Tafsir of At-Tawbah 9:79

"Those who defame..." This is in the nominative case (marfu') as the predicate of an omitted subject—meaning: "They are those who..."

It has been said: "Those" is the subject, and its predicate is "so [Allah] mocks them" (fayaskharuna), with the 'fa' (fa) being present due to the resemblance of the relative pronoun (al-mawsul) to a conditional clause.

It has also been said: It is an independent sentence, with the predicate being "Allah mocks them," or it is in the accusative case (mansub) due to an omitted verb—meaning: "I censure" or "I despise"—or it is in the genitive case (majrur) as a substitute (badal) for the pronoun in "their secret" (sirrahum), implying it refers to the hypocrites generally.

It was also recited with a damma on the mim (as yulimmuna), which is a dialectical variation as you have learned—meaning: they find fault with.

"The volunteers" (al-mutawwi'in) Meaning: those who volunteer (al-mutatawwi'in). The intent here is those who give of their own accord.

"From among the believers" This is a state (hal) of the pronoun.

"In [their] charities" This is linked to "defame." It is not permissible, as Abu al-Baqa' said, for it to be linked to "the volunteers" due to the separation [between them].

Al-Baghawi reported in his Mu'jam and Abu al-Shaykh from al-Hasan, who said: "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah grant him peace and blessings) stood before the people and said: 'O people, give charity! O people, give charity! I will testify for you regarding it on the Day of Resurrection. Is there not one among you who would spend the night with his offspring satisfied, while a child of his is hungry beside him? Is there not one among you who would increase his wealth while his neighbor is a poor man who possesses nothing? Is there not a man who gives a she-camel from his camels, going forth with aid and returning with aid, going forth with the morning milk for his family and returning with their evening milk? Verily, its reward is great.'

A man stood up and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I have camels, I have four.' Then another stood up, short of stature, ugly in appearance, leading a beautiful and handsome camel of his. A man from the hypocrites said to him—in a hidden word, not thinking that the Prophet (may Allah grant him peace and blessings) heard him—'His camel is better than him.' The Prophet (may Allah grant him peace and blessings) heard it and said: 'You have lied. He is better than you and [better than] it.'

Then Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf stood up and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I have eight thousand; I left four for my family and brought four, presenting them to Allah the Exalted.' The hypocrites multiplied [criticized] what he had brought. Then Asim ibn Adi al-Ansari stood up and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I have seventy wasaq of dates.' The hypocrites multiplied what he had brought, saying: 'This one came with four thousand and that one with seventy wasaq for show and reputation; why did they not keep them secret? Why did they not distribute them?'

Then a man from the Ansar stood up, his name being al-Hubhab, nicknamed Abu Aqil, and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I have no wealth, except that I hired myself out yesterday to the family of such-and-such, carrying water on my back, for two sa' of dates. I left one sa' for my family and brought one sa', presenting it to Allah the Exalted.' The hypocrites defamed him, saying: 'The people of camels came with camels, the people of silver came with silver, and this one came with a few dates he is carrying.' Then Allah the Exalted revealed the verse."

The thousands that Abd al-Rahman mentioned were not specified in this narration. According to what Ibn al-Mundhir reported from Mujahid, they were dinars. In another narration, they were dirhams. Ibn Abi Hatim reported from al-Rabi' ibn Anas that Abd al-Rahman came with four hundred uqiyah of gold, which was half of what he possessed, and that the Prophet (may Allah grant him peace and blessings) said: "O Allah, bless him in what he gave, and bless him in what he kept."

In the narration of al-Tabarani, it is mentioned that Allah blessed his wealth until one of his wives was settled [for her inheritance] upon half of the eighth part for eighty thousand dirhams. In al-Kashshaf, which al-Tayyibi attributed to al-Isti'ab, it is mentioned that his wife, Tumadir, was settled upon a quarter of the eighth part for eighty thousand. According to the first, he would have two wives, and according to the second, he would have four wives, and the total of the two amounts varies greatly between the two narrations.

In the narration of Ibn Abi Hatim from Ibn Zayd, it is stated that Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was one of the volunteers, and that he came with much wealth carrying it, and a man from the hypocrites said to him: "Are you showing off, O Umar?" He replied: "Yes, I am showing off to Allah the Exalted and His Messenger (may Allah grant him peace and blessings); as for anyone else, no."

"And those who find nothing but their effort" This is a conjunction ('atf) to "the volunteers," and it is an instance of a specific item being conjoined to a general one. It is said: It is a conjunction to "the believers," but al-Ajhuri objected to this, saying it carries the implication that the conjoined part is not among the believers.

Abu al-Baqa' said: It is a conjunction to "those who defame," which I consider a pure error. Al-Juhd (with a damma) is power/capacity—meaning: and they defame those who find nothing but their capacity, and what their strength can reach. These are the poor, such as Abu Aqil, whose name was mentioned just now. From Ibn Ishaq, it is that his name was Sahl ibn Rafi', and from Mujahid that he interpreted the relative pronoun as Rifa'ah ibn Sa'd. Perhaps the pluralization then is for glorification, or it is possible that it is literal, and what was mentioned is the cause of the revelation.

Ibn Hurmuz recited jahdahum with a fatha, which is one of two dialects in al-juhd. The meaning of the damma and the fatha is one and the same. It is said that the fatha denotes hardship, while the damma denotes capacity—this was stated by al-Qutaybi. It is also said that the damma is a small amount with which one lives, and the fatha is labor.

"So [Allah] mocks them" This is a conjunction to "defame" or a predicate, as you have learned—meaning: they ridicule them. The intent behind them, according to what has been said, is the latter group.

"Allah mocks them" Meaning: He recompenses them for their ridicule. Thus, the sentence is declarative (khabariyyah). The expression is used as such for the sake of correspondence (mushakalah), not as a performative invocation (insha'iyyah) against them, so that they become objects of ridicule, because the saying of the Exalted—"And for them is a painful punishment"—is a declarative sentence conjoined to it. If it were an invocation, the conjunction of a declarative sentence to a performative one would be necessitated, and there is controversy regarding that. They differ in structure—one being verbal and the other nominal—because the ridicule happens in the world and is recurring, while the punishment is in the Hereafter and is lasting and fixed. The indefinite tanwin in "punishment" is for the purpose of terror and magnifying the matter.