23:67 Al-Muminoon (The Believers)

{ مُسْتَكْبِرِينَ بِهِ سَامِرًا تَهْجُرُونَ } قال المفسرون معناه: مستكبرين به، الضمير يعود إلى البيت، المعهود عند المخاطبين، أو الحرم، أي: متكبرين على الناس بسببه، تقولون: نحن أهل الحرم، فنحن أفضل من غيرنا وأعلى، { سَامِرًا } أي: جماعة يتحدثون بالليل حول البيت { تَهْجُرُونَ } [أي: تقولون الكلام الهجر الذي هو القبيح في] هذا القرآن. فالمكذبون كانت طريقتهم في القرآن، الإعراض عنه، ويوصي بعضهم بعضا بذلك { وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَا تَسْمَعُوا لِهَذَا الْقُرْآنِ وَالْغَوْا فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَغْلِبُونَ } وقال الله عنهم: { أَفَمِنْ هَذَا الْحَدِيثِ تَعْجَبُونَ* وَتَضْحَكُونَ وَلَا تَبْكُونَ* وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ } { أَمْ يَقُولُونَ تَقَوَّلَهُ } فلما كانوا جامعين لهذه الرذائل، لا جرم حقت عليهم العقوبة، ولما وقعوا فيها، لم يكن لهم ناصر ينصرهم، ولا مغيث ينقذهم، ويوبخون عند ذلك بهذه الأعمال الساقطة

وقوله " مستكبرين به سامرا تهجرون " في تفسيره قولان "أحدهما" أن مستكبرين حال منهم حين نكوصهم عن الحق وإبائهم إياه استكبارا عليه واحتقارا له ولأهله فعلى هذا الضمير في به فيه ثلاثة أقوال "أحدها" أنه الحرم أي مكة ذموا لأنهم كانوا يسمرون فيه بالهجر من الكلام. "الثاني": أنه ضمير للقرآن كانوا يسمرون ويذكرون القرآن بالهجر من الكلام: إنه سحر إنه شعر إنه كهانة إلى غير ذلك من الأقوال الباطلة. "والثالث": أنه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم كانوا يذكرونه في سمرهم بالأقوال الفاسدة ويضربون له الأمثال الباطلة من أنه شاعر أو كاهن أو ساحر أو كذاب أو مجنون فكل ذلك باطل بل هو عبدالله ورسوله الذي أظهره الله عليهم وأخرجهم من الحرم صاغرين أذلاء وقيل المراد بقوله " مستكبرين به " أي بالبيت يفتخرون به معتقدون أنهم أولياؤه وليسوا به كما قال النسائي في التفسير من سننه أخبرنا أحمد بن سليمان أخبرنا عبدالله عن إسرائيل عن عبد الأعلى أنه سمع سعيد بن جبير يحدث عن ابن عباس أنه قال: إنما كره السمر حين نزلت هذه الآية " مستكبرين به سامرا تهجرون " فقال مستكبرين بالبيت يقولون نحن أهله سامرا قال كانوا يتكبرون ويسمرون فيه ولا يعمرونه وقد أطنب ابن أبي حاتم ههنا بما هذا حاصله.

The Justice of Allah and the Frivolity of the Idolators

Allah tells us of His justice towards His servants in this world, in that He does not task any person except according to his capacity, i.e., He does not burden any soul with more than it can bear. On the Day of Resurrection He will call them to account for their deeds, which He has recorded in a written Book from which nothing is omitted. He says:

وَلَدَيْنَا كِتَابٌ يَنطِقُ بِالْحَقِّ

(and with Us is a Record which speaks the truth,) meaning, the Book of deeds

وَهُمْ لاَ يُظْلَمُونَ

(and they will not be wronged.) means, nothing will be omitted from their record of good deeds. As for evil deeds, He will forgive and overlook many of them in the case of His believing servants. Then Allah says, denouncing the disbelievers and idolators of the Quraysh:

بَلْ قُلُوبُهُمْ فِى غَمْرَةٍ

(Nay, but their hearts are covered), meaning because of negligence and misguidance,

مِّنْ هَـذَا

(from this.) means, the Qur'an which Allah revealed to His Messenger .

