وَيَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَمْ يُنَزِّلْ بِهِۦ سُلْطَٰنًا وَمَا لَيْسَ لَهُم بِهِۦ عِلْمٌ · وَإِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَٰتُنَا بَيِّنَٰتٍ تَعْرِفُ فِى وُجُوهِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ٱلْمُنكَرَ يَكَادُونَ يَسْطُونَ بِٱلَّذِينَ يَتْلُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَٰتِنَا
Wa yaʿbudūna min dūni'llāhi mā lam yunazzil bihi sulṭānan wa mā laysa lahum bihi ʿilm · Wa mā li'ẓ-ẓālimīna min naṣīr · Wa idhā tutlā ʿalayhim āyātunā bayyinātin taʿrifu fī wujūhi'lladhīna kafaru'l-munkar · Yakādūna yasṭūna bi'lladhīna yatlūna ʿalayhim āyātinā · Qul a-fa-unabbiʾukum bi-sharrin min dhālikum · An-nāru waʿadaha'llāhu'lladhīna kafarū wa biʾsa'l-maṣīr
"They serve, besides God, things for which He has sent down no warrant and of which they themselves have no knowledge. The wrongdoers shall have no helper. When Our clear signs are recited to them, you recognise displeasure on the faces of those who disbelieve; they all but assault those who recite Our signs to them. Say: 'Shall I tell you of something worse than that? The Fire!' God has promised it to those who disbelieve; and what a wretched journey's end!"
The seventy-first verse is the eighth verse in abbreviated form. There three grounds were refused; here two:
| Verse | What is refused |
|---|---|
| 8 | ʿIlm + hudan + kitābin munīr |
| 71 | Sulṭān (a warrant sent down) + ʿilm (his own knowledge) |
سُلْطَان — root س-ل-ط: mastery, dominion; sharpness. The lexicographers record the word in the sense both of "authority" and of "proof"; what the two have in common is a power that overcomes the other party.
And the two items answer to the two sources of knowledge: one sent down from outside, the other found within oneself. Neither is present.
ٱلْمُنكَر — root ن-ك-ر: not to recognise, to find strange. Munkar means "unrecognised, rejected"; and in the Qurʾān it is generally used in the sense of evil (at 22/41, nahaw ʿani'l-munkar).
And in the sentence two opposed verbs stand side by side: taʿrifu (you recognise) and al-munkar (the unrecognised). The two are not of the same root but exactly opposite in sense: ع-ر-ف and ن-ك-ر are a known pair of opposites in Arabic (maʿrūf / munkar).
I record this as an observation about the language, and here lies the point of the sentence: you recognise the unrecognised. What appears on the face is the thing whose name is "not being recognised"; and it is plain enough to be read on a face.
And the object of the observation must be recorded: fī wujūhihim — on their faces. Not in speech, but on the face. The verse speaks, that is, not of a spoken objection but of an expression.
يَكَادُونَ يَسْطُونَ — the root س-ط-و: to fall upon someone, to advance on him; to raise the hand. The lexicographers explain the word as "to bear down on someone using one's strength".
And the note yakādūna (they all but) is important: the act does not take place. The verse describes not an event but a threshold.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the combination of the two verbs: the scene advances in three degrees — the expression that appears on the face → almost assaulting → but not assaulting. The verse stops at the third degree.
The logic of the sentence is worth recording, and I give this as an observation: the other party's face changes because it reckons the signs "evil". And the answer is given using their own measure: since you find it evil, shall I tell you of something worse? The reply is built out of the other party's own word.