Surah An Nahl Tafseer

وَلَا تَكُونُواْ كَالَّتِي نَقَضَتْ غَزْلَهَا مِن بَعْدِ قُوَّةٍ أَنكَاثًا

And do not be like the one who undoes the thread which she has spun, after it has become strong,

Abdullah bin Kathir and As-Suddi said:

"This was a foolish woman in Makkah. Every time she spun thread and made it strong, she would undo it again."

Mujahid, Qatadah and Ibn Zayd said:

"This is like the one who breaks a covenant after confirming it."

This view is more correct and more apparent, whether or not there was a woman in Makkah who undid her thread after spinning it.

The word Ankathan could be referring back to the word translated as "undoes", reinforcing the meaning,

or it could be the predicate of the verb "to be", meaning, do not be Ankathan, the plural of Nakth (breach, violation), from the word Nakith (perfidious).

Hence after this, Allah says:

تَتَّخِذُونَ أَيْمَانَكُمْ دَخَلً بَيْنَكُمْ

by taking your oaths as a means of deception among yourselves,

meaning for the purposes of cheating and tricking one another.

أَن تَكُونَ أُمَّةٌ هِيَ أَرْبَى مِنْ أُمَّةٍ

when one group is more numerous than another group.

meaning, you swear an oath with some people if they are more in number than you, so that they can trust you, but when you are able to betray them you do so.

Allah forbids that, by showing a case where treachery might be expected or excused, but He forbids it. If treachery is forbidden in such a case, then in cases where one is in a position of strength it is forbidden more emphatically.

Mujahid said:

"They used to enter into alliances and covenants, then find other parties who were more powerful and more numerous, so they would cancel the alliance with the first group and make an alliance with the second who were more powerful and more numerous. This is what they were forbidden to do."

Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah and Ibn Zayd said something similar.

إِنَّمَا يَبْلُوكُمُ اللّهُ بِهِ

Allah only tests you by this,

Sa`id bin Jubayr said:

"This means (you are tested) by the large numbers."

This was reported by Ibn Abi Hatim.

Ibn Jarir said:

"It means (you are being tested) by His command to you to adhere to your covenants."

وَلَيُبَيِّنَنَّ لَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مَا كُنتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ

And on the Day of Resurrection, He will certainly clarify that which you differed over.

Everyone will be rewarded or punished in accordance with his deeds, good or evil