وَقَالَ ٱلْمَلَأُ مِن قَوْمِهِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ وَكَذَّبُوا۟ بِلِقَآءِ ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ وَأَتْرَفْنَٰهُمْ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا مَا هَٰذَآ إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يَأْكُلُ مِمَّا تَأْكُلُونَ مِنْهُ وَيَشْرَبُ مِمَّا تَشْرَبُونَ · وَلَئِنْ أَطَعْتُم بَشَرًا مِّثْلَكُمْ إِنَّكُمْ إِذًا لَّخَٰسِرُونَ
wa qāla'l-malaʾu min qawmihi'lladhīna kafarū wa kadhdhabū bi-liqāʾi'l-ākhirati wa atrafnāhum fi'l-ḥayāti'l-dunyā mā hādhā illā basharun mithlukum yaʾkulu mimmā taʾkulūna minhu wa yashrabu mimmā tashrabūn · wa la-in aṭaʿtum basharan mithlakum innakum idhan la-khāsirūn
"The notables of his people who disbelieved, who denied the meeting of the hereafter, and on whom We had bestowed prosperity in the life of this world, said: 'This is nothing but a human being like yourselves: he eats of what you eat and drinks of what you drink. If you obey a human being like yourselves, then you will surely be the losers.'"
The word order must be recorded, and this is the most striking place in the verse: the speaking party is introduced by three qualifications:
| Qualification | Expression | What it reports |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | kafarū | Disbelief |
| 2 | kadhdhabū bi-liqāʾi'l-ākhira | Denying the hereafter |
| 3 | atrafnāhum fi'l-ḥayāti'l-dunyā | Having been given prosperity |
The third stands apart from the others, and this is a fact that must be recorded: the agent of the first two qualifications is they themselves (kafarū, kadhdhabū); the agent of the third is the text — atrafnāhum, "We gave them prosperity".
I record this as my own reading, its ground being this change of voice in the verb: in describing the condition of the objectors, what they themselves did and what was done to them are set side by side. And prosperity is counted not as a crime but as an attribute.
The root ت-ر-ف: to live in abundance, to grow giddy with plenty. Tarafa — he lived in abundance; mutraf — spoiled by prosperity. The root was treated at Sabaʾ 34/34 and at al-Wāqiʿa 56/45 (innahum kānū qabla dhālika mutrafīn). I do not repeat it here.
And the root will come back once more in the sūra: in the sixty-fourth verse, ḥattā idhā akhadhnā mutrafīhim bi'l-ʿadhāb.
| Verse | Sentence | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | wa atrafnāhum fi'l-ḥayāti'l-dunyā | It is given |
| 64 | akhadhnā mutrafīhim bi'l-ʿadhāb | It is taken |
The same root, once in the giving and once in the taking. This is a repetition that can be verified within the sūra.
The objection goes one step further than the one in the twenty-fourth verse, and this must be recorded:
| Verse | Objection | How concrete |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | basharun mithlukum + yurīdu an yatafaḍḍala | Sharing the kind, and intention |
| 33 | basharun mithlukum + yaʾkulu … wa yashrab | Two everyday acts |
| 47 | a-nuʾminu li-basharayni mithlinā + wa qawmuhumā lanā ʿābidūn | Social standing |
Three objections, three separate peoples, the same core: basharun mithlukum. This is a repetition that can be verified within the sūra.
And the two verbs of the thirty-third verse — eating and drinking — are in exactly the same field as the objection at al-Furqān 25/7 (yaʾkulu'l-ṭaʿām). I rely on that treatment.
And the answer to this objection will come in the fifty-first verse: yā ayyuha'l-rusulu kulū mina'l-ṭayyibāt. The act of eating, that is, having been the subject of the objection, becomes the subject of a command. This is a weave that can be verified within the sūra, and it will be treated separately at the fifty-first verse.
The word order must be recorded: the sentence begins with the lām of the oath (la-in), and its apodosis is reinforced with innakum … la-khāsirūn. The other side, that is, speaks in the pattern of an oath.
The root خ-س-ر: to diminish, to lose; to give short measure. The root was treated at al-ʿAṣr 103/2 (inna'l-insāna la-fī khusr) and in al-Muṭaffifīn. I do not repeat it here.
And the fate of the word must be recorded: the same root will return in the hundred and third verse of the sūra — ulāʾika'lladhīna khasirū anfusahum. The other side says that those who obey will come to loss; the sūra takes the word and turns it back on them. This is a repetition that can be verified within the sūra, and I record it as an observation.