Tafsir for verse: 47:20
وَيَقُولُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَوۡلَا نُزِّلَتۡ سُورَةٞۖ فَإِذَآ أُنزِلَتۡ سُورَةٞ مُّحۡكَمَةٞ وَذُكِرَ فِيهَا ٱلۡقِتَالُ رَأَيۡتَ ٱلَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٞ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَيۡكَ نَظَرَ ٱلۡمَغۡشِيِّ عَلَيۡهِ مِنَ ٱلۡمَوۡتِۖ فَأَوۡلَىٰ لَهُمۡ ٢٠ ﴿20
20And the believers say, “Why has a (new) Sūrah not been revealed?” Then, once an operative Sūrah is sent down, and fighting (in Allah’s way) is mentioned in it, you notice those who have disease in their hearts, looking to you like one who is faint because of death. So, destruction is very close to them.
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Commentary

And when the most evident proof of the encompassing knowledge is the knowledge of what the human conceals, especially if it contradicts what he has shown, He said, indicating His encompassing knowledge by revealing the secrets of the hypocrites, referring to ﴿And among them are those who listen to you﴾ [Muhammad: 16]. ﴿And they say﴾ in a manner of continuous renewal, ﴿Those who have believed﴾ meaning they claimed that with their tongues, and among them are the truthful and the hypocrites, indicating their truthfulness in their faith by urging the pursuit of good through the renewal of the revelation, which is the true spirit: ﴿If only it were revealed﴾ in a gradual manner. And He built it for the action, indicating that they have become in their truthfulness in faith, believing that the revelation can only be from Allah, such that they do not need to explicitly state it. ﴿A surah﴾ meaning any surah, for us to be pleased by hearing it, to worship by reciting it, and to act upon what is in it, whatever it may be. And the revelation continues among us, renewed with the renewal of time, so that this would be more energizing for us and would stimulate our determination. ﴿So when a surah is revealed﴾ meaning a piece of the Qur'an, its entire descent is completed gradually or all at once. And it has increased their need by the sense that it is ﴿Clear﴾ meaning: (p-237) clear, not to be confused with anything of it in a type of generality, nor is it abrogated as it encompasses the virtues in every time and place. ﴿And fighting is mentioned in it﴾ in whatever mention it may be, and the reality is that it is only mentioned clearly, that it only increases in obligation and certainty until war lays down its burdens. Al-Baghawi said: And every surah in which jihad is mentioned is clear, and it is the most severe of the Qur'an upon the hypocrites. This is narrated from Qatadah. ﴿You see﴾ [meaning] with the eye and the heart, ﴿Those in whose hearts is a disease﴾ meaning: weakness in religion or hypocrisy from those who acknowledged faith and sought the revelation of the Qur'an, and they had sworn by Allah with their utmost oaths: If you command them, they will surely go out. ﴿Looking at you﴾ with aversion to what has been revealed to you after they urged seeking it. ﴿Like one who is faint﴾ And when there are causes for fainting, He clarified that this is the most severe of them, saying: ﴿From death﴾ which is the end of fainting, for he does not blink his eye, but he is staring, not blinking out of aversion to fighting due to cowardice and weakness.

And when this matter was contrary to humanity; because it distances from religion and nobility, it caused the highest threat. He said, warning them in the form of a supplication that the disliked would befall them: (p-238) ﴿So woe﴾ meaning: a greater inclination, woe, and downfall for them in the place of destruction is present ﴿for them﴾ meaning: specific to them. I interpreted it as such due to what has preceded in the end of Al-Anfal that the root of 'waliya' revolves around inclination. So when it is in the form of the comparative superlative - which is the saying of the majority - severity comes. Al-Asma'i said: It is a past action; meaning it approached them what would destroy them, and Allah has destined destruction for them. Al-Radhi said in the chapter of definite and indefinite: It is a noun for warning and it has the weight of a verb; therefore, it is prevented from being declined, and it is neither a comparative superlative nor a verb nor a noun of action because Abu Zayd narrated the attachment of the feminine 'ta' to it. They said: 'Awla' now - like 'Armalah' and it is from 'walah' of evil, meaning it is a state that is coupled. Its acceptance of the 'ta' does not harm the weight, because that is in another science.

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