of the ruling. It is said: It was described as such to indicate that what is meant by "the building" is the actual structure, not the affairs they managed, for "building" may be applied to the management and planning of an affair, as in their saying: "How much I build and [how much] is destroyed." To this effect is the verse: "When will the building one day reach its completion, if you are building it and another is destroying it?" Its gist is that the description is for emphasis, and its benefit is to repel the metaphorical sense. This is similar to what they said concerning His words: "And Allah spoke to Musa in direct speech," though there is investigation into this.

The exception in His words: "unless their hearts are cut to pieces" refers to the most general of times or conditions. What follows "unless" (illa) is in the place of an accusative denoting time/circumstance. That is: their building will not cease to be a source of doubt at any time, except at the time their hearts are cut to pieces; or in any condition, except the condition of their hearts being cut—meaning their separation and their exit from the capacity of perception. This is a metonymy for the firm entrenchment of doubt in their hearts, which are the locus of perception and the hiding place of polytheism, such that it does not depart from them as long as they are alive, unless they are cut and separated. At that point, the doubt departs from them and ceases. This is expressed in the mode of depiction and supposition.

It is said: what is meant by "cutting to pieces" is what occurs at death, from the separation of the body’s parts in reality; this is reported from some of the predecessors. Ibn al-Mundhir and others reported from Ayyub that Ikrima used to recite: "unless their hearts are cut to pieces in the graves." It is also said: the meaning is unless they repent and feel such immense regret that it shreds their hearts and livers; thus, "cutting to pieces" is a metonymy or a metaphor for the intensity of grief. Ibn Abi Hatim reported this from Sufyan.

Taqatta'a (cut to pieces) is of the form tafa''ala with one of the two ta's, and the structure is for the active voice, meaning: "they cut themselves." It is also recited as tuqatti'a in the passive voice, and in the active voice for the second person, implying the address is to the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), meaning: "unless you cut their hearts to pieces by killing." It is also recited in the passive voice from the triliteral root, both masculine and feminine.

Al-Hasan recited ila an tuqatti'a as an address. In the reading of Abdullah: "And if their hearts were cut to pieces," attributing the action in the passive voice to their hearts. From Talha: "And if you cut their hearts to pieces," as an address to the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and it is valid that the address refers to any addressee. Similarly, the pronoun in tuqatti'a can be taken as referring to the doubt, with "their hearts" in the accusative. "And Allah is Knowing" of all things, among which are those mentioned of their states, "Wise" in all His actions, among which is His command—glory be to Him—that came down regarding them.

From the perspective of ishara (allusion) in the verses: "And among them are those who made a covenant with Allah: If He gives us from His bounty, we will surely be charitable and will surely be among the righteous"—this is an allusion to the description of the deluded who have not tasted the flavor of love and upon whom the breeze of 'irfan (gnosis) has not blown. Hence, they validated actions for themselves, saying "we will surely be charitable." "But when He gave them from His bounty, they were stingy with it"—meaning they broke the covenant when what they asked for appeared to them. Stinginess, as Abu Hafs said, is the abandonment of altruism when there is a need for it. "Do they not know that Allah knows their secret"—which is what they do not know of themselves—"and their private counsel"—meaning what they know of it to the exclusion of others? It is said: the secret is that which only the Knower of Secrets perceives, and private counsel is that which the recording angels perceive.

"And they said, 'Do not march forth in the heat. Say: The fire of Hell is more intense in heat'"—they intended to discourage the believers by pointing out some of the hardships of the campaign, and they did not know that the lover finds the bitter sweet in seeking the proximity of his beloved, and sees grief as easy and hardships as delights in that pursuit. There is no good in him whom heat and cold hinder. It was retorted against them that by their opposition, they preferred the Fire, which is more intense in heat.

These hypocrites are similar, in this discouragement, to the people of idleness who discourage the wayfarers from the path and from the attainment of worldly pleasures. "But the Messenger and those who believed with him struggled with their wealth and their lives"—they annihilated all of that in the pursuit of their Master, may His majesty be glorified. "And those—they are not for the weak"—that is, those whom the burden of love has weakened—"nor for the sick"—with the malady of passion, until their bodies have melted away from the heat of disbelief and the hardships of spiritual discipline—"nor for those who do not find anything to spend"—who are those stripped of created existences—"any grievance"—sin in failing to participate in the lesser struggle—"if they are sincere to Allah and His Messenger"—by guiding the creation to the Truth.

"And among the Bedouin is he who takes what he spends as a fine"—a penalty and a loss. It is said: Everyone who sees ownership for himself finds what he spends to be a fine, and everyone who sees things as belonging to Allah, while they are merely borrowed in his possession, finds what he spends to be a gain.

