Tafsir of Al-`Ankabut 29:1

Meccan. It consists of sixty-nine verses.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

1. Alif-Lām-Mīm.

2. Do the people think that they will be left to say, "We believe," and they will not be tested?

3. But We have certainly tested those before them, so that Allah will surely know those who are truthful, and He will surely know the liars.

Exegesis:

• "Do the people think that they will be left...": Do they imagine they will be abandoned without being tried or examined?
• "...to say, 'We believe'...": That is, by merely uttering the statement of faith with their tongues.
• "...and they will not be tested?": They will not be put through trials, tribulations, and hardships that distinguish the sincere from the insincere.
• "But We have certainly tested those before them...": We have subjected the nations of the past to trials, such as poverty, illness, fear, and the persecution of tyrants.
• "...so that Allah will surely know those who are truthful...": This refers to the manifestation of their truthfulness in the realm of existence, so that it becomes known to all, as if it were hidden and then revealed.
• "...and He will surely know the liars.": Likewise, He will manifest the state of the liars so that their falsehood is exposed.

The Grammatical Analysis of Hasbana (To Suppose) The verb hasbana (to suppose) cannot be linked to the meanings of individual words, but rather to the content of complete sentences. Do you not see that if you say, "I supposed Zayd" or "I thought the horse," it is incomplete until you say, "I supposed Zayd to be learned" or "I thought the horse to be swift"? This is because "Zayd is learned" or "the horse is swift" is a statement conveying a complete meaning. When you wish to report that this meaning is established in your mind as a supposition rather than a certainty, you must mention both parts of the sentence—the subject and the predicate—and prefix them with the verb of supposition to fulfill your intent.

If you ask: "Where is the statement conveying the meaning required by hasbana in this verse?" I say: It is in His saying, {Do the people think that they will be left to say, "We believe," and they...}. The underlying structure is: "Do they think their being left unfitted [untested] is due to their saying, 'We believe'?"

• "Their being left" (tarkuhum) is the first object of hasbana.
• "Due to their saying, 'We believe'" is the predicate.
• "Unfitted" (ghayra maftunin) is a completion of the "leaving," as it is the "leaving" that carries the meaning of "rendering" or "making," as in the verse: I left him for the beasts of prey to tear at.

If you ask: "How can 'to say' (an yaqulu) be the cause of their being left unfitted, and yet function as the predicate of a nominal sentence?" I say: It is like saying, "His going out was for fear of evil" or "His striking was for discipline." In these cases, "discipline" and "fear" are causal. You may also say, "I supposed his going out was for fear of evil," making them the two objects of the verb, just as you made them the subject and predicate.

The Meaning of Fitna (Trial) Fitna is the testing through the hardships of religious obligation: parting with homelands, striving against enemies, performing all difficult acts of obedience, abandoning desires and pleasures, enduring poverty, drought, various calamities in person and wealth, and bearing the harm, plotting, and injury of the disbelievers.

The meaning is: Do those who have uttered the word of testimony and manifested the claim of faith think they will be left without being tested? Rather, God will test them with various trials to prove their patience, the firmness of their footing, the soundness of their beliefs, and the purity of their intentions. This is to distinguish the sincere from the insincere, the firmly rooted in religion from the wavering, and the steadfast from the one who worships on the edge, as He said: {You will surely be tested in your possessions and in yourselves...} (Al-Imran: 186).

It is reported that this was revealed regarding some of the Prophet’s companions who were distressed by the harm of the polytheists. Others say it refers to Ammar ibn Yasir, who was tortured for the sake of God. Others say it refers to people who accepted Islam in Mecca; the Emigrants wrote to them saying their Islam would not be accepted until they migrated. They set out, but the polytheists followed and turned them back. When this verse was revealed, they wrote to them again, and they set out, but the polytheists followed and fought them; some were killed and some escaped. It is also said to refer to Mihja’, the freed slave of Umar ibn al-Khattab, the first Muslim killed at Badr.

{And We have certainly tested...} This is connected to "Do they think..." or "Will they not be tested?" It means: Did the followers of the prophets before them not face trials and tribulations similar to or even greater than what they faced, yet they remained patient? As He said: {And how many a prophet [fought and] with him fought many religious scholars? But they never lost assurance...} (Al-Imran: 146). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Among those before you, a man would be taken, a saw placed on his head, and he would be split in two, yet that would not turn him from his religion; he would be combed with iron combs beneath his flesh and nerves, yet that would not turn him from his religion."

{...that God may know those who are truthful... and that He may know the liars} If you ask: "How is this, when He has known them eternally?" I say: He has always known them as non-existent, but He does not know them as existent until they exist. The meaning is: that the truthful among them may be distinguished from the liars. It may also be a promise and a threat, as if He said: "He will reward those who are truthful and punish the liars."

Ali (may God be pleased with him) and al-Zuhri read it as li-yu‘limanna (to make known), meaning: God will make the people know who they are, or He will mark them with a sign by which they are known, such as the whiteness or blackness of their faces, or the kohl-like appearance or blueness of their eyes.

{Or do the doers of evil deeds think that they can outrun Us? Evil is what they judge.}