ﱁ ﱂ ﱃ ﱄ ﱅ ﱆ ﱇ ﱈ ﱉ ﱊ ﱋ ﱌ ﱍ ﱎ ﱏ ﱐ ﱑ ﱒ ﱓ ﱔ ﱕ ﱖ
They impatiently urge you to bring about evil before good, while there has already occurred before them similar punishments [to what they demand]. And indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness for the people despite their wrongdoing, and indeed, your Lord is severe in penalty.
Tafsir
Verse range: 13:6
(6) And they hasten you to bring about the evil before the good...
It is known that the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to warn them sometimes of the punishment of the Hereafter and sometimes of the punishment in this world. Whenever he warned them of the punishment of the Hereafter, they denied the Resurrection, the raising, and the gathering. This is what was mentioned in the first verse. Whenever he warned them of the punishment in this world, they would say to him: "Then bring this punishment upon us," demanding its manifestation and descent as a form of mockery and to show that what he was saying was baseless.
For this reason, Allah recounts that they hasten the Messenger concerning the evil before the good.
The "evil" (al-sī'ah) here refers to the descent of punishment upon them, just as Allah the Exalted said concerning them: {Then send down upon us stones from the heaven} (Al-Anfal: 32), and in His saying: {We will never believe you until you cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us} (Al-Isra: 90) until His saying: {Or cause the heaven to fall upon us in pieces, as you claim} (Al-Isra: 92).
They said this only to challenge what the Messenger mentioned. The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to promise them reward in the Hereafter for believing, and victory and triumph in this world. So, the people demanded the descent of punishment from him and did not ask for the attainment of victory and triumph. This is what is meant by His saying: {And they hasten you to bring about the evil before the good}.
Some commentators interpreted the "good" (al-hasanah) here as respite and delay. The punishment is called "evil" because it grieves and harms them.
As for His saying: {And already have precedents passed away before them} (wa qad khalat min qablihim al-muthulāt), know that the Arabs say: punishment is mithlah (مثلة) and mithlah (مَثُلَة) is ṣadaqah (صدقة) and ṣadaqah (صَدَقَة). The first is the dialect of Hijaz, and the second is the dialect of Tamim.
Ibn al-Anbari (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Al-Mithlah is the evident punishment where something is inflicted upon the punished person, resulting in a disfigurement that leaves the form ugly. It stems from the saying: "So-and-so was muthila (disfigured) with so-and-so," meaning his appearance was marred, either by cutting off his ear or nose, blinding his eyes, or cutting open his belly. This is the origin. Then, the lasting shame and inevitable disgrace are also called mithlah.
Al-Wahidi said: The root of this word is from al-mathal (the likeness/simile), and since the punishment was originally supposed to resemble and be similar to the one being punished, it was named this.
The author of Al-Kashshāf said: It has been recited as al-muthulāt (المُثُلات) with two ḍammāhs, following the fā' with the ayn. And as al-muthlāt (المَثُلات) with a fatḥah on the mīm and a quiescent thā', like saying al-samurah. And al-muthlāt (المُثُلَات) with a ḍammah on the mīm and a quiescent thā' is a simplification of al-muthulāt (المُثُلات) with two ḍammāhs. Al-muthulāt is the plural of mithlah, like rakbah and rakabāt.
Once you know this, the meaning of the verse is: They hasten you to the punishment with which We have not yet hastened them, even though they know what punishments have befallen previous nations, yet they have not taken heed. It was necessary that the fear of that [past punishment] should deter them from disbelief by considering the state of those who preceded them.
As for His saying: {And indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness for the people despite their wrongdoing} (wa inna rabbaka la-dhū maghfiratin lil-nāsi 'alā ẓulmihim), know that our scholars rely on this verse as evidence that Allah the Exalted may forgive a person for a major sin before repentance.
The basis for this deduction is that His saying, {indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness for the people despite their wrongdoing}, means: while they are engaged in wrongdoing, just as it is said: "I saw the ruler while he was eating," meaning while he was occupied with eating. This implies that Allah is forgiving the people while they are occupied with wrongdoing. It is known that a person occupied with wrongdoing is not in a state of repentance. This indicates that Allah the Exalted may forgive a sin before the engagement in repentance.
Furthermore, we say: This evidence is not applied in the case of disbelief (Kufr), so it must remain applicable in the case of those who commit major sins, which is what is sought. Or, we say: Allah the Exalted did not stop at saying {And indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness for the people despite their wrongdoing}, but He followed it with {And indeed, your Lord is severe in punishment}. Therefore, the first part must be applied to those who commit major sins, and the second part to the state of the disbelievers.
If it is asked: Why can it not mean: "Indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness for the people of minor sins" because their punishment is expiated? Then we ask: Why can it not mean: "Indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness if they repent," and that Allah only delays the punishment to give them respite to repent? If they repent, He is forgiving to them, and part of this forgiveness is delaying the punishment until the Hereafter. Rather, we must hold the wording to this meaning because when the people demanded the hastening of punishment, the answer given must relate to the delay of punishment so that the answer corresponds to the question. Then we ask: Why can it not mean: "Indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness," meaning Allah only delays the punishment to give them respite to repent? If they repent, He is forgiving to them, and if their wrongdoing is great and they do not repent, then He is severe in punishment.
The answer to the first [objection] is that delaying the punishment is not called forgiveness; otherwise, it would have to be said that all disbelievers are forgiven because Allah has delayed their punishment until the Hereafter.
The answer to the second is that Allah praises Himself with this, and praise is achieved through favor (tafaḍḍul). There is no praise in fulfilling an obligation. And according to your view, forgiveness for minor sins is obligatory.
The answer to the third is that we have already explained that the apparent meaning of the verse implies the attainment of forgiveness while in the state of wrongdoing, and we explained that the state of wrongdoing prevents the attainment of repentance. Thus, these questions are dismissed, and what we mentioned is confirmed.
(7) And those who disbelieve say, "Why is a sign not sent down to him from his Lord?" Indeed, you are only a warner, and for every people there is a guide.
