Al-Baqarah: 90
"Evil is that for which they have sold their souls..."
- "Ma" (ما): An indefinite accusative noun explaining the subject of bi'sa (evil is), meaning: "Evil is the thing for which they have sold their souls."
- The object of condemnation (al-makhsus bi-al-dham): "That they disbelieve" (an yakfuru).
- "Sold" (ishtaru): Meaning "they traded" or "exchanged."
- "Out of envy" (baghyan): Meaning jealousy and seeking what is not theirs; it is the cause (‘illah) for their "selling."
- "That Allah should send down" (an yunazzila): Meaning "because He sends down" or "concerning His sending down." They envied Him for sending down from His bounty.
- "From His bounty" (min fadlihi): Which is the Revelation.
- "Upon whom He wills" (‘ala man yasha’u): According to His wisdom and His sending of him.
"So they have drawn upon themselves wrath upon wrath."
- They became deserving of successive wrath because they disbelieved in the Prophet of Truth and acted insolently toward him.
- It is said: They disbelieved in Muhammad after [disbelieving in] ‘Isa.
- It is said: [They incurred wrath] after their saying "‘Uzayr is the son of Allah," their saying "The hand of Allah is chained," and other types of their disbelief.
"In what Allah has revealed."
- This is absolute, referring to every Book Allah has revealed.
"They say, 'We believe in what was revealed to us.'"
- This is restricted to the Torah, while they disbelieve in what is beyond it. That is, they say this while they are actually disbelieving in what is beyond the Torah.
"While it is the truth, confirming what is with them."
- It is consistent with it, not contradicting it. This contains a refutation of their claim; for if they disbelieve in what confirms the Torah, they have effectively disbelieved in the Torah itself.
- Then, they are rebuked for their killing of the prophets despite their claim of believing in the Torah, for the Torah does not permit the killing of prophets.
"And Moses had certainly come to you with clear proofs. Then you took the calf [in worship] after he had left, while you were wrongdoers. And [recall] when We took your covenant and raised over you the mount, [saying], 'Take what We have given you with determination and listen.' They said, '[We] hear and disobey.' And their hearts had been absorbed with [the love of] the calf because of their disbelief. Say, 'How wretched is that which your faith enjoins upon you, if you should be believers.'" (92-93)
