وَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمۡ كِتٰبٌ مِّنۡ عِنۡدِ اللّٰهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِّمَا مَعَهُمۡۙ وَكَانُوۡا مِنۡ قَبۡلُ يَسۡتَفۡتِحُوۡنَ عَلَى الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡا ۖۚ فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمۡ مَّا عَرَفُوۡا کَفَرُوۡا بِهٖ فَلَعۡنَةُ اللّٰهِ عَلَى الۡكٰفِرِيۡنَ ﴿2:89﴾ بِئۡسَمَا اشۡتَرَوۡا بِهٖۤ اَنۡفُسَهُمۡ اَنۡ يَّڪۡفُرُوۡا بِمَآ اَنۡزَلَ اللّٰهُ بَغۡيًا اَنۡ يُّنَزِّلَ اللّٰهُ مِنۡ فَضۡلِهٖ عَلٰى مَنۡ يَّشَآءُ مِنۡ عِبَادِهٖۚ فَبَآءُوۡ بِغَضَبٍ عَلٰى غَضَبٍؕ وَلِلۡكٰفِرِيۡنَ عَذَابٌ مُّهِيۡنٌ ﴿2:90﴾
(2:89) And now that there has come to them a Book from Allah, how are they treating it? Even though it confirms the Truth already in their possession, and even though they had prayed for victory against the unbelievers, and yet when that Book came to them – and they recognized it – they refused to acknowledge its Truth.95 Allah’s curse be upon the unbelievers. (2:90) Evil indeed is what they console themselves with.96 They deny the guidance revealed by Allah, grudging that He chose to bestow His gracious bounty (of revelation and prophethood) on some of His servants whom He willed.97 Thus they have brought on themselves wrath after wrath, and a humiliating chastisement is in store for such unbelievers.
Notes
95. Before the advent of the Prophet, the Jews were eagerly awaiting a Prophet whose coming had been prophesied by their own Prophets. In fact, the Jews used to pray for his advent so that the dominance of the unbelievers could come to an end and the age of their own dominance he ushered in. The people of Madina were witnesses to the fact that these same Jewish neighbours of theirs had yearned for the advent of such a Prophet. They often used to say: ‘People may oppress us today as they wish, but when our awaited Prophet comes, we will settle our scores with our oppressors.’
Since the people of Madina had themselves heard such statements they were inclined to embrace the religion of the Prophet all the more readily lest their Jewish neighbours supersede them in acquiring this honour. It was therefore astonishing for them to find that when the promised Prophet did appear those same Jews who had so eagerly looked forward to welcoming him turned into his greatest enemies.
The statement ‘and they recognized it’ is confirmed by several contemporaneous events. The most authentic evidence in this connection is that of Safiyah, a wife of the Prophet, who was herself the daughter of one learned Jewish scholar (Huyayy b. Akhtab) and the niece of another (Abu Yasir). She says that when the Prophet migrated to Madina both her father and uncle went to meet him and conversed with him for quite a while. When they returned home, she heard the following conversation:
Uncle: Is he really the same Prophet whose advent has been prophesied in our Scriptures?
Father: By God, he is.
Uncle: Do you believe that?
Father: Yes..
Uncle. Then what do you intend to do?
Father: 1 will continue to oppose him and will not let his claim prevail as long as I live.
(Ibn Hishim, Sirah, eds., Mustafa al-Saqqa’ et al., 2 vols., II edition, Cairo, 137511955, see vol. 1, pp. 518 f. See also Ibn IshAq, The Life of Muhammad, tr. and notes by A. Guillaume, London, Oxford University Press, 1955, pp. 241 f. – Ed.)
96. Another possible rendering of the same verse is: ‘And how evil is that for the sake of which they have sold themselves’, i.e. for the sake of which they have sacrificed their ultimate happiness and salvation.
97. They had longed for the promised Prophet to arise from among their own people. But when he arose among a different people, a people they despised, they decided to reject him. It was as if they thought God was duty-bound to consult them in appointing Prophets, and since in this case He had failed to do so they felt they had a right to be offended by God’s ‘arbitrariness’.
Messages from Quran 