Tafsir of An-Naml 27:84

"Until, when they arrive..."

The waw (and) is for the circumstantial state (ḥāl). It is as if He said: "Did you deny them at the first instance of thought, without reflection or consideration that would lead to a comprehensive knowledge of their essence, and whether they were worthy of belief or denial?"

Alternatively, it is for conjunction (ʿaṭf). That is: "Did you reject them, and despite your rejection, you did not apply your minds to verify and examine them?" For one who receives a letter may deny that it came from the one who wrote it, yet he does not refrain from reading it, understanding its contents, and grasping its meanings.

"{...for what you used to do}"

The bāʾ (in bi-mā) is for rebuke (tabkīt) and nothing else. This is because they did nothing but deny; thus, they are unable to lie and say, "We believed in them," for there is nothing but belief or denial.

An example of this is when you say to your shepherd—having known him to be a bad shepherd—"Do you eat my livestock, or what else do you do with them?" You make what you have established as certain—his eating and corruption—the foundation and basis of your speech. You cast the phrase "or what else do you do with them," despite knowing that he does nothing with them but eat them, in order to stun him and let him know that you are aware that nothing comes from him but the consumption of them, and that he cannot claim to have protected or improved them, due to his well-known contrary behavior.

Or, He meant: "Did you have no deeds in the world other than disbelief and denying the signs of Allah, or what else were you doing besides that?" This means they had no other deeds; it is as if they were not created except for disbelief and disobedience, even though they were created for faith and obedience. They are addressed with this before being cast into the Fire, and then they are cast into it.

That is the meaning of His saying: "{And the Word will be fulfilled against them}"—meaning the promised punishment will overwhelm them because of their wrongdoing, which is the denial of the signs of Allah. It will preoccupy them from speaking or offering excuses, as in His saying: "This is a Day on which they will not speak" (Al-Mursalāt: 35).

"{Do they not see that We have made the night for them to rest therein and the day giving sight? Indeed, in that are signs for a people who believe.}"