وَلَهُمْ أَعْمَـلٌ مِّن دُونِ ذَلِكَ هُمْ لَهَا عَـمِلُونَ

(and they have other deeds, besides which they are doing.) Al-Hakam bin Aban narrated from `Ikrimah, from Ibn `Abbas that

وَلَهُمْ أَعْمَـلٌ

(and they have other deeds,) means, evil deeds apart from that, i.e., Shirk,

هُمْ لَهَا عَـمِلُونَ

(which they are doing.) means, which they will inevitably do. This was also narrated from Mujahid, Al-Hasan and others. Others said that this phrase means:

وَلَهُمْ أَعْمَـلٌ مِّن دُونِ ذَلِكَ هُمْ لَهَا عَـمِلُونَ

(And they have other deeds, besides which they are doing.) It was decreed that they would do evil deeds, and they will inevitably do them before they die, so that the word of punishment may be justified against them. A similar view was narrated from Muqatil bin Hayyan, As-Suddi and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam. This is a clear and appropriate meaning. We have already quoted from the Hadith of Ibn Mas`ud:

«فَوَ الَّذِي لَا إِلهَ غَيْرُهُ إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إِلَّا ذِرَاعٌ، فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا»

(By Him besides Whom there is no other God, a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is no more than a forearm's length between him and it, then the decree will overtake him and he will do the deeds of the people of Hell, then he will enter Hell...)

حَتَّى إِذَآ أَخَذْنَا مُتْرَفِيهِمْ بِالْعَذَابِ إِذَا هُمْ يَجْـَرُونَ

(Until when We seize those of them who lead a luxurious life with punishment; behold, they make humble invocation with a loud voice.) means, when the punishment and vengeance of Allah comes to those who are living a happy life of luxury in this world and overtakes them,

إِذَا هُمْ يَجْـَرُونَ

(behold, they make humble invocation with a loud voice.) means, they scream their calls for help. This is like the Ayat:

وَذَرْنِى وَالْمُكَذِّبِينَ أُوْلِى النَّعْمَةِ وَمَهِّلْهُمْ قَلِيلاً - إِنَّ لَدَيْنَآ أَنكَالاً وَجَحِيماً

(And leave Me Alone (to deal) with the beliers, those who are in possession of good things of life. And give them respite for a little while. Verily, with Us are fetters, and a raging Fire.) 73:11-12

كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّن قَرْنٍ فَنَادَواْ وَّلاَتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ

(How many a generation have We destroyed before them! And they cried out when there was no longer time for escape.) 38:3

لاَ تَجْـَرُواْ الْيَوْمَ إِنَّكُمْ مِّنَّا لاَ تُنصَرُونَ

(Invoke not loudly this day! Certainly you shall not be helped by Us. ) means, no one is going to save you from what has happened to you, whether you scream aloud or remain silent. There is no escape and no way out. It is inevitable: the punishment will surely come to you. Then Allah mentions the greatest of their sins:

قَدْ كَانَتْ ءَايَـتِى تُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ فَكُنتُمْ عَلَى أَعْقَـبِكُمْ تَنكِصُونَ

(Indeed My Ayat used to be recited to you, but you used to turn back on your heels.) meaning, when you were called, you refused and resisted.

ذَلِكُم بِأَنَّهُ إِذَا دُعِىَ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ كَـفَرْتُمْ وَإِن يُشْرَكْ بِهِ تُؤْمِنُواْ فَالْحُكْمُ للَّهِ الْعَلِـىِّ الْكَبِيرِ

("This is because, when Allah Alone was invoked, you disbelieved, but when partners were joined to Him, you believed! So the judgment is only with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great!") 40:12

