Tafsir of Al Imran 3:179

"It was not for Allah..."

• The lam (in li-yadhara) is for the emphasis of negation.

"In the state you are in" Of the intermingling of sincere believers and hypocrites.

"Until He distinguishes the wicked from the good" Until He separates the hypocrite from the sincere. (It is also recited as "yumayyizu" from "mayyaza," and in a narration from Ibn Kathir as "yamizu" from "amaza," meaning "to distinguish.")

If you ask: To whom is the address in "you" directed? I say: To all who profess belief, both the sincere and the hypocrites. It is as if it were said: "Allah would not leave the sincere among you in the state you are currently in—intermingled with one another, such that your sincere ones cannot be distinguished from your hypocrites because you all agree on the outward profession of faith—until He distinguishes them from you through revelation to His Prophet, informing him of your conditions."

Then He says: "And it is not for Allah to acquaint you with the unseen." Meaning: It is not for Allah to grant any of you knowledge of the unseen. Do not imagine, when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informs you of the hypocrisy of one man or the sincerity of another, that he perceives what is in the hearts as Allah perceives it, thereby reporting on their disbelief or faith.

"But Allah chooses from His messengers whom He wills" He sends the Messenger and reveals to him, informing him that "in the unseen there is such-and-such," and that "so-and-so has hypocrisy in his heart," and "so-and-so has sincerity in his heart." Thus, he knows this by way of Allah’s information, not by way of his own perception of the unseen.

Alternatively, it may be intended: He will not leave you intermingled until He distinguishes the wicked from the good by burdening you with difficult obligations that only the sincere—whose hearts Allah has tested—can endure.

Such as sacrificing lives in Jihad and spending wealth in the way of Allah. He makes this a standard for your beliefs and a witness to your inner selves, so that some of you may know what is in the hearts of others by way of deduction, not by way of direct access to the essence of the breasts and observing them. For that is something Allah has reserved for Himself; it is not for Allah to acquaint any of you with the unseen and the hidden matters of the hearts so that you might know the sound from the corrupt by observing them directly.

"But Allah chooses from His messengers whom He wills" He informs him of some of the unseen.

"So believe in Allah and His messengers" By according Him His true measure and knowing that He alone perceives the unseen, and by placing the messengers in their proper stations—knowing them to be chosen servants who do not know except what Allah has taught them, and who do not report of the unseen except what Allah has informed them of. They possess nothing of the knowledge of the unseen.

Al-Suddi said: The disbelievers said, "If Muhammad is truthful, let him tell us who among us will believe and who will disbelieve." So this was revealed.