فَاصفَح عَنهُم وَقُل سَلامٌ ۚ فَسَوفَ يَعلَمونَ
So disregard them, and say: ‘Peace!’ Soon they will know.
EXEGESIS
The imperative iṣfaḥ (disregard) stems from the verb ṣafaḥa. As a noun, ṣafḥah means breadth, side, or surface, as in the side of the face, the flat of a sword, or the face/surface of a stone. When the verb is used with the preposition ʿan, it means to incline away from something, turning towards it the ṣafḥah of your face, i.e. the side of the face. Likewise, iʿrāḍ (turning away) is to present to a thing your ʿarḍ, that is, your side or flank.[1]
The object of they will know is omitted to intensify the dread and ambiguity, so that their minds may wander to every possible terrifying outcome.[2]
EXPOSITION
This verse presents God’s response to the Prophet’s plaint in which he had lost any hope in the disbelievers gaining faith. The verse can be broken into three terse statements:
- Disregard them: this can be seen as affirming the Prophet’s plaint in that truly there is no longer any hope in them seeing the truth.[3] Thus, the Prophet is supposed to disregard them and turn away from them. At such a stage, there is no benefit in further engaging with these obstinate disbelievers (see also 6:106, 7:198, 15:94).
- Say: ‘Peace!’ The Prophet is commanded to abandon disputation and contention with the obstinate polytheists of Mecca and to invite them to peaceful coexistence with the Muslims. The command to say: ‘Peace!’ – considering the context of the following phrase (Soon they will know) – is not an order to offer greetings or salutations. Rather, it is a command to cease disputation with the polytheists. It is one that reflects disengagement, and denotes distancing.[4] Rāzī explicitly attributes to the lexicographer Sībawayh, that this kind of greeting denotes disengagement and is also intended by Prophet Abraham (a) to his father in, He said: ‘Peace be to you! I shall plead with my Lord to forgive you’ (19:47).[5] This resembles 25:63, and when the ignorant address them, they say: ‘Peace!’ Here, Peace! is a sign of indifference towards them, blended with dignity and honour.[6] In 28:55, a similar response is mentioned, and when they hear vain talk, they avoid it and say: ‘Our deeds belong to us, and your deeds belong to you. Peace be to you. We do not court the ignorant’.
- Soon they will know: the Almighty warns and threatens them with a profoundly meaningful phrase, lest they imagine that God has abandoned them after the aforementioned parting and farewell. This phrase could be a reference to the scorching fire they have kindled for themselves through their obstinacy, and what a painful torment they have prepared to befall them in time to come.[7]
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
According to Qatādah and Hasan al-Baṣrī, this verse was abrogated by 9:5, an opinion held by many Sunni exegetes.[8]
Some exegetes postulate that the command of say: ‘Peace!’ means ‘say what will deliver you from their evil and harm’, as attributed to Māwardī.[9] Others mention that it means to say good in response to their evil, which is attributed to Suddī, or to act kindly with them, as attributed to Muqātil.[10] Others mention that the intended meaning is ‘you be safe from us and we be safe from you’.[11]
Some exegetes suggest that the imperative disregard them connotes not harbouring any hatred or enmity for the disbelievers in the hope that one day they may proclaim faith![12] In this regard, the phrase Soon they will know is not a threat but a declaration, that soon the polytheists will come to believe in the Prophet after his behaving patiently and kindly with them, and that this prophecy was then fulfilled during the conquest of Mecca.[13]
[1] Raghib, p. 486; Bahrayn, 2/385.
[2] Ibn Ashur, 25/304.
[3] Mizan, 18/127.
[4] Tabrisi, 9/90.
[5] Razi, 27/650.
[6] Amthal, 16/111.
[7] Amthal, 16/111.
[8] Tabrisi, 9/90; Tabari, 20/665; Andulusi, 5/67; Qurtubi, 16/124; Maybudi, 9/88.
[9] Tabrisi, 9/90; Alusi, 13/108.
[10] Alusi, 13/108; Ibn al-Jawzi, 4/86.
[11] Atyab, 12/66.
[12] Fadlallah, 17/68.
[13] Khatib, 13/176.