al-Tawba 9:64-66

Yaḥdharu'l-munāfiqūna an tunazzala ʿalayhim sūratun tunabbiʾuhum bimā fī qulūbihim; quli'stahziʾū inna'llāha mukhrijun mā taḥdharūn · Wa la-in saʾaltahum la-yaqūlunna innamā kunnā nakhūḍu wa nalʿab; qul a-bi'llāhi wa āyātihī wa rasūlihī kuntum tastahziʾūn · Lā taʿtadhirū qad kafartum baʿda īmānikum; in naʿfu ʿan ṭāʾifatin minkum nuʿadhdhib ṭāʾifatan bi-annahum kānū mujrimīn

"The hypocrites are wary lest a sūra be sent down upon them telling them what is in their hearts. Say: mock on; God will bring out what you are wary of. · And if you ask them, they will surely say, 'We were only chattering and playing.' Say: was it at God, His signs and His Messenger that you were mocking? · Offer no excuses; you have rejected after your faith. Even if We pardon a section of you, We shall punish a section, because they were guilty."

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the object of the verb: what is feared is not a punishment but a text — an tunazzala ʿalayhim sūra. And what the sūra will do is stated as well: tunabbiʾuhum bimā fī qulūbihim — to tell them what is in their hearts.

The pronoun must be recorded: tunabbiʾuhum — not others, but them.

I give this as my own reading: what is feared is not that the hidden thing should become known to others, but that it should be said to them. It coincides with the description "having two doors" recorded in al-Munāfiqūn: the one who must least of all know of the second door is its owner.

The root خ-و-ض: to step into water and stir up its mud; to walk in shallow water. From this derives the sense of talk that has no depth and muddies things.

The root was treated in al-Muddaththir at 74/45 (wa kunnā nakhūḍu maʿa'l-khāʾiḍīn).

I record this as an observation about the language: the word pictures idle talk as muddying water — the spoiling of clarity.

And the form of the excuse must be recorded: innamā — "only." I give this as an observation: the excuse does not deny the act; it belittles its importance. The answer comes by enumerating the objects of the act: a-bi'llāhi wa āyātihī wa rasūlih — three objects.

The root ع-ذ-ر: excuse; and as one sense of the root, ʿudhr, "the cause that makes not doing a thing justified."

This verb occurs several times in the sūra: 66, 90 (al-muʿadhdhirūn), 94 (yaʿtadhirūna). And in the ninety-fourth verse the same command will be repeated: lā taʿtadhirū.

I record this as my own reading: the sūra treats the excuse as a kind, and in verses 91-93 it sets apart those with a genuine excuse. The sūra, that is, does not reject the excuse; it separates out the false one. This distinction will be treated in detail at verse 91.

The last sentence of the verse must be recorded, and it is important in respect of the method.

The sentence uses the word ṭāʾifa (a section) twice: a section is pardoned, a section is punished.

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the repetition of the word: even inside the gravest sentence of ruling a division is made. The sūra's language blocks the issuing of wholesale rulings from within itself.