"And the foremost, the first"—that is, those who preceded others to Unity among the first group—"of the Muhajirun"—those who abandoned the territories of the self—"and the Ansar"—those who supported the heart with true sciences against the self—"and those who followed them with excellence"—by witnessing one of the witnesses of Beauty and Majesty—"Allah is pleased with them"—by what He gave them of His goal and His success—"and they are pleased with Him"—by accepting what He commanded and by sacrificing their wealth and souls in His path, may His majesty be glorified. "And He has prepared for them gardens"—from the gardens of Actions and Attributes—"under which rivers flow"—which are the rivers of the sciences of tawakkul (reliance) and rida (contentment) and the like. Beyond these gardens, which are shared among the conjuncted ones, is the Garden of the Essence, which is specific to the "foremost."

"And others who confessed their sins"—they are those in whom the habit of sin has not become firmly rooted, and in whom remains the light of potential. Therefore, their resolve did not falter; they confessed their sins and saw their ugliness. As for the one in whom the habit of sin has become rooted and darkness has overcome him, he does not see the evils he performs as anything but good. "They mixed a righteous deed with another that was evil"—since they were in the rank of the nafs al-lawwama (the self-reproaching self) whose connection to the heart and illumination by its light has not yet become a firm state for it. Thus, it sometimes yields to the heart and performs righteous deeds—when the heart overcomes it—and sometimes recoils from it and performs evil deeds when it is veiled from the heart by its darkness. It is always between this and that until its connection to the heart strengthens and becomes a firm state; at that point, its affair is corrected and it is saved from disobedience.

Perhaps His words, "Perhaps Allah will turn to them in forgiveness," is an allusion to that. Sometimes dark states accumulate upon it, so it turns back, its potential vanishes, it is veiled from the lights of the heart, and it falls into the sijjin (prison) of nature, perishing with those who perish. The leaning of one side over the other occurs through companionship. If success (tawfiq) reaches it, it keeps company with the righteous, adorns itself with their character, performs their deeds, and becomes one of them. If abandonment (khidhlan) reaches it, it keeps company with the corrupt, mixes with them, is soiled by their traits, performs their deeds, and becomes one of the losers. May Allah protect us from that.

How excellent is the one who said: "Adhere to the masters of hearts, for whoever becomes attached to the masters of hearts attains prominence. And beware of being content with the company of one who breaks covenants, lest you fall from your height and be humbled. For the Abu (father) [of virtue] is elevated, and then the muzammil (clothed one) is humbled, clarifying my words, enticing and warning."

The favoring of the side of connection may also occur through other means, as He—glory be to Him—alludes to: "Take from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them to grow." Because wealth is the material of desires, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was ordered to take from it so that the beginning of their state might be detachment, that the powers of the self might be broken and its passions and traits weakened; thus, it is purified from dark states and cleansed of the filth of sins and the slime of Satanic urgings. "And pray for them"—by extending spiritual support and pouring forth the lights of companionship—"for your prayer is a source of serenity for them"—a cause for the descent of serenity (sakina) into them. They interpreted serenity as a light that settles in the heart, through which it remains firm in its orientation toward the Truth and is freed from fickleness.

"A mosque founded on piety from the first day is more worthy for you to stand in"—because the self is affected in it by the purity of time, the sweetness of the state, and the tasting of wijdan (discovery). Unlike when it is built upon the opposite, for the self is affected in it by turbidity, dispersion, and constriction.

The basis of this is that the world of mulk (visible dominion) is under the subjugation and constraint of the world of malakut (invisible sovereignty). It necessitates that the intentions of the souls and their states have an effect on the deeds they perform. Do you not see the Kaaba, how it was honored, glorified, and made a place for seeking blessings because it was built by the hand of the Friend of Allah (peace be upon him) with a sincere intention and a noble soul? We also witness the effect of purity and gatheredness in some places and spots, and the opposite in others. I mean only the existence of those with sensitive, pure souls for that; otherwise, wicked souls find the affair to be the opposite of what those souls find. The person with jaundice finds sugar bitter, and the dung beetle finds the scent of the rose repulsive. Hence, the hypocrite in the mosque is like a fish on dry land, and the sincere one is like a fish in water.

"Within it are men who love to purify themselves"—people of desire and effort in purifying themselves from sins. This is an allusion that the companionship of the righteous has a great effect. It is derived from this and what precedes it that one ought to observe both the place and the brethren in achieving this gatheredness. It has come from the "People" that this must be observed alongside the observance of time in achieving what was mentioned. "And Allah loves those who purify themselves"—and were it not for His love for them, they would not have loved that.

Sahl said: Purification is of three types: purification of knowledge from ignorance, purification of remembrance (dhikr) from forgetfulness, and purification of obedience from disobedience. Some said: Purification has many categories: purification of the secrets from intrusions, purification of the spirits from heedlessness, purification of the hearts from desires, purification of the intellects from ignorances, purification of the selves from disbeliefs, and purification of the bodies from slips. Another said: The complete purification is the purification of the secrets from the filth of "the others." And Allah is the Guide to the straight path.