Tafsir of At-Tawbah 9:9

"They have traded the signs of Allah..."

(Meaning those which contain the command to fulfill covenants and to remain upright in every matter, or all His signs; thus, what was mentioned enters into it as a primary inclusion. The intent of 'trading' is 'substitution'. There is in the expression a taba’iyyah (dependent) explicit metaphor, followed by an implicit metaphor, where the signs were likened to an object purchased. It may also be a majaz mursal (synecdoche/metonymy), using the restricted term—which is 'trading'—for the absolute—which is 'substitution'—according to what they said regarding the mursal; meaning, they substituted them for that).

"...for a small price..."

(Meaning, a trivial thing from the debris of this world, which is their whims and desires that they followed). As the scholar al-Tayyibi said, the sentence is musta'nafah (a fresh start/resumption), acting as a justification for His saying, "and most of them are defiantly disobedient." In this is evidence that whoever is disobedient and rebellious, its cause is merely the following of desires and inclining toward pleasures. Some interpreted the 'small price' as the food Abu Sufyan spent and distributed to the Bedouins.

"...and they averted..."

(Meaning, they turned away and departed, assuming it is intransitive from sadda—sududan; or they diverted and prevented others, assuming it is transitive from saddahu 'an al-amr—saddan). The 'fa' (so/and) is to indicate that their trading led them to this averting or prevention.

"...from His way..."

(Meaning, the true religion that leads to Him, the Most High; the genitive construction is for honor—or the way to His Sacred House, as they used to prevent pilgrims and those performing 'Umrah from it. The 'way' is thus either metaphorical or literal, and in the latter case, one either assumes an omitted possessor in the speech or treats the possessive attribution as figurative).

"Indeed, it was evil that they have been doing."

(Meaning, evil is what they were doing, or their continuous action. The object of the condemnation is omitted. It is permitted that the word saa (evil) remains in its original category of inflection, either intransitive meaning 'became ugly,' or transitive, with the object omitted; meaning, that which they do or their action became evil to them. If it is treated in the manner of bi'sa (how evil), it shifts to a verb with a damma [on the middle letter] and becomes indeclinable, as established in its proper place).