مُسْتَكْبِرِينَ بِهِ سَـمِراً تَهْجُرُونَ

(In pride, talking evil about it by night.) refers to the arrogant pride which the Quraysh felt because they believed themselves to be the guardians of the Ka`bah, when in fact this was not the case. As An-Nasa'i said in his Tafsir of this Ayah in his Sunan: Ahmad bin Sulayman told us that `Ubaydullah told us from Isra`il, from `Abdul-A`la that he heard Sa`id bin Jubayr narrating that Ibn `Abbas said, "Talking by late night became disapproved of when this Ayah was revealed:

مُسْتَكْبِرِينَ بِهِ سَـمِراً تَهْجُرُونَ

(In pride, talking evil about it by night.) He said, "They boasted about the Ka`bah and said, `We are its people who stay up talking at night.' They used to boast and stay up and talk at night around the Ka`bah. They did not use it for the proper purpose, and so in effect they had abandoned it."

أَفَلَمْ يَدَّبَّرُواْ الْقَوْلَ أَمْ جَآءَهُمْ مَّا لَمْ يَأْتِ ءَابَآءَهُمُ الاٌّوَّلِينَ

disdainful of embracing faith because of it that is because of the Sacred House or the Meccan Sanctuary and their being inhabitants thereof secure in contrast to the situation with all other peoples in their hometowns while in your night sessions sāmiran is a circumstantial qualifier in other words they come together to converse at night around the Sacred House you talked nonsense’ if read as tahjurūna the third form from hajara means while ‘you disregarded’ the Qur’ān; but if read as the fourth form tuhjirūna from ahjara it means while ‘you speak falsehood’ about the Prophet and the Qur’ān.

(1). Another possible translation of this verse may be as follows: 'but you used to turn back on your heels, being over-proud of it (the Karam being looked after by you), indulging in tales at night, talking nonsense." It is this second translation on which the forthcoming explanation is based.

مُسْتَكْبِرِ‌ينَ بِهِ سَامِرً‌ا تَهْجُرُ‌ونَ (Being over-proud of it (the haram), indulging in tales at night talking non-sense). According to many commentators the word (on it) in this verse has a reference to the Haram (the sanctuary of Makkah). Although there is no specific mention of the Haram in the verse, yet the very close association of the Quraish of Makkah with it and their great pride in this association renders a specific mention of the Haram unnecessary. The purpose of the verse, therefore, is to mention the causes of their aversion against Allah's verses. The first factor was their pride in their being the neighbours and care-takers of Haram. The other two factors are mentioned in the next two words.

The word سَامِرً‌ا is derived from سَمَر meaning "Moon lit night". It was a favourite pastime with the Arabs to assemble on moon lit nights and tell stories. Thus the word سَمَر came to be used in the sense of stories and anecdotes and سَامِر meant a raconteur. Although the word has been used in the singular yet it is often used as a plural also as in this verse. This word points out the second reason for the repudiation of divine communications by the infidels of Makkah which is their preoccupation with petty and frivolous matters such as story-telling and their lack of interest in divine messages. And finally there was a third reason for this state of affairs also namely that they used to indulge in foolish talk and pass unseemly remarks about the Holy Prophet ﷺ .

The word تَهْجُرُ‌ونَ (23:67) is derived from ھُجر - with a dammah mark ( ‘) on the letter ہ and means "to speak nonsense, to use foul language).

Ban on story-telling after ` lsha' prayers

Story telling was favourite pastime among the Arabs and the Persians since ancient times. This habit was not only time wasting but was also the cause of certain evils. With a view to discourage this practice, the Holy Prophet ﷺ enjoined upon the Muslims not to sleep before the ` Isha' prayers. The philosophy behind this injunction was that all daily human activity ended with the ` Isha' prayers which should arguably be a man's last action and which might even atone for his lapses during the day. On the other hand if, after the ` Isha' prayers, he sits down to while away his time listening to silly and frivolous tales which in itself is a foolish act, he renders himself guilty of encouraging falsehood, backbiting and other sins. Another consequence of this evil habit is that such a person will go to bed late, will rise late and miss his early morning prayers. Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ used to admonish people whom he found listening to stories after ` Isha' prayers and advised them to go early to bed so that with Allah's grace they might be enabled to say midnight prayers. (Qurtubi)