Verse. 590

٤ - ٱلنِّسَاء

4 - An-Nisa

اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ تَوَفّٰىھُمُ الْمَلٰۗىِٕكَۃُ ظَالِمِيْۗ اَنْفُسِہِمْ قَالُوْا فِيْمَ كُنْتُمْ۝۰ۭ قَالُوْا كُنَّا مُسْتَضْعَفِيْنَ فِي الْاَرْضِ۝۰ۭ قَالُوْۗا اَلَمْ تَكُنْ اَرْضُ اللہِ وَاسِعَۃً فَتُھَاجِرُوْا فِيْھَا۝۰ۭ فَاُولٰۗىِٕكَ مَاْوٰىھُمْ جَہَنَّمُ۝۰ۭ وَسَاۗءَتْ مَصِيْرًا۝۹۷ۙ
Inna allatheena tawaffahumu almalaikatu thalimee anfusihim qaloo feema kuntum qaloo kunna mustadAAafeena fee alardi qaloo alam takun ardu Allahi wasiAAatan fatuhajiroo feeha faolaika mawahum jahannamu wasaat maseeran

English

Ahmed Ali

As for those whose souls are taken by the angels (at death) while in a state of unbelief, they will be asked by the angels: "What (state) were you in?" They will answer: "We were oppressed in the land." And the angels will say: "Was not God's earth large enough for you to migrate?" Their abode will be Hell, and what an evil destination!

97

Tafseer

'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī

تفسير : then, allah revealed the following about the 50 people who had left islam and were all killed during the battle of badr, saying: (lo! as for those whom the angels take (in death)) at the battle of badr (while they wrong themselves) by being idolaters, ((the angels) will ask) upon taking their souls: (in what were you engaged) what were you doing in mecca? (they will say: we were oppressed) and humiliated (in the land) in mecca at the hands of the unbelievers. ((the angels) will say: was not allah's earth) medina (spacious) safe (that ye could have migrated therein? as for such) group of people, (their habitation) their dwelling (will be hell, an evil journey's end) they will come to;

Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī

تفسير : the following was revealed regarding a group of people who submitted to islam but did not emigrate and were then slain in the battle of badr alongside the disbelievers: and those whom the angels take [in death], while they are wronging their souls, having remained among the disbelievers and neglected to emigrate, the angels will say, to them in rebuke: ‘what was your predicament?’, in other words, ‘in what circumstances were you with regard to your religion’. they will say, giving excuses, ‘we were oppressed, unable to establish religion, in the land’, the land of mecca. the angels will say, to them in rebuke: ‘but was not god’s earth spacious that you might have emigrated therein?’, from the land of unbelief to another land, as others did? god, exalted be he, says: as for such, their abode shall be hell — an evil journey’s end, it is!

Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi

تفسير : (lo! as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they wrong themselves…) [4:97]. this verse was revealed about some people in mecca who professed islam but did not migrate; they showed faith outwardly but were hypocrites inwardly. at the battle of badr, they joined the idolaters in their fight against the muslims and were killed therein. the angels struck their faces and backs and said to them that which allah, exalted is he, has mentioned in this verse. abu bakr al-harithi informed us> abu'l-shaykh al-hafiz> abu yahya> sahl ibn 'uthman> 'abd al-rahim ibn sulayman> ash'ath ibn sawad> 'ikrimah> ibn 'abbas who said with regard to the verse (lo! as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they wrong themselves…) which he recited to the end: “they were muslims who were in mecca. they went out with the idolaters to fight and were killed with them, and so this verse was revealed”.