Tafheem-ul-Quran - Abul Ala Maududi

Ayah by Ayah

Tags

Download Links

Tafheem-ul-Quran - Abul Ala Maududi translation for Surah Al-Ahzab — Ayah 19

33:19
أَشِحَّةً عَلَيۡكُمۡۖ فَإِذَا جَآءَ ٱلۡخَوۡفُ رَأَيۡتَهُمۡ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَيۡكَ تَدُورُ أَعۡيُنُهُمۡ كَٱلَّذِي يُغۡشَىٰ عَلَيۡهِ مِنَ ٱلۡمَوۡتِۖ فَإِذَا ذَهَبَ ٱلۡخَوۡفُ سَلَقُوكُم بِأَلۡسِنَةٍ حِدَادٍ أَشِحَّةً عَلَى ٱلۡخَيۡرِۚ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ لَمۡ يُؤۡمِنُواْ فَأَحۡبَطَ ٱللَّهُ أَعۡمَٰلَهُمۡۚ وَكَانَ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ يَسِيرٗا ١٩
They are utterly niggardly1 (in coming to your aid). Whenever there is danger, you will see them looking at you, their eyes rolling as though they were on the verge of fainting at the approach of death. But when the danger passes away, their greed for wealth prompts them to greet you with their sharp, scissor-like tongues.2 These are the ones who never truly believed, and so Allah has caused their deeds to be reduced to naught.3 That is easy enough for Allah.4
Footnotes
  • [1] “Being miserly”: Those who are not at all willing to spend their energies, their time, their wealth, etc. in any way in which the true believers are spending whatever they have. Not to speak of exerting themselves and braving the dangers, they do not want to cooperate with the believers in anything with an open heart.
  • [2] Lexically, this verse has two meanings:
  • [3] (1) When you return victorious from a war, they receive you warmly, and try to impress you with a sweet tongue that they too are sincere believers and they too have made their contribution to promote the cause of Islam, and therefore, they deserve a share from the booty.
  • [4] (2) If victory is attained, these people show great powers of the tongue at the time of the division of the spoils and make great demands for their shares, recounting their services for the cause of Islam.
  • [5] After death.
  • [6] A grammatical shift from 3rd person to 2nd person.
  • [7] Qira’at: All except for ʻAsem, Hamza, Al-Kesa’i and Khalaf read it as: “. . . (still) whomever Allah leads astray surely cannot be guided . . .”
  • [8] Qira’at: Ibn ʻAmer and Al-Kesa’i read it as: “. . . is to say to it, ‘Be,’ so it is.”