Tafsir of Maryam 19:59

"Then there succeeded them..."

• Khalaf (خَلَف): When one follows another. It is said that khalaf (with a fatḥa) refers to a successor in goodness, while khalf (with a sukūn) refers to a successor in evil—similar to how they say wa‘d (promise) for a guarantee of good, and wa‘īd (threat) for a guarantee of evil.
• Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him): They are the Jews. They abandoned the obligatory prayers, drank wine, and permitted marriage to a sister from the father’s side.
• Ibrahim and Mujahid (may Allah be pleased with them): They "lost them" by delaying them. The first opinion is supported by His saying: "Except for those who repent and believe," meaning the disbelievers.
• Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding "and followed desires": [They followed] the desires of the flesh, rode the forbidden, and wore the ostentatious.
• Qatada (may Allah be pleased with him): This refers to this [Muslim] nation.
• Ibn Mas‘ud, al-Hasan, and al-Dahhak (may Allah be pleased with them): They recited it as al-ṣalawāt (prayers) in the plural.

"And they will meet Ghayy (evil/perdition)..."

• To the Arabs, every evil is ghayy, and every good is rashād (right guidance). Al-Muraqqish said:
  • Whoever encounters good, people will praise his affair,
  • And whoever falls into ghayy (evil), will not lack a blamer for his evil.
• Al-Zajjaj: It means the recompense of ghayy, like His saying: "He will meet athāmā (sin/punishment)," meaning the recompense of sin. Or, it means ghayy (straying) from the path to Paradise.
• It is said: Ghayy is a valley in Hell from which the other valleys of Hell seek refuge.
• Al-Akhfash: Recited it as yalqawna (they will meet).

"Except for those who repent, believe, and do righteousness; for such will enter Paradise and will not be wronged at all."