“I see us hastening towards inevitable disgrace,
Bewitched by food and drink.”
That is, hastening. A similar usage occurs in the words of Umar ibn Abī Rabīʿah:
“When she recognized me, they exclaimed in recognition,
And said, ‘A seeker who has wearied his mount and sped on.’”
That is, he hastened until his mount grew weary.
“Seeking to sow discord among you. Among you are those who would listen to them.”
Qatādah said, “Among you are those who listen to their words and obey them.” Ibn Ishāq said, “Among you are people who love them and follow what they urge them to do, because of their standing among them.” According to this interpretation, the meaning is: among you are people who listen to them and obey them; if these hypocrites accompanied them, they would corrupt them and turn them against you.
I say: “Those who listen” includes the meaning of responding favourably. Mujāhid, Ibn Zayd and al-Kalbī said that it means: among you are people sympathetic to them who convey to them what they hear from you—that is, spies. But the first interpretation is correct, as in the words of the Most High:
“Avid listeners to falsehood.”
That is, they accept it. There were no spies for the hypocrites among the believers. The hypocrites mingled with the believers: they camped and travelled with them, prayed with them and sat in their company. They were not a separate group who had planted spies among the believers to convey information about them. That is only done by someone who keeps apart from a group rather than mingling with it, stationing his informants among its members. Thus, the correct interpretation is that of Qatādah and Ibn Ishāq. And Allah knows best.
If it is asked: “Their setting out to obey Him is itself an act of obedience to Him, so how could He dislike it? If He—glorified is He—dislikes it, He must necessarily love its opposite, since disliking one of two opposites entails loving the other. Their remaining behind would therefore be beloved to Him. How, then, could He punish them for it?”
The answer is: this is a weighty question, indeed one of the greatest questions in this subject. The various schools answer it according to their respective principles.
The Jabriyyah answer that His actions are not grounded in wisdom or beneficial purposes, and that He may do anything that is possible. It is possible for Him to punish them for doing what He loves and approves of, and for refraining from what