Wainna min ahli alkitabi laman yuminu biAllahi wama onzila ilaykum wama onzila ilayhim khashiAAeena lillahi la yashtaroona biayati Allahi thamanan qaleelan olaika lahum ajruhum AAinda rabbihim inna Allaha sareeAAu alhisabi
English
Ahmed Ali
Certainly among the people of the Book are some who believe in God and in what has been revealed to you and had been revealed to them; and they bow in humility before God, and do not trade for paltry gain the signs of God. Their reward is verily with their Lord; and swift is the reckoning of God!
199
Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : allah then described those from the people of the book who had believed-'abdullah ibn salam and his followers-saying: (and lo! of the people of the scripture there are some who believe in allah and that which is revealed unto you) the qur'an (and that which was revealed unto them) of scripture: the torah, (humbling themselves before allah) humble and meek vis-à-vis allah in worship. (they purchase not a trifling gain) a paltry recompense of means of living (at the price of the revelations of allah) by hiding the traits and description of muhammad in the scripture. (verily their reward) their recompense (is with their lord) in paradise, (and lo! allah is swift to take account) when he takes people into account, he is very swift.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : verily, there are some among the people of the scripture who believe in god, like ‘abd allāh b. salām and his companions and the negus, and what has been revealed to you, that is, the qur’ān, and what has been revealed to them, that is, the torah and the gospel, humble before god (khāshi‘īn is a circumstantial qualification of the person of [the verb] yu’min, ‘who believe’, and takes into account the [potentially plural] sense of man, ‘who’), not purchasing with the verses of god, which they have before them in the torah and the gospel pertaining to the descriptions of the prophet (s), a small price, of this world, by concealing them for fear of losing their supremacy, as others, like the jews, have done. those — their wage, the reward for their deeds, is with their lord, [a reward] which they will be given twice over, as [stated] in the sūrat al-qasas [q. 28:54]. god is swift at reckoning, reckoning with the whole of creation in about half a day of the days of this world.
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi
تفسير : (and lo! of the people of the scripture there are some who believe in allah…) [3:199].
said jabir ibn ‘abd allah, anas, ibn ‘abbas and qatadah: “this was revealed about the negus. when the latter died, gabriel, peace be upon him, informed the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, about his death on the same day he died. the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, said to his companions: ‘go out and perform the prayer of the dead on one of your brothers who died in a different land’. they asked him: ‘who is he?’ and he told them it was the negus. then the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, went out to the baqi‘ and all that was between medina and the land of abyssinia was revealed to him such that he saw the bed of the negus. he performed the prayer of the dead, uttering the expression allahu akbar [allah is the greatest] four times, and requested forgiveness for him. he then told his companions: ‘request forgiveness for him!’ the hypocrites commented: ‘look at this one, performing the prayer of the dead on a foreign christian abyssinian whom he has never seen and who does not even follow his religion’. allah, exalted is he, then revealed this verse”.
abu’l-fadl ahmad ibn muhammad ibn ‘abd allah ibn yusuf informed us> abu ‘amr muhammad ibn ja‘far ibn matar (by dictation)> ja‘far ibn muhammad ibn sinan al-wasiti> abu hani’ muhammad ibn bakkar al-bahili> al-mu‘tamir ibn sulayman> humayd> anas who reported that the prophet of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, said to his companions: “get up and perform the prayer of the dead on your brother the negus”. some of them said to others: “he is asking us to pray on a non-believer from abyssinia!” and so allah, exalted is he, revealed (and lo! of the people of the scripture there are some who believe in allah…). mujahid, ibn jurayj and ibn zayd stated that this was revealed about all the believers of the people of the book.
