At-Tawbah: 69
"Like those who were before you..."
The Kaf (in ka-alladhina) is in the nominative case, meaning: "You are like those who were before you." Or, it is in the accusative case, meaning: "You have done what those who were before you did," which is that you enjoyed your portion and engaged in vain talk just as they enjoyed and engaged in it.
Similar to this is the saying of the poet al-Namir:
"Like the day, neither sought nor seeking"
(Implied: "I have not seen the likes of the day...")
His saying, "They were stronger than you in power," is an explanation for likening them to those before them and illustrating their actions by the actions of the others.
- Al-Khallaq: The portion. It is what has been "created" (khuliqa) for a person—that is, destined of good—just as it is called a "share" (qasm) because it is divided (qussima), and a "portion" (nasib) because it is set up (nusiba), meaning established.
- Al-Khawd: Entering into falsehood and idle play.
- "Like that which they engaged in" (ka-alladhi khadu): Like the group that engaged in it, or like the engagement they engaged in.
If you ask: What is the benefit of saying, "So they enjoyed their portion," when the saying, "Just as those who were before you enjoyed their portion," makes it redundant? Just as the saying, "Like that which they engaged in," makes it unnecessary to say, "And you engaged in it, so you engaged like that which they engaged in?"
I say: Its benefit is to condemn the former people for enjoying the shares of this world they were given and being content with them, and for being preoccupied with their fleeting desires rather than considering the end and seeking success in the Hereafter. It serves to belittle the act of enjoyment and make the contentment with it appear shameful. Then, it likens the state of those being addressed to their state. It is like when you want to alert a tyrant to the ugliness of his action, so you say: "You are like Pharaoh; he used to kill without crime, torture, and oppress, and you do as he did."
As for "And you engaged in it like that which they engaged in," it is a conjunction to what preceded it, relying on its connection to the former to dispense with that introduction.
"Their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter" is the antithesis of His saying: "And We granted him Isaac and Jacob, and We placed in his descendants prophethood and the Scripture" (Al-Ankabut: 27).
"Has there not reached them the news of those before them—the people of Noah, and 'Ad, and Thamud, and the people of Abraham, and the companions of Madyan, and the overturned cities? Their messengers came to them with clear proofs. And Allah would not have wronged them, but they were wronging themselves."
