Tafsir of At-Tawbah 9:98

(And among the Bedouins are those who) — meaning, from their kind, which has been described by the description of some of its individuals. It is also said: from the aforementioned group — (take) — meaning, consider what they spend, i.e., what they expend in the way of Allah the Almighty and give in charity, as the context requires — (as a loss) — meaning, a penalty and a loss. It is derived from al-gharam, which means destruction. It is also said to be from al-ghurm, which is the descent of a calamity without a crime committed; its root is that of persistence/obligation, and from this, both parties in a debt are called gharim (debtor/creditor). They consider it such only because they do not spend it seeking reward or hoping for the recompense of Allah the Almighty so that it might be a gain for them; rather, they spend it out of precaution and to show off to the people, so it becomes a pure loss. The meaning of choice and benefit inherent in the structure of "taking" applies to the intent of the spender—the showing off and precaution—not to the essence of the expenditure itself; that is, the fact that it is a loss.

(And await for you the turns of fate) — meaning, they wait for you to suffer the cycles of time and the calamities that surround a person, so that your affairs might be overturned by them and your condition changed, allowing them to be rid of what they have been afflicted with.

(Upon them is the circle of evil) — a supplication against them, similar to what they await for others. This is an interruption between two statements, as in His saying—the Almighty: "And the Jews say, 'The hand of Allah is chained.' Chained are their hands, and they are cursed for what they say..." (and so on). It is also permitted that the sentence be an information regarding the occurrence of what they await upon them. Ad-da'irah (the circle) is a noun for a calamity; it is originally an infinitive, like al-'afiyah (wellness) or al-kadhibah (the lie), or an active participle from dara-yadur (to rotate/circle). The complete discussion regarding it has already preceded.

As-su' (evil), in origin, is also an infinitive, then applied to every harm and wickedness. It was an adjective for "the circle," then it was added to it; thus, the genitive construction is of the type of adding the described to its adjective, as in your saying: "a man of truth" (rajul sidq). It contains a level of hyperbole that is evident, and to this belongs His saying—the Almighty: "Your father was not a man of evil" (imra' su'in). It is said: the meaning of "the circle" necessitates the meaning of "evil," so the addition is for clarification and emphasis, as they say: "the sun of the day" and "the beard of his head."

Ibn Kathir and Abu 'Amr recited as-su' here and in the second instance in [Surat] Al-Fath with a dammah (u). It is, in that case, a noun meaning "punishment," not an infinitive like the one with the fathah (a). With this, Al-Farra' distinguished between them. Abu al-Baqa' said: As-su' with a dammah is harm, and it is an infinitive in reality; it is said: su'tuhu su'an, masa'atan, wa musa'atan. With the fathah, it is corruption and baseness. It is as if he is asserting the infinitival nature of both in reality, as Al-Shihab understood from his words. Makki said: the one with the fathah means corruption, and the one with the dammah means defeat and harm. Its apparent meaning, as has been said, is that they are two distinct nouns.

(And Allah is Hearing) — of their atrocious statements during expenditure — (Knowing) — of their corrupt intentions, among which is that they await the turns of fate for you. In this is a severity of warning that is not hidden.