وَإِن كَادُوا۟ لَيَسْتَفِزُّونَكَ مِنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ
Wa in kādū la-yastafizzūnaka mina'l-arḍi li-yukhrijūka minhā wa idhan lā yalbathūna khilāfaka illā qalīlā · Sunnata man qad arsalnā qablaka min rusulinā, wa lā tajidu li-sunnatinā taḥwīlā
"They came near to tearing you out of this land, to drive you from it; and then they would have remained after you only a little. Such is the way with the messengers We sent before you; and you will find no turning aside of Our way."
The same verb occurred in the sixty-fourth verse (wa'stafziz mani'staṭaʿta minhum) and will come once more in the hundred and third (of Pharaoh). The three-way table was given at the sixty-fourth verse.
The difference here must be recorded: mina'l-arḍ is added to the verb — that is, not a metaphor but a geographical expulsion.
The root: to make a thing flow smoothly, to open a way. Sunna — the way that is kept to, the manner of working.
The root was treated at 48/23 in al-Fatḥ (sunnata'llāhi'llatī qad khalat min qabl) and at 35/43 in Fāṭir (fa-lan tajida li-sunnati'llāhi tabdīlā). I rely on those treatments.
| Place | What is negated | The word |
|---|---|---|
| Fāṭir 35/43 | Tabdīl — to put something else in its place | ب-د-ل |
| al-Isrāʾ 17/77 | Taḥwīl — to change the direction | ح-و-ل |
At Fāṭir 35/43 taḥwīl is negated as well; al-Isrāʾ uses only the second.
I record this as an observation about the language: tabdīl is replacement, while taḥwīl is turning the same thing in another direction. The word al-Isrāʾ chooses is the very one used of the things worshipped in the fifty-sixth verse.
| Verse | Taḥwīl | Who cannot do it |
|---|---|---|
| 56 | To turn the affliction in another direction | The things worshipped |
| 77 | To alter the way | No one at all |
The same word, in two places in the sūra, and negated in both. This is a repetition that can be verified within the sūra.