وَإِن يَرَوا آيَةً يُعرِضوا وَيَقولوا سِحرٌ مُستَمِرٌّ
If they see a sign, they turn away, and say: ‘An incessant magic!’
EXEGESIS
Yuʿriḍū is the apocopate (majzūm) of the verb yuʿriḍūna which is clipped because of the conditional clause. It implies turning away from considering the signs and pondering over them.[1]
Āyah in the conditional clause is in indefinite form which implies generality and would thus mean: Whenever they see any sign.[2] In addition to that, the indefinite form suggests importance and prominence (taʿẓīm) and thus the verse would read: Whenever they see a great sign.[3]
Mustamirr has different meanings. It could mean continuous, persistent, and one after another, which would indicate that they had seen similar miracles before this one, and thus the splitting of the moon was just another one of many miracles shown to them.[4] It could also mean firm and strong,[5] or passing and transient.[6]
EXPOSITION
This verse describes the reaction of the polytheists whenever they witnessed a miracle. After clearly observing the miracle, the deniers would respond with two reactions. First, they would turn away, meaning they would ignore the miracle and not believe in the Prophet due to their stubbornness.[7] This is a common reaction repeated across different verses of the Quran (see 32:22, 6:157, and 18:57). A subtle theme throughout the Quran is that miracles by themselves do not convince people of religious truth if their souls are set against it; and though they should see every sign, they will not believe in it; and when they come to you, to dispute with you, the faithless say: ‘These are nothing but myths of the ancients’ (6:25; see also 2:145, 7:146, and 10:96-97).
Secondly, they would describe it as a magic that is mustamirr. If we take mustamirr to mean continuous, this could either be a reference to the continuous miracles shown by all prophets at all times, or it could be a specific indication to Prophet Muhammad (s) in that he had shown them other miracles before this. A third understanding of continuous in this context is that the magic extends from the earth to the skies.[8] On the other hand, if we take mustamirr to mean firm and strong, as attributed to al-Ḍaḥḥāk and Qatādah, then it would imply that the polytheists thought this was a very strong type of magic, perhaps because it was their belief that magic only works on the earth and one cannot perform magic in the skies.[9] It is attributed to Mujāhid that he took mustamirr to mean transient; thus the claim was that this magic is just temporary and passing.[10]
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
For those who do not accept that the previous verse was referring to the miracle of the splitting of the moon, the relationship between the two verses works as follows. The first verse is discussing an event – the splitting of the moon – which would happen just before the Day of Judgement, to awaken the polytheists from their slumber of heedlessness. The verses thereafter reprimand them for their defiant behaviour that will lead them to destruction on the Day of Judgement. As such, this verse is not referring to the actual splitting of the moon as a sign, but is a reference to their general attitude of labelling the Prophet as a sorcerer whenever they saw any sign.[11] Furthermore, since the verse is prophesising the splitting of the moon before the Day of Judgement, claiming that this is an act of sorcery is something that the disbelievers frequently claimed. For example, in 11:7, when they are warned about the day they shall be resurrected from their graves, they respond in a similar manner: Yet if you say: ‘You will indeed be raised up after death,’ the faithless will surely say: ‘This is nothing but plain magic’.[12]
[1] Daqaiq, 12/530.
[2] Mizan, 19/56.
[3] Razi, 29/290.
[4] Daqaiq, 12/530; Mizan, 19/56.
[5] Safi, 5/99.
[6] Daqaiq, 12/530.
[7] Tabrisi, 9/282.
[8] Tibyan, 9/443.
[9] Furqan, 27/471.
[10] Tabrisi, 9/282.
[11] Fadlallah, 21/279.
[12] Ayāzī, Naqd wa Barrasī-ye Adilleh-ye Shaqq al-Qamar dar Tafāsīr-e Farīqayn, https://naghdeara.quran.ac.ir/article_167029.html.