Tafsir of Ghafir 40:34

"And Joseph had already come to you..."

He is Joseph, son of Jacob, peace be upon them both. It is also said: He is Joseph, son of Ibrahim, son of Joseph, son of Jacob. He remained among them as a prophet for twenty years. It is said that the Pharaoh of Moses was the same Pharaoh of Joseph, having lived until his time; others say he was a different Pharaoh.

He rebuked them, saying: Joseph came to you with miracles, yet you doubted them and remained in doubt and disbelief.

"{Until when he died, you said: 'Allah will never send a messenger after him'}"

This was a judgment from yourselves, without proof, and a premeditated resolve on your part to deny the messengers. Thus, whenever a messenger came to you, you rejected and denied him based on your false judgment which you had established. Their saying, "Allah will never send a messenger after him," is not an affirmation of Joseph’s message—how could it be, when they doubted and disbelieved in it?—rather, it is a denial of the message of anyone after him, added to their denial of his own message.

It is read: A-lan yab‘atha Allahu (Will Allah send?), introducing the interrogative particle to the negative particle, as if some of them were confirming to others the negation of [future] resurrection.

"{Thus does Allah leave astray...}"

Meaning: Like this manifest abandonment, Allah abandons every transgressor in his disobedience, who is doubtful in his religion.

"{...those who dispute...}"

This is a substitute (badal) for "whoever is a transgressor."

If you ask: How is it permissible to substitute a plural for a singular? I reply: Because he does not mean a single transgressor; it is as if he said: "every transgressor."

If you ask: What is the subject of kabura (is great)? I reply: The pronoun referring to "whoever is a transgressor."

If you ask: Did you not say it is a plural, which is why you substituted "those who dispute" for it? I reply: Yes, it is a plural in meaning, but singular in wording. Thus, the substitute is carried according to its meaning, and the pronoun returning to it is carried according to its wording. It is not strange to carry [a reference] according to the wording at one time and the meaning at another; there are parallels for this.

It is also permissible for "those who dispute" to be in the nominative as an initial (mubtada'). In this view, one must assume the omission of a genitive construction (mudaf) to which the pronoun in kabura refers, the estimation being: "The disputation of those who dispute is great in hatred."

It is also possible that "those who dispute" is the initial, "without any authority having come to them" is the predicate, and the subject of kabura is the phrase "Thus," meaning: "Such disputation is great in hatred." The phrase "Allah seals" is then a new, independent statement. Whoever says "The greatness of their disputation is great in hatred before Allah" has omitted the subject, and the subject cannot be omitted.

In "{great in hatred}" there is a form of exclamation and magnification of their disputation, testifying that it exceeds the bounds of ordinary major sins.

It is read: Sultan (with a damma on the lam). It is read: Qalb (with tanwin). The heart is described as arrogant and tyrannical because it is the center and source of these traits, just as you say: "The eye saw" and "The ear heard." Similar to this is His saying, Exalted is He: "And if you are on a journey" (Al-Baqarah: 283), even though the sinner is the person. It is also permissible that it is an omission of a genitive construction, meaning: "on every possessor of an arrogant heart," making the attribute apply to the owner of the heart.

"{And Pharaoh said: 'O Haman, construct for me a tower that I might reach the ways—the ways into the heavens—so that I may look at the God of Moses; but indeed, I think he is a liar.' And thus was made pleasing to Pharaoh the evil of his deed, and he was averted from the [right] way. And the plan of Pharaoh was not except in ruin.}"