Tafsir of Al-Furqan 25:41-42

"And when they see you..."

• {إن} (In): The first is a negative particle (nafiyah), and the second is a lightened form of the heavy particle (mukhaffafah min al-thaqilah). The lam is the separator (al-fariqah) between them.
• {اتخذه هزوا} (Take him as a mockery): This carries the meaning of "he mocked him." The root meaning is "he took him as a place of mockery" or "as one mocked."
• {أهذا} (Is this): This is a quotation following an implied verb of saying. It expresses belittlement.
• {بعث الله رسولا} (Has Allah sent a messenger): They phrase this in the form of submission and acknowledgment, while they are actually at the peak of denial and rejection, as a form of sarcasm and mockery. Had they not been mocking, they would have said: "Is this the one who claims or asserts that he is a messenger sent from Allah?"
• {إن كاد ليضلنا} (He almost led us astray): Their statement is evidence of the Messenger of Allah’s (ﷺ) intense struggle in calling them, and his exertion of the utmost effort and energy to win them over, while presenting signs and miracles to them, to the point that they—by their own claim—were on the verge of abandoning their religion for the religion of Islam, had it not been for their extreme obstinacy and clinging to the worship of their gods.
• {لولا} (Had it not been): In such speech, this functions—in terms of meaning, not grammatical construction—as a restriction on an absolute judgment.
• {وسوف يعلمون} (And they will come to know): This is a threat and an indication that they will not escape Him, even if the period of respite is long. The threat must inevitably reach them, so let not the delay deceive them.
• {من أضل سبيلا} (Who is more astray in path): This is like a response to their statement {إن كاد ليضلنا}, because it attributes misguidance to the Messenger of Allah, whereas no one leads another astray unless he himself is misguided. It is narrated that this was said by Abu Jahl—may Allah curse him.

{Have you seen the one who takes his own desire as his god? Then would you be responsible for him?}