They said: Since that is so, what we said is established: that the interpretation of the statement of God, Exalted is He: {Who believe in the unseen}, refers specifically to those who believe in what is hidden from them of Paradise, Hellfire, reward, punishment, resurrection, and the affirmation of God, His angels, His books, and His messengers, and everything that the Arabs did not adhere to in their era of ignorance from among that which God, majestic is His praise, obligated His servants to profess as religion — to the exclusion of others.
277- Mūsā ibn Hārūn narrated to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād narrated to us, he said: Asbāṭ narrated to us, from al-Suddī in an account he mentioned, from Abū Mālik, and from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās — and from Murra al-Hamdānī, from Ibn Masʿūd, and from some people among the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him: "As for {Who believe in the unseen}, they are the believers among the Arabs, {and perform prayer and spend out of what We have provided them}. As for the unseen, it is whatever is hidden from the servants regarding the matter of Paradise and Hellfire, and what God mentioned in the Qurʾān; their belief in that was not derived from an existing scripture or knowledge they possessed. {And who believe in the unseen and perform prayer and spend out of what We have provided them} — these are the believers from among the People of the Scripture." (1)
And others said: Rather, these four verses were revealed specifically regarding the believers from among the People of the Scripture, because of their belief in the Qurʾān when God, majestic is His praise, informed them in it about unseen matters that they used to conceal among themselves and keep secret. So they knew, when God, majestic is His praise, disclosed that to His Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, in His revelation, that it was from God, Mighty and Majestic. Thus, they believed in the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, and believed in the Qurʾān and the reports it contained regarding unseen matters of which they had no knowledge, once it was firmly established for them — through the proof that God, blessed and exalted is He, leveled against them in His Book by informing therein about what they were concealing in their hearts — that all of that was from God.
This translation was produced with AI assistance and is part of an ongoing human-review process. Found a mistake? Use the feedback option in the reader menu.
