2:90

Bi'samash taraw biheee anfusahum ai yakfuroo bimaaa anzalal laahu baghyan ai

yunazzilal laahu min fadlilhee 'alaa mai yashaaa'u min ibaadihee fabaaa'oo
bighadabin 'alaa ghadab; wa lilkaafireena 'azaabum muheen

Miserable is what they sold their souls for-rejecting what God has revealed, out of
resentment that God would send down His grace upon whomever He chooses from among
His servants. Thus they incurred wrath upon wrath. And there is a demeaning
punishment for the disbelievers.

How bad is that for which they have sold their own selves, that they should
disbelieve in
that which Allah has revealed (the Qur'an), grudging that Allah should reveal of
His grace unto
whom He wills of His servants. So they have drawn on themselves wrath upon wrath.
And for
the disbelievers, there is disgracing torment

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ASBAB AL NUZUL

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- Mujahid said,

"How bad is that for which they have sold their own selves"
The Jews sold the truth for falsehood and hid the truth about Muhammad pbuh

- As-Suddi said that the Ayah,

"How bad is that for which they have sold their own selves"
means, "The Jews sold themselves.
meaning, what is worse is what they chose for themselves by disbelieving in what
Allah
revealed to Muhammad pbuh instead of believing, aiding and supporting him. This
behavior of theirs
is the result of their injustice, envy and hatred

"grudging that Allah should reveal of His grace unto whom He wills of His servants"

- There is no envy worse than this. Therefore

"So they have drawn on themselves wrath upon wrath"

Ibn Abbas commented on this Ayah,
"Allah became angry with them because they ignored some of the Tawrah and
disbelieved in
the Prophet that He sent to them.

- I (Ibn Kathir) say that the meaning of

"And they drew on themselves" is that they deserved and acquired multiplied anger.

- Also, Abu Al-Aliyah said, "Allah became angry with them, because of their
disbelief in the Injil and Isa
and He became angry with them again, because they disbelieved in Muhammad pbuh and
the
Qur'an.
- Similar was said by Ikrimah and Qatadah. Allah said

"And for the disbelievers, there is disgracing torment" Since their disbelief was a
result of
their transgression and envy, which was caused by arrogance, they were punished
with disgrace
and humiliation in this world and the Hereafter. Similarly, Allah said

"Verily, those who scorn My worship (i.e. do not invoke Me, and do not believe in
My Oneness)
they will surely enter Hell in humiliation" (40:60)
meaning, "Disgraced, degraded and humiliated.

- Imam Ahmad narrated that Amr bin Shuayb said that his father said that his
grandfather said that the Prophet said

"The arrogant people will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection in the size of
ants, but in the
shape of men. Everything shall be above them, because of the humiliation placed on
them,
until they enter a prison in Jahannam called Bawlas where the fire will surround
them from
above. They shall drink from the puss of the people of the Fire

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TAFSIR AL TUSTARI

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Decoding the Quran

How wretched it is that out of envy they deny a servant of Allah, whom Allah
revealed from His grace (from one’s essence to his consciousness), and because of
this denial they cover the absolute reality within the ‘self’! Because of this they
were subjected to wrath upon wrath (they were reduced to an unconscious state of
living, veiled from their essential reality). And for those who deny the reality
(disbelievers) there is a humiliating punishment.

...
[2:90] Evil is that for which they sell their souls, that is, their share of the
reward [in the Hereafter] (biʾsamā, ‘evil is that [for] which’: mā here is an
indefinite particle, representing ‘a thing’, and constitutes a specification
qualifying the subject of [the verb] biʾs, ‘evil is’, the very thing being singled
out for criticism); that they disbelieve in that, Qurʾān, which God has revealed,
grudging (baghyan here is an object denoting reason for yakfurū, ‘they
disbelieve’), that is, out of envy, that God should reveal (read either yunzil or
yunazzil) of His bounty, the Inspiration, to whomever He will of His servants, to
deliver the Message; and they were laden, they returned, with anger, from God for
their disbelief in what He has revealed (the indefinite form, bi-ghaḍabin, ‘with
anger’, is used to emphasise the awesomeness [of the ‘anger’]), upon anger, which
they deserved formerly, when they neglected the Torah and disbelieved in Jesus; and
for the disbelievers there shall be a humiliating chastisement.