وَإِذَا مَآ أُنزِلَتْ سُورَةٌ فَمِنْهُم مَّن يَقُولُ أَيُّكُمْ زَادَتْهُ هَٰذِهِۦٓ إِيمَٰنًا فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ فَزَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَٰنًا وَهُمْ يَسْتَبْشِرُونَ · وَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ فَزَادَتْهُمْ رِجْسًا إِلَىٰ رِجْسِهِمْ
"When a sūra is sent down, some of them say, 'Which of you has this increased in faith?' As for those who believe, it has increased them in faith, and they rejoice. As for those in whose hearts is a sickness, it has added defilement to their defilement."
| Side | Zādathum |
|---|---|
| Alladhīna āmanū | Īmānā — faith |
| Alladhīna fī qulūbihim maraḍ | Rijsan ilā rijsihim — defilement upon defilement |
I record this as my own reading: the text is constant, the outcome divides in two — and the cause of the division is shown not in the text but in the receiver (fī qulūbihim maraḍ).
The same structure was treated in Fuṣṣilat at 41/44 (huwa li'lladhīna āmanū hudan wa shifāʾ … wa huwa ʿalayhim ʿamā) and occurred in al-Anfāl at 8/2 (zādathum īmānā). Three sūras record the same working.
أَوَلَا يَرَوْنَ أَنَّهُمْ يُفْتَنُونَ فِى كُلِّ عَامٍ مَّرَّةً أَوْ مَرَّتَيْنِ ثُمَّ لَا يَتُوبُونَ وَلَا هُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَ (126)
I record this as an observation: it is said that the testing is repeated and that even so it produces no result. In al-ʿAnkabūt at 29/2 (a-ḥasiba'l-nāsu an yutrakū … wa hum lā yuftanūn) the inevitability of being tested was treated; al-Tawba gives the same root with a number.