Surah Al-Jaathiya (45) — Ayah 9

(Ayah 9) ➊ In {وَ اِذَا عَلِمَ مِنْ اٰيٰتِنَا شَيْـًٔا اتَّخَذَهَا هُزُوًا: ’’ اتَّخَذَهَا ‘‘}, the pronoun can also refer back to {’’ هَا ‘‘ ’’ شَيْـًٔا ‘‘ }, because although the word { ’’ اٰيٰتِنَا ‘‘} is masculine, what is meant by it is some {’’آيَةٌ‘‘} (ayah), therefore the feminine pronoun {’’ هَا ‘‘} has been used, and it can also refer back to {’’ اٰيٰتِنَا ‘‘}. In the first case, the meaning will be that when he comes to know any verse from among Our verses (which he does not understand correctly or from which he derives a distorted meaning), he makes it a subject of mockery. In the second case, the meaning is that when he comes to know any verse from among Our verses, he does not suffice with mocking only that verse, but makes all Our verses a subject of mockery. For example, when he comes across something in the Noble Qur’an whose meaning he can distort and mock, he, while mocking all the verses, says that all the verses of the Qur’an are like this. This is a description of his being the worst “affak” and “atheem,” that after hearing the divine verses, not only does he persist in disbelief, but also unjustly mocks them, and to such an extent that he makes them a subject of mockery.
➋ { اُولٰٓىِٕكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّهِيْنٌ:} In return for their disrespect of the divine verses, there is a humiliating punishment for them. In this verse, due to their mockery and disrespect of the verses, the news of a humiliating punishment has been given for them.