Thus His words—“So you enjoyed your allotted share” (al-Tawba 9:69)—point to the pursuit of sensual desires, the ailment of the disobedient. And His words—“and you plunged just as they plunged” (al-Tawba 9:69)—refer to the pursuit of dubious speculations, the disease of innovators, sectarians, and quarrelers. The two often coincide; you will scarcely find anyone whose beliefs are corrupt without that corruption showing up in his conduct.
The verse also makes clear that those who preceded them had already enjoyed and plunged, and these people did exactly as they had done.
Moreover, the expressions “you enjoyed” and “you plunged” are couched in the past tense, recounting what has happened, yet they constitute a censure of everyone who behaves in that manner until the Day of Judgment—just as with all the statements Allah makes about the unbelievers and hypocrites at the mission of Muhammad ﷺ, for they condemn anyone whose state resembles theirs until the Final Hour. At the same time, the wording may be understood as describing a continuous, ongoing reality; for although the address is in the second person, it functions like the pronouns in commands such as “worship” and “wash,” and—
(1) In manuscript B the reading is yajid (“he finds”).
(2) The printed edition reads zahir (“manifest”).
(3) The printed text adds the phrase alladhina kanu min qabl (“those who were before”), which is absent from the other manuscripts.
(4) The printed text likewise inserts: ʿan aʿmali wa-sifati al-kuffar (“about the deeds and attributes of the unbelievers”), an addition not found in the remaining copies.
(5) The printed edition further interpolates: ʿinda mabʿath ʿabdihi wa-rasulihi Muhammad… (“when He sent His servant and messenger Muhammad …”), a wording missing from the other witnesses.
(6) The printed text reads liman yakunu haluhu (“for whomever whose state is …”), another addition; manuscripts J, D, and T have instead liman haluhum, omitting the prefixed kaf.
(7) Manuscripts J and D read: wa-ithmun mustamir (“and a persistent sin”).
(8) The printed edition—and manuscript A—add the word ka-l-damir (“like the pronoun”).
(9) This expression appears twenty-one times in the Quran: first at 2:21, “Ya ayyuha al-nasu uʿbudu rabbakum alladhi khalaqakum wa-alladhina min qablikum” (“O mankind, worship your Lord who created you and those before you”), and last at 71:3, reporting Noah’s words, “Ani uʿbudu Allaha wa-ttaquhu” (“Worship Allah and fear Him”).
(10) The correct reading of the verse begins with the conjunctive fa: fa-ghsilu (“then wash”), namely: “Ya ayyuha alladhina amanu idha qumtum ila al-salat fa-ghsilu wujuhakum wa aydiyakum ila al-marafiq” (5:6).