At-Tawba 9:127
The Repentance · ayah 127 of 129
Wa-itha ma onzilat sooratunnathara baAAduhum ila baAAdinhal yarakum min ahadin thumma insarafoo sarafaAllahu quloobahum bi-annahum qawmun la yafqahoon
Saheeh International translation
Other English translations
Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+
"Whenever a sura is revealed, they look at each other and say, ‘Is anyone watching you?’ and then they turn away- God has turned their hearts away because they are people who do not use their reason."
Pickthall (classic)+
"And whenever a surah is revealed, they look one at another (as who should say): Doth anybody see you? Then they turn away. Allah turneth away their hearts because they are a folk who understand not."
Yusuf Ali (classic)+
"Whenever there cometh down a Sura, they look at each other, (saying), "Doth anyone see you?" Then they turn aside: Allah hath turned their hearts (from the light); for they are a people that understand not."
Tafsīr · classical commentary
Ibn Kathir
Abridged English, public domain
+
Ibn Kathir
Abridged English, public domain
Hypocrites suffer Afflictions
Allah says, do not these hypocrites see,
أَنَّهُمْ يُفْتَنُونَ
(that they are put in trial), being tested,
فِى كُلِّ عَامٍ مَّرَّةً أَوْ مَرَّتَيْنِ ثُمَّ لاَ يَتُوبُونَ وَلاَ هُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَ
(once or twice every year Yet, they turn not in repentance, nor do they learn a lesson.) They neither repent from their previous sins nor learn a lesson for the future. Mujahid said that hypocrites are tested with drought and hunger. Allah said;
وَإِذَا مَآ أُنزِلَتْ سُورَةٌ نَّظَرَ بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَى بَعْضٍ هَلْ يَرَاكُمْ مِّنْ أَحَدٍ ثُمَّ انصَرَفُواْ صَرَفَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُم بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لاَّ يَفْقَهُون
(And whenever there comes down a Surah, they look at one another (saying): "Does any one see you" Then they turn away. Allah has turned their hearts because they are a people that understand not.) This describes the hypocrites that when a Surah is revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ,
نَّظَرَ بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَى بَعْضٍ
(they look at one another), they turn their heads, right and left, saying,
هَلْ يَرَاكُمْ مِّنْ أَحَدٍ ثُمَّ انصَرَفُواْ
("Does any one see you" Then they turn away. ..) turning away from, and shunning the truth. This is the description of hypocrites in this life, for they do not remain where the truth is being declared, neither accepting nor understanding it, just as Allah said in other Ayat,
فَمَا لَهُمْ عَنِ التَّذْكِرَةِ مُعْرِضِينَ - كَأَنَّهُمْ حُمُرٌ مُّسْتَنفِرَةٌ - فَرَّتْ مِن قَسْوَرَةٍ
(Then what is wrong with them that they turn away from admonition As if they were wild donkeys. Fleeing from a lion.)74:49-51, and,
فَمَالِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ قِبَلَكَ مُهْطِعِينَ - عَنِ الْيَمِينِ وَعَنِ الشِّمَالِ عِزِينَ
(So what is the matter with those who disbelieve that they hasten to hear from you. (Sitting) in groups on the right and on the left.)70:36-37. This Ayah also means, what is the matter with these people who turn away from you to the right and to the left, to escape from truth and revert to falsehood Allah's statement,
ثُمَّ انصَرَفُواْ صَرَفَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُم
(Then they turn away. Allah has turned their hearts (from Truth)) is similar to,
فَلَمَّا زَاغُواْ أَزَاغَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ
(So when they turned away, Allah turned their hearts away.) 61:5. Allah said next,
بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لاَّ يَفْقَهُونَ
(because they are a people that understand not. ) They neither understand Allah's Word nor attempt to comprehend it nor want it. Rather, they are too busy, turning away from it. This is why they ended up in this condition.
لَقَدْ جَآءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُمْ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